Moist Apple Cake with Cinnamon Walnut Streusel (Gluten-free, Refined Sugar-free)
A delicious cake with a moist and tender crumb, studded with bits of tart green apple and topped with a nutty, crunchy cinnamon streusel. Serve it with a warm custard or whipped cream and you have yourself a cozy fall dessert.
As good as it tasted, this cake was not pretty. It took some effort for me to make it look presentable for the photo. I find it particularly challenging to shoot gluten-free and refined sugar-free cakes… the crumb is delicate and brittle, so slicing is a problem. Also, coconut sugar always make everything so brown! Fortunately, what it lacked in looks, it more than made up for in taste.
Recipe
Moist Apple Cake with Cinnamon Walnut Streusel
(Makes a 6” round cake)
Ingredients
1 tbsp flaxseed meal
2 tbsp water
1/2 cup blanched almond flour
1/2 cup oat flour (made by pulsing rolled oats in a blender)
1 tbsp tapioca or arrowroot flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
Pinch of salt
50 grams unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup coconut or brown sugar
1/2 cup cream cheese, at room temperature
1 egg
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup finely chopped Granny Smith apples
Cinnamon Walnut Streusel Topping -
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and coarsely crushed
1 tbsp oat flour
2 tbsp coconut or brown sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp melted butter or olive oil
Method
Preheat your oven to 180°C. Grease a 6” round pan and line the base with parchment paper.
In a small bowl, mix the flaxseed meal with 2 tbsp water. Stir well and set aside to thicken.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond, oat and tapioca flours, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
In another bowl, combine the butter, sugar and cream cheese. Using a handheld mixer, whisk until pale. Add the egg, vanilla and flaxseed slurry and whisk again (the mixture may start to look curdled at this time, but that is okay).
Fold in the dry ingredients until incorporated. Stir in the chopped apple. Spoon the batter into the greased pan and use a rubber spatula to smoothen the top.
In a bowl, combine the all the ingredients for the streusel topping. Rub lightly between your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse sand. Sprinkle the streusel topping over the cake and press down very lightly.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Gently run a blunt knife around the rim to loosen and transfer to a wire rack. Cool completely before slicing.
Store the cake (at room temperature) in an airtight container for up to two days.
