Recipe: Apple Spice Cake – THM E

It’s apple season! If you’ve been looking for a traditional apple cake that is low-fat (or even fat-free), egg-free, sugar-free, moist, and delicious, well, I’ve got your back.

This apple cake is only slightly adapted from the one my mom used to make when I was growing up. Every now and then I dig through the old recipe books I have of hers with the scribbled-in margins and think: you know what? THIS is totally doable!

This apple cake fit that category, and I’ve made it several times this fall, including for a church congregational meeting. I tend to bring THM S (or keto) goodies to public meetings to serve a wider range of dietary concerns, but this time, hey, I wanted apple cake! People were surprised to find it was sugar-free… and still sweet.

Wait a sec. Do you enjoy reading fiction? I’m an author of Christian contemporary romance with over 50 titles released on Amazon in ebook and paperback. If you enjoy stories with engaging characters, strong communities, deep faith, and great food, would you please check out my novels? There are a couple of covers in the sidebar, or click on the Books tab above to see everything. Thanks!

(And here’s my obligatory disclosure that any product links might be affiliate links. Clicking on them doesn’t cost you a penny more, and I get a small percentage of any sales.)

So, let’s get started!

Apple Spice Cake – multiple servings (9×13 pan)

• 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened (or sub more applesauce)
• 3 cups plain, unsweetened, low/non-fat kefir
• 1 teaspoon blackstrap molasses
• 1 1/3 cups monkfruit/erythritol blend (or your on-plan sweetener of choice)

Mix the above together well with a hand or stand mixer. Then add:

• 2 cups sprouted flour*
• 2 cups oat flour**
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt

Mix thoroughly. This will be quite a thick batter. Now stir in:

• 3 apples, chopped, or about 2 cups (I don’t peel mine, but you do you)

Lightly spray a 9×13 baking pan and dump the cake batter in. Smooth it out. Spread this blend over top:

Topping
• 1/2 cup monkfruit/erythritol blend (or your on-plan sweetener of choice)
(I usually use golden monkfruit since the original recipe called for brown sugar here, but I don’t think it’s a major flavor changer.)
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Sprinkle evenly over the top of the apple cake. Bake at 350º for 40-50 minutes — the cake is done when a toothpick comes out clean.

Divide into 18-24 pieces and enjoy! I often remove the pieces from the pan and freeze them on a cookie sheet, then bag, label, and freeze for later.

Love reading fiction? How about Christian romance? Raindrops on Radishes features a plus-size heroine in a battle for her backyard with the extremely fit urban farmer next door! (Psst: her journey to health is based on Trim Healthy Mama…)

This apple cake is a treat the heroine, Sadie, would come to enjoy during her Trim Healthy Mama story! Like many of us, she’d struggle with the carb count at first, though.

Please Note: I am not an authorized Trim Healthy Mama coach or blogger, although I play one in fiction…

*Sprouted flour: Most whole grains need to be sprouted, soured, or soaked to be THM-compliant. For this recipe, use already sprouted wheat flour. I’m sure spelt would also work, but I haven’t tried it or anything else. Remember this needs to be a whole-grain flour, not all-purpose.

**Oat flour:: I make my own by tossing dry rolled oats into the blender and blending into flour. Note this is NOT the same thing as oat fiber. They are two very different products and are not interchangeable in recipes.