The most tender, flavorful gluten-free apple cake you'll ever make! Almond flour and oat flour batter is laced with vanilla browned butter and topped with cinnamon-kissed apple slices for a super moist cake that tastes like fall on a plate.
Serve wedges of this almond flour apple cake with dollops of crème fraiche or whipped mascarpone if you like. Thanks to Vermont Creamery for sponsoring this post.
Maybe it's the former pastry chef in me, but when I host a meal at home, I usually plan the menu around two things: dessert and what's in season. I savor those after-dinner moments when everyone's sitting around the table together, satisfied and relaxed, ending the evening on a sweet note.
This gluten-free apple cake makes an ideal dessert for gatherings because it can be baked earlier in the day and served at room temperature, leaving you free to attend to the rest of the meal before guests arrive. Bring this stunner to the table, and watch your guests bow down to you like the domestic god or goddess you are.
Best of all, nobody will guess it's gluten-free!
Here's what one happy baker had to say about it:
5-Star Reader Review
“Made this tonight for a friend’s birthday. Reviews were “10/10”, “how is this gluten free!?”, “not too sweet—in a good way!”, and “this is wonderful!” I served it with your mascarpone whipped cream, which was the perfect pairing. Adding the apples sliced on the top like that was such an easy way to make it look pretty. Thanks for the great fall recipe.”
—Emily
Ingredients & Substitution Suggestions
I adapted this recipe from a favorite cake recipe that comes from my award-winning cookbook Alternative Baker: Reinventing Dessert with Gluten-Free Grains and Flours. In the book I use the same formula to make Chocolate Pear Tea Cakes and Olive Oil Cake Fig Cake. I've also used a similar base recipe for this reader-favorite gluten-free rhubarb cake here on TBG.
The cake base comes together with a bowl and a whisk, and it takes well to variations.
Here's what you'll need:
- Butter is the star of this show. I use Vermont Creamery cultured butter, which tastes super fresh and rich.
- Dairy-free butter, such as Miyoko's, can be subbed for dairy-free.
- Cooking this delicious butter with vanilla bean until the milk solids gently caramelize brings out notes of butterscotch to perfume the batter. See my post on how to brown butter if it's your first time!
- If you don't have a vanilla bean on hand, don't fret: just add a teaspoon of vanilla paste or vanilla extract when you add the eggs to the batter.
- Baking powder lifts the batter.
- Baking soda helps the cake brown, and its alkalinity neutralizes acids in the batter, giving the cake a tender (never gummy) texture.
- A good dose of salt offsets the sweetness.
- Brown sugar gently sweetens and adds caramel notes.
- Sub by weight coconut sugar or maple sugar for refined sugar-free.
- Loads of tart baking apples – both folded into the batter and layered over the top – bake up tender and tangy.
- This cake would be lovely made with ripe pears instead of apples.
- A bit of lemon juice added to the apples prevents them from browning and helps sharpen the flavors.
- Eggs help the batter bake up light and fluffy with good structure.
- For those with egg allergies, one of my readers has successfully made other cake recipes using a blend of applesauce and sour cream in place of the eggs. Another option is Just Egg, a vegan egg substitute made from mung beans and other ingredients.
- Crème fraiche, also from Vermont Creamery (or homemade crème fraiche) adds richness and moisture. I like to serve slices of cake with a good dollop of crème fraiche (or crème fraiche whipped cream) as well.
- Can sub sour cream or greek yogurt. Or use vegan sour cream or rich coconut yogurt such as Culina for dairy-free.
- Cinnamon sugar sprinkled over the top makes this cake smell like fall.
- Toasted hazelnuts add a crispy finish.
Gluten-Free Flours for a Moist Apple Cake Recipe
A quartet of gluten-free flours makes this healthy apple cake bake up moist, delicate, and tender.
- Almond flour or hazelnut flour adds tenderness and extra nutty flavor.
- Can sub any other nut flour, or try tiger nut flour for nut-free.
- Sweet rice flour's neutral flavor offsets the others, and the sticky texture helps the cake hold together.
- Sub by weight gluten-free all-purpose flour, such as Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1.
- Oat flour and millet flour add a lofty crumb and whole-grain nourishment. Unlike many gluten-free cake recipes, this doesn't need any starches or xanthan gum to help it hold together. Proteins from eggs and nut flour get the job done.
- Sub by weight teff flour, buckwheat flour, or sorghum flour.
How to Make
This brown butter apple cake requires a few techniques, but all are easy to do.
Gluten-Free Apple Cake for Everyone
I tested the base of this recipe (the one in my book) half a dozen times, and this apple brown butter version four times. It's nutty, rich, delicate, tender, moist, not-too-sweet, and full of warming flavors. You can eat it at room temperature with crème fraiche or mascarpone whipped cream. Or pop leftover slices in the toaster oven and top them with vanilla ice cream.
Serve this GF apple cake at the end of a fall feast, for a holiday brunch, or on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, since apples traditionally represent a sweet year ahead.
However and whenever you bake this super moist apple cake, I hope you love it!
Bojon appétit! For more Bojon Gourmet in your life, follow along on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, or Pinterest, purchase my award-winning gluten-free baking cookbook Alternative Baker, or subscribe to receive new posts via email. And if you make this gluten-free almond flour apple cake, I’d love to know. Leave a comment and rating below, and tag your Instagram snaps @The_Bojon_Gourmet and #bojongourmet.
Ultra-Moist Gluten-Free Apple Cake
Print Recipe Pin RecipeIngredients
Apples
- 3 large tart baking apples, such as granny smith (1 pound / 450 g)
- 1-2 tablespoons (15-30 ml) strained fresh lemon juice
Brown Butter
- 9 tablespoons (127 g) Vermont Creamery unsalted cultured butter
- 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and scraped (or 1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract, added with the egg)
Dry Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cup (135 g) almond flour or hazelnut flour
- ½ cup (80 g) sweet white rice flour
- ½ cup (55 g) GF oat flour
- ¼ cup (35 g) millet flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
Wet Ingredients
- ½ cup + 2 tablespoons (135 g) packed light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- ⅓ cup (80 ml) Vermont Creamery crème fraiche, plus more for serving
Toppings
- 2 tablespoons (25 g) granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ cup (30 g) toasted chopped nuts (hazelnuts, walnuts, or pecans; optional)
- creme fraiche (for serving, optional)
Instructions
Prepare Things
- Position a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 350ºF. Line a 9- or 10-inch oven-proof skillet, cake pan, or springform pan (or an 8- or 9-inch square pan) on the bottom and sides with parchment paper.
Brown the butter
- See this post if you're new to browning butter. Place the butter in a small, heavy saucepan. Add the vanilla bean and scrapings if using. Melt the butter over medium heat. Continue cooking, swirling the pan occasionally, until the butter turns golden and smells nutty, 3-5 more minutes.
- Pour the butter into a heatproof bowl to stop the cooking and let cool 5-10 minutes. When cool, remove the vanilla bean, rinse, and let dry. You can reuse the vanilla pod to make vanilla extract or vanilla sugar.
- Reserve 1 tablespoon of the brown butter for drizzling over the apples.
Apples
- Peel the apples and cut them off the core in large pieces. Slice two of the apples thinly, keeping the pieces together, and drizzle with lemon juice to prevent browning. Cut the third apple into large dice, place in a small bowl, and toss with lemon juice to prevent browning. Set aside.
Cake Batter
- Sift the almond, sweet rice, oat, and millet flours with the baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl. Sift as well as you can – almond flour is hard to sift – then add whatever flour is left in the sifter into the bowl. The goal is to remove any large clumps of almond and oat flour and leavening, which all tend to be clumpy.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and brown sugar until smooth. Whisk in 8 tablespoons of the browned butter, then the crème fraiche.
- Stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture until smooth, then fold in the diced apples and any juices.
Assemble
- Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and spread into an even layer. Place the apple slices over the cake, keeping them together, and press them about halfway into the batter. Sprinkle with the chopped nuts, if using. Drizzle with the reserved 1 tablespoon browned butter.
- Stir together the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and sprinkle evenly over the cake.
Bake
- Bake the cake at 350ºF until the top is golden and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs, 35-45 minutes, rotating the cake towards the end of the baking time. Remove from the oven and let cool completely, 1-2 hours. For the cleanest cuts, chill the cake before slicing.
Serve
- Use the parchment to pull the cake out of the pan and onto a cutting board. Cut into slices and serve at room temperature with dollops of crème fraiche. Or serve slices warm with ice cream.
Storage
- Store leftover cake covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Natalie says
I've made the chai-spiced necatrine skillet cake from your book using apples instead of nectarines and it is absolutely flawless...I didn't dare experiement with the flour combinations because I didn't want to gild the lily.
I would like to make this apple cake for my in-laws, who are not gluten-free. Can I use AP wheat flour in place of all flours (including hazelnut) for a total of 305g? I will not be able to taste the cake after I make it (I'm gluten-free), so I just want to make sure I get the weight/measurement for the flour correct and avoid any embarassing disasters :)
Alanna says
I'm so glad you like the skillet cake from AB and that it works well with apples - brilliant! For this cake, I *think* that flour substitution should work but I haven't tried it myself either. Nut flours are a little less absorbent than other flours so it might not need to bake as long. If you try it, please let me know how the in-laws like it!
Debbie Feely says
Yum! As many times as I’ve made this base recipe I’ve not thought to use butter instead of olive oil. And I saw hazelnut flour at Save Mart. So this is a go. I needed a gluten free fruit dessert for Thanksgiving to balance the find raiser cheesecake.
Alanna says
Perfect! Please let me know how you like it Debbie!
Ruthie says
Do you think there is a big difference in taste using almond flour over hazelnut?
Alanna says
I don't think it would be a huge difference. Hazelnut flour tastes a little more rich and earthy while almond has a milder, more subtle flavor. Please let me know if you try either version! :)
Ann Austin says
I love making all of your recipes as they always turn out so amazingly yummy. I just finished putting it together using almond flour (couldn't find hazlenut) and it is in the oven right now. My problem was I found the 1 tblsp of butter that I separated out at the beginning once I had already put the cake into the oven. What have I done wrong? I browned 8 tblsp of butter and reserved 1 tblsp for drizzling on the apples (which I did). Was I supposed to brown all 9 tblsp? Will it still turn out ok?
Alanna says
Ack, thank you for catching my typo! I've updated the instructions to say to brown all of the butter and reserve 1 tablespoon of the browned butter for drizzling. That must have been very confusing! What you did was perfect. How did it turn out?
Ann says
Soooooo yummy! Everyone in the house loved it and couldn't tell it was gluten free😊
Alanna says
That's the best - I'm so glad it was a hit! Thanks a bunch for the note!
Satpreet Kahlon says
Just in case anyone was wondering, I made this with buttermilk + applesauce to replace the eggs (for my mom, who doesn't eat eggs) and it turned out great. Maybe a bit more crumbly than it would have been otherwise, but really very good. It was a hit.
Alanna says
Thank you so much for trying my recipe and sharing your modification. What a sweet thing to do for your mama. I'm so glad it worked well!
Satpreet Kahlon says
Wow. Five stars to my past self. I was literally just saying out loud "I wish I had written down what I used instead of eggs when making this for Mom" (I'm making it again tomorrow), and then scrolled down and saw this comment, haha!
Alanna says
Haha, fabulous!
Satpreet says
This time, I replaced the eggs with one flax egg, and 2 tbsp of aquafaba whipped (and then folded in at the end). It turned out great again!
Thanks!
Alanna says
Brilliant!! Thank you so much for sharing!
Lauren says
Question! How far in advance do you think you can make this? Does it need to be made day-of?
Alanna says
Great question - You can definitely make it one day ahead! I'll add a note into the recipe. :)
Suzanne says
This looks so good! Do you use this gluten free dough for any other recipes?
Vanessa says
Thanks for sharing! Does it keep long?
Jenny says
This recipe sounds fantastic. I can digest butter no problem, but other dairy gives me a tummy ache. Any substitution ideas for the creme fraiche?
Alanna says
I totally get that! You could use a rich coconut yogurt instead. Have you ever tried Coyo? It's basically coconut creme fraiche - so rich and delicious. Please let me know if you try it!
Lisa says
I made this tonight for a New Year's Eve dessert. I didn't want anything overly sweet or rich, too much of that last week, and it was absolutely perfect. Easy to make (I didn't have creme fraiche on hand, so substituted Greek yogurt), looked perfectly festive with the cinnamon-covered sliced apples on top, and tasted delicious. The whole family loved it, a definite keeper recipe. Thanks as always!
Alanna says
Aw thanks so much for trying the recipe and for the sweet note. I'm so glad you liked it and that the greek yogurt worked well - brilliant!
Alene says
I have a question. I found out that I cannot eat rice at all, in any form. Arsenic poisoning!!! Can you please tell me what to replace the sweet rice flour with? Rice flour is everywhere and in practically everything gluten free. I am going to have to reconstruct all my recipes! Help! 😢
Alanna says
Hi Alene! I responded to your other question about this on the tortillas, but I'm really sorry you're going through this, it's awful.
I think cassava flour will be your new best friend! It's mild and starchy and similar to the sweet rice flour I use in many of my recipes. It weighs roughly the same (75-80 grams per half cup) so it's easy to substitute by weight or volume. I bet it would work beautifully here. Bob's Red Mill and Otto's both make good stuff that you can easily order online or find at most natural foods stores.
Alternatively, you could try using something like 2 tablespoons tapioca flour and 6 tablespoons sorghum flour per 1/2 cup of sweet rice flour. Though I think the cassava is generally closer to sweet rice flour.
Please let me know if you try this! You might also like some of my paleo recipes, which don't use any grain flours at all. You can find them all here!
Alene says
Thank you so much! Sorry that I didn't see the tortilla response. I will try it with cassava flour first. I'll let you know after I bake it. I must absolutely make an apple cake for the Jewish new year! It's a law in my house, lol!
Alanna says
Awwww I love it! This cake is perfect for Rosh Hashanah. Please let me know how it works with the cassava flour. I'm crossing my fingers!
Alene says
I made it! It tastes very good but it didn't hold together very well. It's light too with a nice crumb. It tastes like you're eating air! But it may need more than cassava flour. Should I use xantham gum ? Would that help? It's sort of falling apart. I love hazelnuts, and the taste of the hazelnut flour really comes through. Maybe cassava and tapioca? I really like the cake, but it's good we're not going anywhere again. Or having company. It's hard to serve it in nice pieces. But for me and my husband, it's fine.
Alanna says
Thanks so much for the feedback! I'm sorry it didn't hold together well with those adjustments.
I just remembered, I have a similar recipe for rhubarb cake and I tested a grain-free variation that worked well that used cassava, tapioca, and almond flour. So I think swapping in some tapioca for some of the cassava flour would help! You can find the grain-free variation in the notes here.
I usually try to do without xanthan gum when I write recipes because some folks don't tolerate it well or don't have it on hand. But if your gut is telling you to add some in, go for it! Please let me know how it goes. :)
Sandy says
The batter was thick and difficult to spread- the cake tasted great but the texture was not okay. I went over the recipe to check if I had missed anything. Couldn’t figure out why the batter was not smooth.
Alanna says
Hm I'm sorry to hear that, and I'm a bit mystified! The batter *is* on the thick side as you can see from the photos, but it should bake up pretty tender. Is it possible you accidentally left out or under-measured one of the liquid ingredients (sugar, butter, eggs, creme fraiche) or added too much of one of the flours? Did you use large eggs? Are your baking powder and baking soda fresh? Did you use weights or volumes to measure? Happy to help troubleshoot if you have any more clues!
Sandy says
Alanna - now that I have gone over your response, I will probably bake this amazing cake again keeping in mind all that you have mentioned above…can’t think of anything specific otherwise since I always use weights to measure the dry ingredients. What could have been off would be either the eggs or the creme fraiche (I didn’t have any so I used greek yogurt). Anyway, I take this as a sign to bake (and eat) more cake ! Thank you…
Alanna says
That's great that you're using weights! Please do let me know if you try it again. If the batter still looks dry once you mix it up, you could try adding more creme fraiche or another egg. Or you could hold back some of the flour mix and just add it until the consistency seems right and looks like the pictures. One more thought is that different brands of flour can be ground differently and absorb more or less liquid. I use Bob's Red Mill brand here in case that helps!
Keep me posted!
Ava says
Hi Alanna, I would like to try and make this using pears but I'm not sure what kind would be best. Any chance you might be able to make a recommendation? Also, if I am using pears, which would better enhance the flavour.... the almond or the hazelnut flour?
Alanna Taylor-Tobin says
Hi Ava,
Oh good question. I would go with a softer pear such as bartlett. Ideally the pears would be firm-ripe (not mushy) and fragrant.
I'm leaning toward hazelnut since pears are so subtle and hazelnut has a richer flavor. On the other hand, the almond flour's delicate flavor might let the floral notes of the pear come through. Basically either way will be delicious! LMK what you end up trying.
Happy baking!
-A
Emily R says
Made this tonight for a friend’s birthday. Reviews were “10/10”, “how is this gluten free!?”, “not too sweet—in a good way!”, and “this is wonderful!” The hazelnuts were a nice touch. I served it with your mascarpone whipped cream, which was the perfect pairing. Adding the apples sliced on the top like that was such an easy way to make it look pretty. Thanks for the great fall recipe.
Alanna Taylor-Tobin says
Hi Emily,
Awwww I'm so glad the apple cake and mascarpone cream were a hit. "How is this gluten-free?" is always the best compliment! Thanks so much for taking the time to comment, it means a lot to me!
xo,
A
Natalie says
Hi,
You used to have a pink pearl apple cake which my family loved! When I click the link now though it brings me here. Any way of finding that recipe again?
Alanna Taylor-Tobin says
Hi Natalie,
I'm so glad you reached out and that you like the pink pear apple cake! I've consolidated some of my non-GF recipes on TBG for traffic purposes, but I'll email you the full post for the cake. That way you'll always have it!
-Alanna
Lulu says
I had no made browned butter with vanilla before. My goodness, yummy deliciousness! Nor had I tasted creme fraiche. I just baked it. I used two apples and two pears. Diced one each and sliced the others. I like the way you sliced the apples in the recipe. Gives a lovely result. I used pumpkin pie spice and cardamom on the top. As for the flours, I used almond like it said, 1/2 c oats that were GF, 1/4 cup tiger nut flour and a 1/4 c cashew flour. My dish looks like the recipe photo. 😁😁😁😁😁😁 I will say the batter was yummy. I’ll know around lunch time how good it is . Lovely recipes here.❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Alanna Taylor-Tobin says
Hi Lulu,
Oh wow, I'm drooling over that flour blend - yum!! Please let me know how the finished cake tasted. Thank you for sharing your variation here, I know that will help other readers too!
xo,
A
Michele says
This cake turned out visually beautiful, with a perfect crumb, but one of the flours tasted very strong. Almost like an earthy, wet dog taste on the first bite or two, then oddly enough, I didn't notice it after that. Maybe because I had to sub sorghum for millet?
Still giving it 5 stars because my kids absolutely loved it and kept asking for more.
Alanna Taylor-Tobin says
Hi Michele,
Wet dog is not a good flavor in a cake, LOL! I'm wondering if one of your flours might be a touch off? Maybe give them each a sniff test? Sorghum usually has a lovely mild flavor, so I don't think that would cause an off flavor like that. Very mysterious – please let me know if you get to the bottom of it! I'm glad the cake was a hit regardless!!
-A