Best Vegan Apple White Chocolate Cake Recipe (Gluten Free)

Last Updated on September 22, 2026 by The Allergy Chef

It’s cake time!! Well, vegan apple cake time (also gluten free and super allergy friendly because this is me we’re talking about). Here’s the best part about today’s cake recipe: the taste testers could NOT SOPT EATING THIS CAKE. They said that this vegan apple cake recipe might be in the top 10 for all of the cake recipes I’ve ever developed. This is a big statement, so, don’t sleep on this delicious cake.

I’ll warn you, this particular gluten free cake recipe requires some elbow grease, so make sure you’re up for the challenge. It *is* an easy cake recipe, but has several steps. Should you accept this mission, I promise, you’re going to love your loot and this cake’s tender crumb.

Important: There are a lot of recipe notes today. If you make this vegan apple cake as-is, you can skip the notes. If you need to swap or substitute, do NOT skip those notes. Happy baking!

Table of Contents

Allergy Status

Free From: Wheat/Gluten, Dairy, Egg, Soy, Tree Nuts, Peanut, Fish, Shellfish, Sesame, Top 9 Allergens, Top 14 Allergens, Alliums, Avocado, Banana, Beans & Lentils, Carrot, Celery, Cinnamon, Citrus, Coconut, Cruciferous, Garlic, Legume, Lupin, Mushroom, Mustard, Oat, Onion, Pea & Pea Protein, Poultry, Red Meat, Squash & Gourd, Strawberry, Sweet Potato & Yam, Tomato, Yeast

Friendly To: EOE, Vegan

Compatible With: Stone Fruit Free

Stone Fruit Free: Swap the olive oil for an oil you regularly bake with.

Pascha White Chocolate Chip Ingredients: Organic Cocoa Butter, Organic Cane Sugar, Organic Tapioca Starch, Organic Rice Syrup Solids, Organic Rice Maltodextrin, Organic Vanilla, Salt.

Recipe Video

If you’ve never made a vegan apple cake before, or just like watching recipe videos, I’d suggest watching this before you get started today.

Tools Needed to Make This Vegan Apple Cake Recipe

Box Grater
Handheld Electric Mixer OR Stand Mixer (technically you could use a large mixing bowl and whisk by hand, but something with power will be much easier)
Kitchen Scale (this is non-negotiable in free-from baking, as it allows me to give you precise numbers so you’ll have success at home)
Measuring Cups + Measuring Spoons
Large Baking Tray (I have quite a few from this brand)
Spatula
Parchment Paper + Scissors

If you don’t have some of these tools, you can view what I use in my Amazon Shop.

Ingredients for This Vegan Apple Cake Recipe

Flax Gel/Bind

4 TBSP Golden Flax Meal (for best results, use this brand)
8 TBSP Water (room temperature or cold)

Note: This kind of mixture is sometimes called flax eggs, but I don’t use the term since there isn’t a uniform unit of measurement.

Part 1 Ingredient

200g Organic Granny Smith Apples (7 ounces) shredded & squeezed

Part 2 Ingredients (Dry Ingredients)

200g Caster Sugar (this is the one that I use)
200g Organic Dark Brown Sugar
90g Potato Starch
90g Sorghum Flour, superfine
80g Organic Buckwheat Flour
80g Brown Rice Flour, superfine
60g Arrowroot
2 TBSP Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Sea Salt

Part 3 Ingredients (Start of Wet Ingredients)

225mL Milk of Choice (8 ounces/1 cup)
2 TBSP Organic Apple Cider Vinegar

Part 4 Ingredients

112mL Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil (4 ounces)
20mL Organic Maple Extract (use this one for best results)
1 TBSP Organic Vanilla Extract

Part 5 Ingredients

80g Organic Raisins
35mL Organic Ginger Syrup
112g Dairy Free Butter (4 ounces)

Part 6 Ingredient

60mL Hot Water (2 ounces)

Part 7 Ingredient

150g Pascha Organic White Chocolate Chips (5.5 ounces)

You’ll Also Need

Organic Maple Extract (for brushing)

Important Ingredient Notes & Ingredient Substitutions

Apples

I opted for Granny Smith apples to take this vegan apple cake in a tart direction. What I don’t want is for someone to eat this and have it be sweet on sweet, so the good old granny can help on that front.

If it’s apple season as you read this, I want to encourage you to hit your local farmer’s market, try a wide range of apples, and pick something that will taste fantastic to you. From pink lady to gala to fuji to Jonathan to honeycrisp and everything in between, there are no wrong answers here, only what makes your taste buds HAPPY.

Note, you need shredded apples for this recipe. Do not use apple slices, apple chunks, or small diced apple pieces. The shredded nature will help the apple flavour be well distributed throughout the cake.

Sugar

Caster Sugar: This is a superfine cane sugar (aka white sugar). This is the brand that I use. Technically, you can make this at home by blending cane sugar on high speed to break it down a little more.

Organic Dark Brown Sugar: Ideally, don’t swap this sugar. It’s there for the depth of flavour. In a pinch, organic light brown sugar can take its place.

Sweetener Combination: These are both granulated sweeteners and technically, you can use other granulated sweeteners as a substitute (organic coconut sugar, organic date sugar, organic maple sugar, etc.). However, in this particular recipe, I don’t recommend swapping the sugar unless it’s for medical reasons.

These sugars were selected to help enhance the flavor profile, and that will shift with a swap. Remember, the tasters couldn’t stop eating it (as-is).

If you do need to make a substitution, do not use a liquid sweetener such as maple syrup or agave. And absolutely don’t use apple sauce.

Gluten Free Flour Blend

This delicious vegan apple cake recipe uses a total of 400g of gluten-free flour. This particular gluten-free flour mixture has been made with the thought of depth, hence, the buckwheat (a type of seed based flour, not a variety of wheat). If you swap my flour blend for an all purpose flour, you WILL lose flavor and shift the overall outcome.

Should you need to swap the flour, do so at your own risk. Also, don’t use a single flour like almond flour, cassava flour, whole wheat flour, or coconut flour. The only swap you should make is for a proper all purpose flour blend.

Milk of Choice

You can use any dairy free plant based milk you enjoy in this apple cake recipe. It can be rice milk, soy milk, almond milk, oat milk, and so on. I don’t recommend coconut milk from a can. Coconut milk from a box (more watery style) should be fine, so long as you like the taste of coconut.

Ginger

Fun Fact! This vegan apple cake recipe was created by design to EXCLUDE cinnamon, nutmeg, and other traditional fall spices.

Care to guess why? Did you guess because I wanted to make sure that *everyone* has a safe and delicious cake option? A lot of people can’t have those spices, so leaving them out was intentional.

If you’re a fan, I suggest making the recipe as-is the first time, then next time you make this dessert, have fun changing out the spice. You can use any kind of warm (cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, etc.) or savory herbs (lavender, thyme, rosemary, etc.) and spices that pair well with apple (there are lots to choose from).

If you’d like to enhance the ginger flavour, you can add 1 teaspoon of ground ginger to the Part 2 Dry Ingredients.

Maple Extract

This seriously enhances the flavour of your vegan apple cake. Don’t skip it or you’ll lowkey ruin the recipe. This cannot be swapped for maple sugar or maple syrup, it has to be maple extract.

Olive Oil

This oil is liquid at room temperature. Technically, it can be swapped for other room temperature oils such as vegetable oil, canola oil, and several others. However, the only oil swap I personally stand behind is organic tiger nut oil (tuber, not a tree nut). That’s because organic tiger nut oil can create a fluffy vegan apple cake, and there’s no taste. Honestly, it’s fabulous to bake with because the texture is always *chef’s kiss*.

Raisins

You can swap the raisins for golden raisins or organic cranberries.

Ginger Syrup

This is a sweet ginger product. Do not swap it for anything else or you’ll throw off the flavor balance and sweetness of your cake.

Dairy Free Butter

Also called vegan butter, this is solid at room temperature and cannot be swapped for a liquid oil. In part, this dairy free butter lends itself towards the richness and moistness of this amazing apple cake.

Pascha White Chocolate Chips

This is the only vegan white chocolate chip product that I bake with. I can’t vouch for other options in terms of taste and texture. Technically, you can use any brand of white chocolate chips, but one of the reasons I use them is because it’s top 9 free. It’s also organic which is a huge win in my book, and helps us make the perfect cake.

Recipes for More Amazing Gluten Free + Vegan Cakes

Low Histamine Apple Upside Down Cake Recipe (Gluten Free, Top 9 Free, Vegan)
Award Winning Carrot Cake Recipe (from my GF, V, Top 9 Free+ Bakery)
Vegan Vanilla Birthday Cake Recipe
Gluten Free Pumpkin Cake Recipe
Low Histamine Carrot Cake Recipe (gluten free, vegan)
Gluten Free Orange Cake Recipe (fantastic recipe for a layer cake)

The Importance of the Type of Cake Pan You Use

This vegan apple cake recipe is a sheet pan cake recipe. When it comes to choosing the right cake pan, in the world of free-from baking, the shape can sometimes have a huge impact on the final results. This cake should only be made as a sheet pan cake because there’s a lot of cake batter. You’d need a lot of smaller cake pans if you went in another direction.

I don’t suggest specialty pans like a springform pan, however, shaped pans (heart, rectangle, etc.) are OK to use, BUT ONLY IF you keep the height short as if you’re using a large baking tray.

Directions (with pictures)

Bake Temperature: 350f/175c
Baking Time: 30+ Minutes

Take your vegan butter out of the fridge at least an hour before starting.

For gluten free vegan cake recipes, I use a stand mixer with the wire whisk attachment. If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can use an electric hand mixer with a large bowl. I mean, you can also mix manually by hand with a whisk, but that takes more elbow grease than I’m willing to give.

For the Apples

Start by washing and shredding your apples using your box grater. You don’t need to peel the apples, but I’ve included a photo for you that shows a chunk of apple skin. If that happens to you whilst shredding, remove the skin chunks from your apple shreds.

When the apples are shredded, you can leave them on a plate for a while for the fresh apple juice to drain off. Alternatively, place the apple shreds in paper towels or a clean tea towel. Squeeze firmly a few times to remove the excess liquid. You want the shreds to be on the dry side as to not alter the cake texture or bake time.

For the Cake Batter

Combine the flax and water together in a small bowl and set aside. Preheat your oven.

Measure your milk into a measuring cup, then add the vinegar (Part 3 Ingredients) and set aside. This makes a bit of a vegan buttermilk for us to use.

Place your empty mixing bowl on your kitchen scale and tare to zero. Add each of the Part 2 Ingredients (dry ingredients) to the bowl one at a time, and tare to zero between each one. Once they’re all in, lightly whisk to combine. Now is a good time to get the hot water going.

With your mixer on low speed, add the milk + vinegar combo. Mix for 10 seconds then turn the mixer off for 1 minute. This allows the chemical reaction to take place. Whilst waiting, measure out the oil and extracts (Part 4 Ingredients) using the dirty measuring cup. You know, so we can do less dishes.

After your minute is up, turn the mixer on low speed and add the oil + extracts combo. Continue to mix until it’s incorporated. Turn the mixer off and add the flax gel. Turn the mixer back on low speed and mix until the flax is well combined.

Turn the mixer off and return it to your scale. Tare to zero and add your shredded apple (Part 1 Ingredient), raisins, ginger syrup, and dairy free butter (Part 5 Ingredients).

Return the bowl to the stand and mix on medium speed. When everything is well incorporated, add the hot water. Once the hot water is incorporated, mix on high speed for 30 seconds.

Finally, put the bowl on the scale one last time and add the white chocolate chips. Use a heavy spatula to fold the chips in.

Baking & Brushing Your Cake

Line a large baking tray with parchment paper. I like to let the paper hang over the edge for easy release and cleanup later.

Pour all of the batter on the tray and spread to form an even layer. Pop that beauty into your oven and bake at 350f/175c for 30 minutes to start. A toothpick test should come out clean (a little crumb is OK). Gooey/wet batter on your stick isn’t OK and you’ll need to keep baking.

The bake time can be altered by the apple content, so if you find your cake needs more time in the oven, add an additional 4 minutes to start, then assess each time you check how much more time to add.

When your cake is ready, take it out of the oven.

Once the cake bakes and cools a little bit, it’s time for the brushing. Place maple extract into a small bowl and use a silicone brush to brush it all over the top of your cake. This is going to add an amazing POP of flavour.

That’s it!! I know this cake has a lot of moving parts, but one taster gave this cake six stars out of five. For six stars, this cake is worth the effort. In fact, the tasters also let me know that this cake is so good it doesn’t need frosting at all. It reminds me a bit of a classic coffee cake in that sense, and I’m sure would be well received at a family gathering or potluck.

Important Vegan Apple Cake Recipe Photos

Apple Skin Chunks: As you grate your apple, you’ll have chunks of skin like this. Don’t put this in your batter. It makes for a good snack, or a little addition to a smoothie.

Grating Complete: Leave the apple in the grater for a while on a plate and allow the liquid to collect. Strain off the juice before using (don’t toss it, drink it, it’s delicious). Alternatively, squeeze the liquid out of your shredded apple.

Batter is Ready: Your batter will have chunks running throughout. Be sure to spread it evenly on your parchment covered tray.

Brushing with Maple: When your cake comes out of the oven, brush it with maple extract.

Pairing Ideas for Your Easy Vegan Apple Cake

Interestingly, the taste testers say that this is a delicious vegan and gluten free cake that you should NOT frost. Eating it standalone was a real treat, and they feel that not only will frosting be too sweet, but it’s just not necessary (and can also mask the fresh apple flavor). Having said that, here are some ideas on how you can pair something with your vegan apple cake when you’re ready to serve it up.

Drizzle on a Little Vegan Caramel Sauce (and maybe even add thin slices of your apple of choice)
Have a Small Bowl of Vegan Custard or Vegan Yogurt on the Side
Serve with Dairy Free Ice Cream (I don’t think you can ever go wrong with a scoop of vegan ice cream)

Essentially, you’re looking to have something super light on top of your cake, or, something a little mellow on the side. For fun, you could get some friends together for brunch and have this cake as part of your spread and I don’t think a single person would complain.

Storage Notes for Your Delicious Vegan Apple Cake

This cake is great fresh, for 4 days. You can leave it in the fridge or on the counter top, covered. It will dry out and be no fun if it’s not covered well. Whilst refrigeration isn’t required, it’s suggested. If you don’t like the taste of “cold” take your cake out of the refrigerator 30 minutes before eating.

Alternatively, you can store your vegan apple cake in the freezer for 4 months in an airtight container. Past 4 months texture declines by about 8%.

The best way to freeze leftovers is to portion them into individual servings. Interestingly, I like to use the disposable dinner containers for individual cake slices. If you’re prepping in advance, you can freeze the entire sheet pan cake. Just be sure to cover it well once it’s frozen solid.

To thaw frozen cake, leave it at room temperature for 60 – 90 minutes. Do not reheat.

More Tasty Vegan Dessert Recipes

Answering Your Questions About This Vegan Apple Cake Recipe

Can I use vegetable oil instead of vegan butter?

No. In this recipe, both the oil and the butter need to remain in place. If you were to take out the vegan butter, you’d reduce how fantastic this cake is.

Would spelt flour work instead of your flour blend?

No, and that’s because spelt flour is not only a special version of wheat flour, but it’s not an all purpose flour. It only has a limited range of uses in baked goods, and this won’t be the best place to use it.

If you wanted to blend spelt flour with other wheat flours to create your own all purpose blend, that’s certainly an option worth exploring. Since I have a wheat allergy (so does one of my kids), I wouldn’t be able to tell you where to start.

Can I swap the caster sugar for unsweetened applesauce?

No, you can’t make this swap. Caster sugar is granulated and unsweetened applesauce is a liquid sweetener. Not only that, but you’d be throwing off the moisture content of the cake (which may lead to the center of the cake being underbaked).

Would crushed nuts taste good as a topping for this cake?

Maybe? This cake already has the chewy raisins and organic white chocolate chips. You know how sometimes, we take a recipe one step too far? This might be that, so I’d suggest, rather than putting crushed nuts all over the top of the cake before baking, add some crushed nuts on a slice of cake. It’s not properly attached, but you still get the crunchy texture, and you can sample it to make sure it really was a good idea.

If it proves to be good, the next time you make this delicious vegan apple cake recipe, go all in. Also, I’d suggest cashew or pecans to start with.

Is there a way to make this cake less sweet?

This is a great question, and I don’t know that you’ll love the answer. So, sugar is hygroscopic which means it helps baked goods retain moisture. In fact, it’s considered a wet ingredient. If you were to take a cup of sugar and replace it with half a cup of sugar, you’d see a decline in cake texture and cake performance. But, you’d have a less sweet cake.

Now, in conventional baking, they have a 20% rule. Generally, you can reduce the sugar by 20% and still have a good cake with moist crumbs. The reason they have this success because they have gluten and eggs.

In the free-from world, I’ve estimated that we have closer to an 8 – 10% rule. For us, that moisture is CRITICAL. You know how some gluten free baked goods or vegan baked goods are crumbly and gross? It’s because the ratios are simply wrong.

So, if you want the perfect cake with a tender crumb, you’d have to leave the recipe as-is. I’d suggest eating your slice with afternoon tea (choose a bitter leaning tea without a sweetener), or serve smaller slices of your tasty cake.

Could white vinegar be used in place of the apple cider vinegar?

In theory, yes. Personally, I never use white vinegar because 99.9% of the time it’s corn derived and I have a severe life threatening corn allergy. It will still meet the needs of being an acid in the recipe to help boost the lift power of the leavening agents.

The recipe calls for ACV though to stay with the apple theme.

Will this vegan cake recipe turn out well even though there’s no xanthan gum?

Yes!! Great news, well, not great, but you get the idea. I personally have a severe, life threatening corn allergy. That means a LOT of ingredients are off the table, including most xanthan gum.

I’ve been able to own and operate an award winning GF + free-from bakery, all without xanthan gum. Now, I did tinker with guar gum at one point, but when I did side by side comparisons (even with a freeze and thaw test), the guar gum didn’t have a meaningful impact.

Here’s why: I don’t call for all purpose flour. Instead, I make a custom gluten free flour blend for all of my recipes. This means there’s balance from the start, and you don’t need dough conditioners and enhancers and additives to boost the results.

So, as long as you follow the recipe as-is, yes, it will turn out beautifully, even without xanthan gum, guar gum, and all their friends.

Is non-dairy milk the same thing as dairy free milk?

Non-dairy (also written as nondairy) used to imply that there could be a very small amount of cow’s milk dairy in a product. Dairy free on the other hand means zero dairy. Period.

Whilst the regulation has changed over the years, the US FDA generally has the viewpoint that “non dairy” could contain up to 0.5% of dairy milk derivatives such as caseinate. Dairy free always meant zero milk or milk derivatives.

At the time of publishing in 2026, what I can tell you is this: many brands are using the terms as if they’re interchangeable. This can be confusing to a lot of people because you’re not sure what they’re referring to.

When in doubt, anyone with a milk allergy should always contact a company to better understand their ingredients and manufacturing process.