Gluten Free Apple Honey Cake (Paleo!)
This gluten free apple cake recipe is a game changer. The easy cake has a supremely moist texture with a cinnamon-spiced flavor, and it’s made with just almond flour and honey (making it a paleo apple cake!). It gets moisture from just grated apple, applesauce and honey—there’s no oil, butter or dairy in this cake. In other words, it’s a healthy apple cake, but you'd never know it. Be sure to fully bake the cake—it should be well browned on the edges and on top. Serve it on its own, or dollop it with whipped cream, coconut whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
Servings: 1 8-inch cake
Equipment
- 1 8-inch cake pan
Ingredients
- Cooking spray or oil for pan
Dry ingredients
- 2 cups (220g) almond flour
- 2 tablespoons (20g) arrowroot starch or cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Wet ingredients
- 1 large sweet-tart apple, such as Fuji, Honeycrisp or Pink Lady
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup (165g) honey
- ¼ cup (65g) unsweetened applesauce
- 1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
For finishing and serving
- 3 tablespoons sliced almonds
- Regular or dairy-free whipped cream or ice cream (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350˚F (175˚C). Spray an 8-inch cake pan with cooking spray or rub with oil, and line the bottom with a round of parchment paper.
Whisk the dry ingredients
- In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, arrowroot starch, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Use your fingers to break up any clumps of almond flour.
Combine the wet ingredients
- Grate the apple on the small holes of a box grater (skin and all), moving around the core. Measure out ¾ cup of grated apple with its juices (it should be about the whole apple—discard any leftover apple if you have it).
- In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, honey, applesauce, vanilla and almond extract. Stir in the grated apple.
Finish the batter
- Scrape the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and stir until evenly combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread it in an even layer. Sprinkle the sliced almonds on top.
Bake
- Bake the cake until it’s browned and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 30-35 minutes (don’t underbake—the cake should be well browned around the edges).
- Let the cake cool in the pan set on a rack for 15-20 minutes. Run a thin knife along the edge, then remove the cake from the pan (to do this, flip the cake over onto your hand or onto a plate, pull off the parchment paper, then invert the cake back onto the cooling rack so it's right side up—if you're nervous about doing this, just leave it in the pan!). Let the cake cool completely.
- Cut the cake into slices and serve it on its own or with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, if you’d like. Enjoy!
Notes
Storage: The cake can sit at room temperature for up to 8 hours before serving. Refrigerate any leftover cake in an airtight container.
Tips:
- For the best results, I always recommend using an inexpensive kitchen scale when baking, especially when working with gluten free flours.
- I use Bob's Red Mill superfine almond flour, but any fine almond flour/almond meal will work.
- Vanilla paste is one of my secret ingredients when baking. It lends a rich vanilla bean flavor at a fraction of the cost of fresh vanilla beans!
- Feel free to swap out the honey for maple syrup.
- Be sure to fully bake the cake—it should be well browned on the edges and on top.
- Check out all of my GF cake recipes!