Vegan Apple Cornbread Cake
With almond flour and cornmeal as the base and coconut oil, applesauce and ground flax to bind and moisten, this cozy, cinnamon-spiced autumnal treat just happens to be vegan and naturally gluten-free. I love the warm, rustic aesthetic of baking in a skillet. But I've also found this cake works equally well divided between two 8 inch / 20 cm cake pans. See more details in recipe headnotes.
As you'll notice at the bottom of this post, or already know if you've been following for a while, there are several almond flour-based cakes on the blog. But over time I've been asked to make these cakes vegan. So here it is! Although almond flour cakes are more crumbly than flour-based cakes, eggs provide stability. So this vegan version is a little more delicate. But follow the baking instructions and don't be afraid to cook until fully set. It would be very hard to over bake this cake.
Vegan Apple Cornbread Cake
Serves 6-8
Notes: Recipe calls for cornmeal. Use regular cornmeal; package should not say “fine ground” or “course ground”. Recipe calls for a 10 inch / 25 cm wide skillet. I do not suggest using a smaller skillet; this is a moist cake and the middle won't set up properly if the cake is thicker. Despite the pictures, this cake can also be divided between two smaller 8 inch / 20 cm cake pans. If using these cake pans, after baking cool for 30 minutes, run a knife around the edge, then flip the cake out on a cooling rack to continue cooling bottom side up. Otherwise the bottom stays wet. It's harder to flip the large skillet cake. Simply cut into pieces and remove from skillet with thin metal spatula once cool.
1/4 cup (60 ml) melted coconut oil
2 Tbsp. ground flax
6 Tbsp. water
1 cup (160 gr) cornmeal
1 cup (100 gr) almond flour
3/4 cup (105 gr) coconut sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup (240 ml) unsweetened plant milk (oat, almond, cashew)
1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup (60 ml) applesauce
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. almond extract
1 medium-large apple, cut into small 1/4" dice (no need to peel skin)
Preheat oven to 350 F/176 C.
In a small bowl, combine ground flax with water. Mix and set aside for 15 minutes while preparing other ingredients.
Add hard coconut oil to a ~10 in/25 cm cast-iron skillet and place in oven to melt while oven is preheating. Remove and measure out 1/4 cup (60 ml) melted oil. Set aside. Wipe skillet with paper towel so all sides are coated with oil. Discard any additional leftover oil.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together cornmeal, almond flour, sugar, baking powder and soda, salt and cinnamon. In a small mixing bowl or 2 cup Pyrex measuring cup, whisk together plant milk, vinegar, applesauce, almond and vanilla extracts, thickened flax mixture and melted oil.
Whisk liquid mixture into dry. Fold in chopped apples. Pour batter immediately into skillet.
Cook for 50 minutes (25 minutes if baking in two 8 inch cake pans), or until edges pull away from pan, top is golden brown and slightly cracked and knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. If top is browning too much, place foil on top as it cooks.
Allow cake to cool and set up further for 30 minutes. If baking in two smaller 8 inch cake pans, cool then turn out according to headnotes above. Serve with yogurt or cut into bite size squares. Store in airtight container on counter for 1 day or in the fridge for 5 days.
