By

Jim Markus / Last Modified On November 14, 2024

Here's the best recipe for homemade applesauce cake. The flavor of the apples comes through in the cake itself, and the dessert is topped with white chocolate ganache.

It's the perfect time to make applesauce cake. And if you're in the mood for more seasonal treats, check out my gluten-free galette recipe. It's such a fun French dessert. Otherwise, you can make a classic apple crisp. I'm such a fan of these types of recipes. They make me think of cozy autumn afternoons no matter when I make them!

Applesauce Cake Recipe

There's an easy way to make applesauce cake. Here's a video that shows each step of the recipe. From adding the apples to whipping up the ganache, the whole process is pretty quick.

Why You'll Love This Applesauce Cake Recipe

Easy to make. If you aren't making your own applesauce, you're already a third of the way through this! If you are making your own from scratch, that's even better. This applesauce cake recipe is best when made with the apples in your kitchen.

Delectable white ganache frosting. I love cream cheese frosting, but this white chocolate ganache suits the applesauce cake so well!

Perfect for sharing. This is such a rich dessert. It's a treat to be able to share it at a family gathering or as the showstopper at a potluck.

Seasonal favorite. Applesauce cake, like pumpkin pie, tastes like autumn!

Ingredients to Use

Let's break this applesauce cake recipe down into four parts. The first part? The applesauce! 

Ingredients for The Applesauce

• 3 medium apples, peeled, cored, and cubed
• 2 tbsp brown sugar (or granulated white sugar)
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Pinch of salt

Next are the wet ingredients. This includes gluten-free flour, cinnamon, and salt.

Dry Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon powder
• ¼ tsp salt

We made the applesauce first because it's also one of the wet ingredients. Here are the rest.

Wet Ingredients

• 1 cup applesauce
• 3 large eggs
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ cup neutral oil
• ¼ cup milk (or non-dairy substitute)
• ¼ cup walnut, chopped
• ¼ cup raisin

Finally, my applesauce cake recipe calls for a mouth-watering white ganache. That just needs two ingredients.

White Ganache Ingredients

• 1 ½ cup whipping cream
• 1 cup white chocolate, chopped

Equipment Needed for Applesauce Cake

This recipe calls for a few bits of equipment. I'll call out the vital ones, then I'll call out the nice-to-have pieces too.

Here's what's needed:

• Large bowl for mixing
• Baking dish (cake pan, cupcake pan, etc)
• Saucepan
• Mixing spoon

Nice to haves:

• Stand mixer
• Blender
• Apple peeler (this is the style I use)
• Wire rack

How to Make Applesauce Cake

This recipe has a few steps, but it's all really easy to put together. I'm including photos of each step of the process.

Peel the apples (you can use one of these apple peelers to save time). Then cube them. Drop the cubes into a blender and start the applesauce.

Some people like to add a quarter cup of water at the start of this process, but apples already have so much juice.

So add cinnamon and sugar next.

And then boil the applesauce until it becomes, well, applesauce!

At this point, your kitchen should smell absolutely amazing. Mine does.

While you're appreciating the smell of autumn, prepare your baking sheet with parchment paper.

Then, in a large mixing bowl, add your dry ingredients. This includes gluten-free flour, baking soda, and the rest.

You'll add your wet ingredients next, creating a delicious and sweet batter for the applesauce cake. You can use a stand mixer on low speed to mix everything together.

Once you've done that, add in raisins and walnuts (if you're using them).

Put the applesauce cake mixture into your pan. Then bake for 25-30 minutes. Just like you do with my zucchini bread recipe, just test the consistency with a toothpick to make sure it's fully cooked. 

While that's cooking, you can make the white ganache.

You can add the whipping cream and chocolate to a pot and heat that way, or you can put it into a microwave-safe bowl and heat for about a minute. Stir regularly if you're cooking on a range. In a microwave, you'll just need to stir halfway and again at the end.

Once all the chocolate has melted, set it aside.

When your cake has finished baking in the oven, take it out and let it cool for a moment. Then, pour on the ganache.

This is such a decadent sauce, sweet and chocolatey. It just needs to be set aside for about 30 minutes now. 

That allows the ganache to solidify around room temperature.

Once it hardens a little, you can sculpt it with a cake spatula, garnish the top with more cinnamon, and serve it to some incredibly lucky people.

If you make this recipe, please let me know in the comments!

Common Questions About Applesauce Cake

Here are some of the questions I've heard most regularly about my gluten-free applesauce cake. If you have a question that I haven't covered, please let me know in the comments. I do my best to answer all questions quickly, usually within a few days.

What kind of apples do you use for applesauce cake?

Look, I love apples. I can tell you my favorites for any kind of baking (Northern Spy, Granny Smith, Honeycrisp), but the truth is that the best applesauce apples are the ones you have in your kitchen.

So much of the flavor of this applesauce cake comes from the sugar, white chocolate, and cinnamon. If you use Macintosh, Gala, or even Pink Lady apples, they'll work fine. If you're an apple snob (like me), you'll want to look for a tart baking apple that isn't as dense as a Braeburn. Northern Spy apples aren't much to look at, but they're perfect for applesauce.

That's what makes this such a perfect recipe when you have extra apples around the house!

Do you serve it warm or cold?

Applesauce cake is delightful cold, right out of the refrigerator. Just like applesauce, that's one great way to enjoy it. You can also serve it warm. Like so many baked goods, this applesauce cake tastes so good as soon as the ganache sets.

How do you serve gluten-free apple pie? You can serve applesauce apple pie the same way!

Can I use applesauce in a cake mix? / Can applesauce replace oil in a cake mix?

If you have a gluten-free cake mix you want to use, you can add applesauce to it as an experiment. I always love to see how these types of things turn out.

That said, you don't need a cake mix. My applesauce cake recipe makes it much easier to just bake from scratch. It's rich with real apple flavor because you're using real apples!

What spices do you use in applesauce cake?

The only vital spice to use in my applesauce cake is cinnamon. You can also add ground cloves, allspice, or pumpkin pie spice.

What substitutions can I make?

There are a few things you can easily swap out in this recipe. The biggest one is the ganache frosting. Some people prefer to use a cream cheese frosting, which is also absolutely delicious. If you want to swap out the ganache for cream cheese frosting, use that part of my recipe for gluten-free carrot cake.

It just calls for cream cheese, butter, gluten-free vanilla extract, and powdered sugar instead of the heavy whipping cream and gluten-free white chocolate chips.

You can also substitute almost any kind of apple. Generally, I recommend avoiding red delicious apples.

Finally, it's easy to substitute oat milk, soymilk, or almond milk for the milk in this recipe. 

Do I need to use walnuts?

No! You can omit the walnuts and/or raisins in this recipe. It's completely delightful even without those additions.

Continue to Content

Yield: 9 Servings

Applesauce Cake Recipe

Print

This moist and delicious applesauce cake features a white ganache frosting. Optionally, add walnuts and raisins for an unforgettable fall treat.

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

Applesauce:

• 3 medium apples, peeled, cored, and cubed
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Pinch of salt

Dry Ingredients:

• 3 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon powder
• ¼ tsp salt

Wet Ingredients:

• 1 cup applesauce
• 3 eggs
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ cup neutral oil
• ¼ cup milk
• ¼ cup walnut, chopped (optional)
• ¼ cup raisin (optional)

White Ganache Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cup whip cream
• 1 cup white chocolate, chopped
• Cinnamon ground for topping

Instructions

1. Add cubed apples and water into a blender cup. Blend until smooth.
   Once the apples are smooth, pour into a saucepan and cook with low heat.
   Bring to a boil, add sugar, ground cinnamon, and salt. Cook until the sugar dissolves.
2. Take it off the stove and let it cool. We will use 1 cup of this applesauce.
   Preheat the oven 350F for 10 minutes and prepare a 8x8 inch square pan, lined with parchment paper.
3. In a mixing bowl, add gluten-free flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon powder, and salt. Mix well and set aside.
4. In a large mixing bowl, add applesauce, eggs, granulated sugar, vanilla extract, oil, and milk. Mix until the sugar is fully dissolved using a whisk. Add the dry ingredients in 3 parts and fold using a spatula.
5. Add in the raisins and chopped walnuts. (optional)
6. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 25-30 minutes.
7. For the frosting, in a microwave-safe bowl, add whipping cream and white chocolate. Microwave for a minute, stirring halfway. Make sure all the chocolate has been melted and set aside.
8. When the cake has been out of the oven, let it cool for a moment, and pour the white chocolate ganache on the top of the cake. Let the ganache set for 20-30 minutes.
9. Decorate the cake! I made lines using a cake spatula and topped the applesauce cake the ground cinnamon before serving.
   

Notes

You can swap the milk in this recipe out for oatmilk, soy milk, or almond milk.

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases. They never cost you extra.

• 
  KitchenAid Classic Series 4.5 Quart Tilt-Head Stand Mixer
• 
  Apple Peeler and Corer
• 
  Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour
• 
  Cuisinart 1.5 Quart Saucepan w/Cover
• 
  KitchenAid Wooden Spoon

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

9

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 404Total Fat: 25gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 16gCholesterol: 74mgSodium: 250mgCarbohydrates: 45gFiber: 3gSugar: 39gProtein: 5g

This nutrition info is based on the exact ingredients and brands used at the time. It may not be 100% accurate. Please check your ingredients nutrition labels.