This gluten free apple cranberry cake marries the tart flavors of cranberries with the sweet smoothness of apples into a flavorful, light and moist cake that would make anyone ask for seconds. And how beautiful?
The colors of the cranberry are so cheerful and are ideal for the season. Tucked into this winter cake, they are the perfect complement to this typically autumnal dessert.
It’s difficult to pin this cake down to one kind of treat, actually. It bridges the seasons — autumn to winter with apples to cranberries — and it is equally at home as a dessert as it is for breakfast (my father actually prefers it as a coffee cake!).
It’s not too sweet, so it’s quite nice served with a scoop of ice cream, but it certainly doesn’t need it. It’s delicious served warm or cold. A surprisingly delicious cake, even to those who profess to not love cranberries. It’s almost a tart, almost a cake. It’s so many things … all good.
But one of my favorite things about this cake is actually how easy it is to make! Seriously, you don’t even have to chop the cranberries! And if you really love cranberries, add more! It won’t throw the recipe off one bit!
So don’t be surprised if you talk yourself into enjoying a slice for breakfast, too! I mean, it’s full of fresh fruit, right? I won’t judge you … I just might have done it myself!
This is the best time of year to put together such a simple and sublime cake that’s easy to make and just beautiful when served. Eat-it-all-up scrumptious. See if you agree. Enjoy!
Gluten Free Apple Cranberry Cake
This gluten free apple cranberry cake marries the tart flavors of cranberries with the sweet smoothness of apples into a flavorful, light and moist cake.
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cup (approximately 165 grams) fresh cranberries (feel free to add more, especially if using a larger pan)
- 1 apple, peeled, cored & diced (I like Gala or Fuji)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar (or coconut palm or maple sugar)
- 1/4 cup apple cider
- 1 Tbs. orange zest (optional)
- 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 2 eggs (or favorite egg substitute like 2 Tbs. flaxseed meal steeped in 6 Tbs. warm water)
- 3/4 cup granulated cane sugar (or Swerve or Monkfruit)
- 1/4 cup butter or non-dairy alternative, melted (Earth Balance® Buttery Sticks)
- 1/4 cup “natural” (unsweetened) applesauce
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup plain yogurt (almond, coconut, soy, etc. like Silk® or So Delicious® OR sour cream, dairy or non-dairy
- 1 1/4 cup (169 grams) gfJules® All Purpose Gluten Free Flour
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1/4 tsp. sea salt
- Sugar-cinnamon mixture or demerara sugar for topping (optional)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 325° F (static) 300° F (convection).
Wash and remove stems from cranberries. Combine in a medium-sized bowl with the apples, brown sugar, apple cider, orange zest and cinnamon. (Note: in the video, the apples were added separately; either way is fine.)
Pour into a 9 x 9 square baking pan or a 10-inch pie plate or tart pan and set aside.
Beat eggs and granulated sugar until light, approximately 1-2 minutes. Add butter, applesauce, vanilla and yogurt, beating until well mixed. Stir in the flour, baking soda and salt; beat until fully integrated and smooth.
Pour flour batter over the fruit mixture; sprinkle with sugar-cinnamon mixture, if desired.
Bake for 50 minutes, or until a toothpick or skewer inserted into the center comes out clean (slightly less time for the 10 inch pie or tart pan because the cake will be thinner).
Serve with or without ice cream (dairy or non-dairy like So Delicious® Coconut Ice Cream!).
Nutrition Information
Yield 8 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 227Total Fat 7gSaturated Fat 4gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 3gCholesterol 63mgSodium 224mgCarbohydrates 40gFiber 2gSugar 36gProtein 2g
Please keep in mind that nutrition information provided is per serving, which may vary. While we have taken care to provide you with the most accurate nutritional values possible, please note that this information may differ significantly depending on the exact ingredients and brands that you choose to use to make this recipe. Additionally, where options are given for ingredients, the resulting calculation may include all ingredient options instead of only one per line, skewing the totals significantly.
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How would the recipe change if nuts were added, say pecans or walnuts?
What can I use in place of apple cider? More applesauce? I want to try this but do not want to buy apple cider when we won’t drink the rest of the cider!
Hi Julia, any liquid will do. The apple cider is mostly to add flavor. Try orange juice, tea or even milk. Enjoy!
~jules
Hi. The photo of this cake really attracted me! One question, please. I use Stevia extract as a substitute for sugar in the blueberry muffins I make, and it works pretty well since I don’t have a big “sweet tooth” and so I don’t have to use enough Stevia to leave an aftertaste. But with eliminating the quantity of sugar/brown sugar in your recipe, do I need to make some other adjustment besides just eliminating the sugar? (I’m not an experienced baker, so I don’t know if I have to change something else to account for texture or something.) In my muffins, I substitute some of the oil with applesauce, so that helps increase the sweet flavor too. Thank you so much! I’m looking forward to making this.
Hi, I love the sound of this recipe and look forward to trying it although I cannot obtain fresh cranberries where I live. Is it possible to use frozen ones , or rehydrate dried ones, or perhaps use another type of berry (blueberry)
Absolutely! Frozen cranberries would work just fine here. Hope you get to make this recipe soon!
I use coconut milk in place of anything milk related. It’s worked pretty well for me – you do need to watch it though if you use it as part of a sauce. It thickens up rapidly – no need to stir it for 10 minutes!
I made this yesterday and it turned out great! We loved it! Thanks.
Yay Bonnie! So glad you got to try it! This is one of my new favorite Fall desserts!
This is absolutely delicious; even my DH loves it. I used vanilla soy yogurt and forgot to put in the melted butter, and even that didn’t make a difference; it still tasted great. BTW, do you have a GF/dairy free cinnamon roll recipe? That’s one thing I really miss and haven’t found a good substitute recipe.
Judy – so glad you loved this recipe! It really is tasty! As for the GF/DF cinnamon roll recipe, I have 2 recipes (one for rolls and one for buns) in my book Free for All Cooking. I also have republished my Grandma’s Cinnamon Sticky Rolls recipe in my Holiday Ebook! They’re TOO good, and I even offer a crockpot recipe for them as an option!
Do you turn out the cake when baked?
Michelle – I do not turn it out once baked. You could though, for a different (but equally beautiful!) presentation!
Do you turn out the cake when done?
For the dairy-free/soy free person above, you might try soured coconut milk. I have done that with several recipes requiring buttermilk or sour cream. You may need to cut the amount so it isn’t too runny.
To sour milk/soy milk/coconut milk, etc.: add 1 tsp. apple cider or white vinegar to 1 cup liquid. Stir and let sit for 10 minutes. It will curdle, but that is harmless in baked goods. (Sour cream is really curdled, too.)
Jules, this cake looks phenomenal. I am going to try, and will likely serve it to everyone, GF or not. I think that is the true mark of great GF free food, and you seem to be hitting it all the time?
Hal – I agree with you. The standard should always be that everyone will love it, not just the gluten-free’ers amongst us. I served this after the FOX News broadcast on Friday, and again at the Celiac Awareness Tour in Cleveland on Saturday. EVERYBODY loved it! Thanks for the compliment, as well – I aim to please!!!
How many days would this keep? Thinking of making it for Thanksgiving and wanted to know if I could include this in the items I could make ahead of time?
Great question Mary, and good thinking to want to make some of your Thanksgiving goodies ahead of time! I made this cake again on Thursday as ramekins to take onto Fox News on Friday, and served the remaining cake in Cleveland on Saturday. I had one ramekin of cake that I left home in Maryland and just enjoyed it after lunch today (Sunday) — it was still delicious and moist. I imagine it would still be great tomorrow too! That’s one great benefit of my flour, because the modified tapioca starch acts helps to extend the shelf life of your baked goods! SO…. you have at least 3-4 days grace period to make this cake ahead! Just be sure to seal it up well to keep air out and it will stay nice and moist for you! Happy Thanksgiving!!!
ok, I am totally making this for Thanksgiving (my DH doesn’t like pumpkin, gasp)! with real whipped cream on top–yum!
Stephanie – it’s nice to have a non-pumpkin option for Thanksgiving, even if you do like pumpkin. You can never have too many desserts for Thanksgiving!!
I made this cake for Thanksgiving and again for Christmas. Everyone loved it!! I am the only gluten free person in our family, so no one even knew it was gluten free!! Thanks so much!!
Rebecca – so glad everyone loved it! How wonderful to have a great gluten-free dessert to share proudly!
What a stunning looking appetizing apple & cranberry cake!!
Looks so tasty!!
MMMMMMMMMMMMM,…!
This recipe is a keeper! I used a metal pan without oil & it didn’t stick.
Laura – that’s great to hear!
Made this cake last night and it was yummy and I’ll definitely make it again. Just some comments on the recipe…the list of ingredients calls for 2 tsps of cinnamon while the instructions below are to add 1 TBSP cinnamon. I used 2 tsps and it was fine. Also you don’t specify dark or light brown sugar…I used dark because it was what I had on hand, but it would be helpful to know which the recipes calls for. You also don’t specify whether the cake pan should be greased or ungreased. I took a chance and didn’t grease and it was ok…probably because I used a pyrex pan..I think it may have stuck to the pan if I used a metal pan.
Hi Terry, so glad you liked the recipe and thanks for taking the time to write clarifying comments! I don’t think it’s necessary to oil the pan in this recipe, but it’s perfectly fine to do so. Thanks again!
This was AMAZING!!!!!!!!! I will make it often!!!
Fantastic Karen! So glad you loved it!
I am casein and soy allergic. What can I use in place of the sour cream?
Hey, Don’t know if you could have goat milk, but I use goat yogurt instead of sour cream. It works great!
Great idea! Thanks for sharing!
There is no Casein in Tofutti’s Better Than Sour Cream product(it is a soy product)- my daughter is dairy/casein free and we use this in place of sour cream.
I like plain coconut yogurt as a dairy and soy-free option here. It’s so nice to have great alternatives now!