If you have a dairy allergy or lactose intolerance, the thought of a dairy-free caramel apple cake recipe may sound too good to be true. But it isn’t!
My maternal grandmother wasn’t known for being a great cook. She wasn’t a bad cook, but she had a sensitive stomach and preferred bland food, staying away from pasta, pizza or anything with spices. She always kept our favorite cereal and candy bars in stock for when we visited, but I can’t recall any particular dish she made us. EXCEPT apple cake.
I still use the bread machine she bought me for Christmas 20+ years ago, and I’ve been missing her lately. Which made me think of her apple cake. Unfortunately, no one in the family has her recipe. I recently thumbed through an old church fundraising cookbook she gave me when I was about 20, hoping I could find it in there. I only found a recipe for a chicken salad (that I plan to try soon) and a casserole using 3 cans of soup that doesn’t sound appealing. But no apple cake.
A couple days after my hunt for Grandma’s apple cake recipe, a friend (and the founder of the award-winning Jelly Queens) shared a photo and recipe on Facebook for a simple cake that can be made with cranberries, apples, peaches or fresh cherries. I had to try it – with apples – the next day!
Because of my dairy allergy, I also had to adapt the recipe to make it a dairy-free caramel apple cake. Many thanks to Donna Collins for the original recipe and her permission to share it with my adaptations.
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- 1 cup organic all-purpose flour
- 1 cup cane sugar
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 2 cups baking apple of choice, cut into bite size pieces (or any hard fruit, like peaches, cranberries or fresh cherries - I used Granny Smith apples in the photos shown here))
- 1/2 cup organic chopped pecans
- 1/2 cup vegan butter, melted
- 2 organic eggs
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 4 Tbsp vegan butter
- 1/3 cup plain coconut milk creamer (I use So Delicious)
- 1/2 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
Ingredients
Dairy-Free Apple Cake
Dairy-Free Caramel Sauce
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- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
- Grease one 9 inch pie pan.
- Combine the flour, sugar, and salt.
- Stir in the fruit and the pecans, and toss to coat.
- Stir in the butter, beaten eggs and vanilla.
- Spread the batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for 40 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted near the center comes out clean.
- Top with caramel sauce; serve warm.
- Mix the brown sugar, coconut milk creamer, vegan butter and salt in a saucepan over medium heat; cook 5 minutes while whisking gently. Then slowly bring to a boil; turn back down to medium-high as soon as it starts to boil, and continue gently whisking for 2-3 minutes, being careful not to let it burn.
- Add the vanilla and cook another minute to thicken further. Turn off the heat, cool slightly and pour the sauce into a jar or other glass container. Refrigerate until cold (it should get fairly thick). You can also serve it warm (like I did in the photo above; it won't be as thick as it will be after it has been refrigerated, but it will be delicious!) Use the leftover caramel sauce for your coffee!
