Healthy Apple Spice Cake

"Eat Cake For Breakfast"

This Healthy 'Apple' Spice Cake is delicious! It's gluten and refined sugar free.

It calls for oat flour which gives it the yummy crumby texture and reminds me so much of banana or pumpkin bread.

This recipe also calls for coconut oil and coconut sugar. Have you tried baking with either? What was your experience? In some recipes we have found that you can taste the coconut flavor when you use coconut oil, but in this one we cannot detect it! What about coconut sugar? Have you tried it? Coconut sugar is a great sugar substitute as it has a lower glycemic index which basically means it won't spike your blood sugar quite like white table sugar does. It has a similar consistency to brown sugar and adds warmth to your dish. I'll even add a spoonful of it to a tomato based soup or homemade spaghetti sauce.

For this Spice Cake, I followed Elisabeth & Butter's Healthy Spice Cake recipe to a 'T' minus the frosting. I decided to add my own little topping twist.

She makes hers with a maple cream cheese frosting which sounds and looks divine. I had experimented with this cake last year and the sliced cinnamon apple topping turned out so pretty. It gives an organic, warm, cozy feel and I think it looks so pretty. And yes, I just used 'pretty' two times in a row to describe it. After all, we eat with our eyes! <3

Because this healthier treat has more of a 'bready' texture, the sliced apples would make it a great breakfast treat. It fits the saying - 'Eat Cake For Breakfast!' The base of it is made of oat flour which I mentioned above. You're basically eating oatmeal, right? Let's just say that. So where do you find oat flour you ask? You don't. You make it. I mean I'm sure you can find it at the store but you'll probably pay more for it. All you need to make oat flour is oats + a blender. So easy. Throw 'em in and blend until smooth.

*be sure to use certified gluten free oats for those with an intolerance to gluten*

You could still totally make the maple cream cheese frosting and serve a nice big dollop of it next to the cake if you choose to go with the sliced apple topping route instead. To make it more dessert-esque as an after dinner treat, you could serve it with homemade whipped cream, store bought whipped cream, or vanilla ice cream! There are coconut whipped cream substitutes if you need it to be dairy-free.

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Alright, let's get to it.

Don't forget to line your baking dish with parchment paper. I had no problems with sticking and it makes for easy cleaning once it gets all gobbled up.

Pour in batter.

For the apple topping:

I used almost 4 gala apples (peeled and sliced thin), 1/3 cup brown sugar,  1 tsp. cinnamon, and salt. Mix it all in a bowl until apples are covered.  You can always sprinkle a little extra cinnamon on top of the cake once you place the apples on top of the batter.

Arrange the apples on top however you'd like.

*It does take a bit longer to bake because the apples make the top of the cake heavier. I should have done a better job keeping track of how much longer ours baked for, but if I had to estimate, maybe an additional 25 minutes. I would follow Elisabeth's recipe and bake the cake for a minimum of 25 minutes and then an additional 10 and continue to check until cooked completely. I feel like altogether ours baked somewhere between a total of 45 min to an hour...I was constantly checking it.

Or...I wonder how it'd turn out if you baked the batter on its own for oh I don't know, say...20 minutes, then add the apples on top after the batter has had time to bake on its own for a bit. Bake for another 15 minutes or until the apples are soft and brown. I'm not sure how it'd turn out... I will try it this way next time and let you know which way I prefer. If you experiment with it, let me know how it turns out.

You could totally go the Betty Crocker route and use a box cake mix and still make the sliced apple topping if you're in a pinch!  No one would know 🙂

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Lastly - I can't end this blog post without mentioning a few of our other Elisabeth & Butter favorites:

Healthy Baked Oatmeal (we like to add flaxseed meal, chia seeds and frozen wild blueberries to the mixture before baking - and sometimes, a small handful mini chocolate chips)

Salted Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie

Be sure to check her instagram and blog. Her creations and photos are gorgeous.

Xo,

Courtney

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Recipe Credit:

Elizabeth & Butter Healthy Spice Cake

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