Here's an old-school apple cinnamon cake recipe updated for modern times (and your Vitamix!)
My family has been making this recipe for apple cinnamon cake for generations.
Over the years it’s gone through some serious “renovations”, but it still has the same basic flavor.
This year, I made the recipe easier by utilizing our Vitamix to both chop the apples and make the batter.
Whether you’re celebrating Rosh Hashanah or have an abundance of apples after a trip to the orchard, you’re going to love this updated recipe.
Habits change but the flavor can stay the same
This is a family recipe. And family recipes are sacred.
I have been making some version of this cake every fall for as long as I can remember.
It’s a classic recipe that showcases apples and cinnamon and, in my family, is eaten on the new year, Rosh Hashanah.
There’s something about preparing this cake that makes me feel connected to Jewish women around the world. I know that during the same season many of them are making a similar cake and a familiar holiday meal.
Because of that feeling, I make it every year. Whether in a dorm room or across the ocean.
Each time I contact my mother and say “hey, what’s the recipe for the apple cake?” And every year I get a photo of a stained notecard with (what we’ll call) edits.
The edits are due to the fact that:
- We’re perfectionists.
- Our tastes have evolved.
Our family eats so much healthier now than in the past. Family dinners that used to be mostly meat and creamy potatoes are now lentils and brown rice.
So even though this cake is one of our favorites, we’ve had to make some changes to keep up with the times.
Instead of white flour, white sugar, eggs, and butter, we now use a combination of healthier flours, have omitted the eggs and replaced the butter with sunflower oil. We’ve added flax seed and cut back a bit on the sugar.
And even with all of those changes it’s somehow still sweet and tasty.
This cake is:
- Moist
- Dense
- Cinnamony
- Full of tart apples
Just a few edits for this years’ recipe (mainly the removal of the eggs to make it a vegan dish). The real difference this year was in the preparation.
I used our new-ish Vitamix Ascent to chop the apples and saved myself 10 precious minutes of pre-holiday-dinner-time. And I also used the Vitamix to blend the batter.
Less dishes, less hassle!
These pictures are from the batch I made in a mini Bundt pan. But I also tested it in a classic Bundt pan and it was equally as delicious and moist.
Sidenote: Bundt pans originated in my hometown of St Louis Park, MN at a company called Nordic Ware. I was gifted a red one when I moved out on my own, and it felt like I truly became a woman. Maybe even more so than my Bat Mitzvah. 🙂
I’m excited to hear how my sacred family recipe for Apple Cinnamon Cake is received by your family. Mine absolutely loved this year’s adaptation. Best part? We have a blog post to edit now instead of a notecard!
2018 Update: Cut way down on the oil, still just as moist 🙂
Recipe
Apple Cinnamon Cake
A holiday cake for your fall family meals
Almond Flour, Apples, Applesauce, Cinnamon, Flaxseed, Vanilla,Ingredients:
- APPLES
- apples (with skins) - 4-5 medium whole
- WET INGREDIENTS
- applesauce (unsweetened) - 2 cups
- oil (sunflower, vegetable, canola) - 1/2 cup
- vanilla extract - 2 tsp.
- DRY INGREDIENTS
- flax meal - 3 Tbsp.
- brown sugar - 1 cup
- whole wheat flour - 2 cups
- almond flour - 1 cup
- baking soda - 1 tsp.
- salt - 1/4 tsp.
- cinnamon - 2 Tbsp + 1 tsp.
- TOPPING
- cinnamon & sugar - 2 Tbsp.
Instructions:
APPLES
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Wash and core apples (leave skins on)
- Put apples in Vitamix container, pulse on medium 5-8 times
- No Vitamix? Cut your apples into 1/2 inch cubes
- Pour into a mixing bowl
WET INGREDIENTS
- Add the wet ingredients into the container (no need to wash)
- Blend on high for 15-20 seconds
- No Vitamix? Stir with a spoon until combined
DRY INGREDIENTS
- Add the dry ingredients to the container
- Blend on medium until combined (do not overmix)
- No Vitamix? Stir separately from wet ingredients, then add combine w/wet
- Pour into bowl with apples and mix until combined
PAN
- Grease the Bundt pan and sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on all sides
- Pour the batter into the pan
- Bake for 50-60 minutes
- Check with toothpick, if still goopy, cook for 5 min increments
- When in doubt, undercooked is better for this recipe
SERVE
- Let cool before flipping cake upside down on serving plate
- Sprinkle with cinnamon & sugar
- Snap a pic and tag #lifeisNOYOKE
- Shana tovah!
Useful tips for Apple Cinnamon Cake
If possible, use tart apples in this recipe. Any apple will do, but those are the best. Leave the skins on, extra nutrition and texture (plus less work).
If you can’t find unsweetened applesauce, buy regular applesauce and use 1/4 cup less sugar. As it is, this cake is pretty sweet.
Any oil will do, we used sunflower. You can also substitute all of the oil for another 1/2 cup of applesauce if you’d like to omit it altogether (just make sure to grease your pan very well if you do so).
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Do you think you could use coconut oil?
Thank you!! So looking forward to making these into muffins, as we don’t have the bundt pan 🙁
I think coconut oil would work but would give you a slight taste of coconut (as the other ingredients don’t have strong flavors).
Hi Shalva! This is your actual mother writing (and qvelling) about your connection to this recipe. Just adding that I am using your great-grandmother Ann’s Nordic Ware bundt pan again this year. Can you imagine how much Jewish mother love has gone into that pan over the years? Happy New Year to all!
Love taking a min while baking to think of all of the special women who have passed on their traditions. Maybe that’s why we mark special occasions by celebratory foods?
This was delicious! I was skeptical about using the Vitamix to do all the prep, but I went for it, and it worked! The cake was moist and dense just like you said (which I love). I cut down the brown sugar to 2/3 cup (unpacked), and that didn’t seem to hurt it at all. Made muffins (baked for 35 minutes) because I don’t have a bundt pan. Thanks for the recipe–will make again.
Making into muffins is a great idea! I’ll bet our kids would love those.
I wonder if I could use coconut sugar?
I think that would work great in this recipe!
I am a Jewish girl that misses part of my culture with all the egg recipes. I just switched to being a vegan because of health concerns and OMG this recipe was AMAZING!!!!! The outline of logical steps in the recipe was so thoughtful. I am grateful to be reminded myself Grandmothers cake!!! It is truly delish
This comment just made my day 🙂 Now to tackle an eggless kugel 😉
Can’t wait to try it. 1 question as I don’t bake as much as I used to: If I make mini Bundts which is more likely, how much time would you give them in the oven? The other question is, I don’t use whole wheat flour at all, it just tears up my stomach; do you think a mix of maybe almond, coconut and/or rice flour (or some other non wheat) would work almost as well? Thanks!
Hi Donna, good question! I baked the mini bundts for 15 minutes and then checked them every 3. I believe they only took 18 min, but every oven is different, so make sure to check (undercooked is better in this case). I mixed almond flour with wheat flour, and have not tried w/o at least some wheat flour. I’m sure with a little trial and error you can find a good combination of flours that don’t upset your stomach. The courser the better I would say (so almond over coconut or rice). Good luck, let us know how they turn out!