Eggless Apple Almond Cake

Fall has come and I am very excited. That nip in the air leading to my favorite season (winters). This makes me excited and wanting to make all those super hyped pumpkins, apple, and persimmon recipes. You know me, hehe! So since lush apples are flooding the variety and we got dozens of them at home, I decided to do some quick weekday baking with this gorgeous Eggless Apple Almond cake. Yes, I was making pasta for lunch and made the batter for this at the very same time and kept it for baking. Later I popped it out of the oven and clicked a few pictures in the gorgeous afternoon light and voila, helped myself with a big bite of this gorgeousness.

I love incorporating seasonal fruits and veggies into my diet. They are super nutritious when eaten in the right season. This is why you will see me coming up with recipes like Persimmon cake loaf, Upside-down peach cake, Lemon Blueberry cake, and so on. Apples have an amazing texture and go very well in cakes and muffins and I love making all kinds of bake dishes with it. Hope you like this Fall special Apple cake recipe.

VARIATIONS:

1. Flour: I have used a mix of all-purpose flour (Maida) and whole wheat flour (atta). I always make eggless cakes and my husband doesn’t like the dense texture of whole wheat flour in the cake. So, I try to use a ratio of 60% all-purpose flour and 40% whole wheat flour in my dense-variety cakes like this Apple Almond cake or Chocolate cake. For my lighter cakes like Vanilla Almond or Lemon Cakes, I either use 100% all-purpose flour or an 80% all-purpose flour and 20% whole wheat flour ratio.
2. Apples: I love using a mix of green and red apples to this. I love the crisp texture and that a little tangy flavor of green apples. Hence I love adding a mix of both so that the cake gets a lovely sweetness from the red apples and also a little tartness from the green apples. But you can totally use red apples only. Don’t choose very sour apples for the cake.
3. Sweetener: In an attempt to a healthier lifestyle, I have cut down my use of white refined sugar. I use the brown variety of sugar and use that to my cakes unless I am baking a light-colored cake like a Lemon Cake. So I have used brown sugar in this cake as well.
4. Acidity: I have used Apple Cider Vinegar in this cake to react with the Baking Soda and give this cake light and airy texture. You can however use lemon juice instead and it is as effective as the vinegar.
5. Almonds: I love using sliced almonds in this cake as it gives an amazing nutty flavor once they crisp up while baking. Although feel free to skip these if you don’t have them handy or if you have any dietary restrictions (like nut allergies).

PREPARATION TIME: 15 minutes
COOKING TIME: 45 minutes
SERVINGS: 10-12 slices
DIFFICULTY SCALE: Medium

INGREDIENTS: 

1. Whole wheat flour  – ¾ cup
2. All-purpose flour – 2¼ cup
3. Milk powder – ¼ cup
4. Curd – ½ cup
5. Milk – ¼ cup
6. Oil – 2-3 tablespoons
7. Brown Sugar – 1½ cup + 1 tablespoon
8. Salt – a pinch
9. Vanilla Extract – 3-4 drops
10. Baking powder – ¾ teaspoon
11. Baking soda – ½ teaspoon
12. Apple cider vinegar – 2 tablespoons
13. Cinnamon powder – 2 teaspoons
14. Nutmeg – ¼ teaspoon
15. Green Apple – 1
16. Red Apple – 1
17. Almond flakes – a handful

UTENSILS/EQUIPMENT:

1. Mixer Grinder
2. Mixing bowl
3. Whisk
4. Cake Tin
5. OTG
6. Baking paper

RECIPE:

Dry Ingredients –

1. Take a big mixing bowl and sieve the all-purpose and whole wheat flour into the bowl.
2. Grate a little nutmeg and add it to the bowl along with salt, cinnamon powder, and milk powder.
3. Mix in the baking powder and soda as well.

Wet Ingredients –

3. Add sugar to a grinder and grind it into a powder.
4. Mix curd and milk and blend the mix well.
5. Peel the apples and add the apple pieces and add them to the blender jar too and make a smooth puree.

Batter and Baking –

6. Preheat the OTG/oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes.
7. Now mix the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients with the help of a whisk.
8.  Add in the apple cider vinegar, vanilla extract, and oil and mix with light hands. Don’t overwork the batter.

9. Line a mould with baking paper and add the batter to the mould. Tap to remove any air bubbles.
10. Sprinkle a little brown sugar on the cake to get a nice caramelized top. Also, garnish with lots of almond flakes.

11. Place the mould into the preheated oven for 45 minutes. Keep it at 180 degrees Celsius for the first 25 minutes and turn down the temperature to 150 degrees for the last 20 minutes.
12. After the time is over, let the cake cool down in the OTG for 10 minutes.

Serve the gorgeous Eggless Apple Almond Cake warm with tea.