Imagine biting into this moist and tender cake. First you breathe in the aroma of cinnamon, and as you take your first bite, you savor the warm flavor of ginger. And then, just when you think you’ve figured out all the secrets of this sweet delight, you bite into a hidden nugget of candied ginger and POW–a rush of tingling flavor!
And then I tell you that it’s fat-free, and you just don’t believe me.
The secret is the applesauce, which is the only liquid in the cake–no eggs or egg substitutes, no non-dairy milk, no water. Applesauce makes this whole-wheat cake dense but moist at the same time while adding some natural sweetness. The maple glaze, though delicious, is really just for show because this cake is sweet and tender enough without it. So leave it off if you like, and if you’re really intent of cutting back on sugar, try replacing all or part of the granulated sugar with erythritol, a sugar substitute that may actually have some health benefits.
With or without the sugar, if you’re a ginger lover, you won’t want to miss this cake. Consider it a Christmas present from me to you!
Applesauce Ginger Cake with Maple Glaze
Ingredients
- 2 cups white whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons crystallized (candied) ginger, chopped small (about 3/4 ounce)
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 1/2 teaspoon ginger powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon cloves
- 2 1/4 cups unsweetened applesauce
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Glaze: 1/4 cup maple syrup, 1 teaspoon cornstarch, pinch ginger powder
- Additional candied ginger for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil a bundt pan or 9×9-inch baking pan.
- Mix the dry ingredients together; then add the applesauce, lemon juice, and vanilla extract. Stir until combined but don’t over-stir. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 45-60 minutes. Test by inserting a toothpick into the center; it’s done when the toothpick comes out perfectly clean.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Invert onto cake dish.
- Prepare the glaze: Combine the maple syrup, 1 teaspoon cornstarch, and generous pinch of powdered ginger in a small saucepan and mix well. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and allow to cool and thicken. (You can put the pan in a bowl of cold water to speed up cooling.) When the glaze has thickened but is still pourable, drizzle it over the cake. Serve immediately, garnished with strips of candied ginger, if desired.
Preparation time: 10 minute(s) | Cooking time: 45 minute(s)
Number of servings (yield): 9
Nutrition (per serving): 242 calories, 5 calories from fat,(Omit the maple glaze and save 25 calories per serving.)
I wish you all a happy, peaceful holiday. Be good to yourselves and to each other!
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{ 72 comments… read them below or add one }
So excited to try this! I love recipes like this when I have everything on hand. Yum!
I was just brainstorming about a bundt cake, and you have solved my problems!
Wow–this looks incredible. And I love the ingredient list. Only applesauce?!? I almost don’t believe it. I might try it out with the erythritol, since I have some at home. I wonder if the Stevia Baking Blend I have would work also? Thanks for sharing!!
Thanks, Michelle! I think Stevia Baking Blend would be great. I don’t have any anymore or I would have tried it.
I love the versatility of this cake – more in terms of being able to use it for more occasions than just the holidays. It seems like a great fall and early springtime treat too.
This is going on the Christmas menu! You have no idea how perfect this is for my family.
Susan, I have everything except the candied ginger. Are there any subs? I have a big piece of ginger root on hand….could I somehow use that? This recipe sounds AMAZING and can’t wait to try it!
I think I would just leave the candied ginger out. Ginger root is probably too fibrous. You can also add a little more ginger powder to give it more kick.
I am going to make it for Christmas and leave out the candied ginger….since I have no idea where to find it in El Paso! Thanks, Susan. I love your recipes!
I found the candied ginger!
Susan, the top photo is one of your best EVER!!
Wow, thank you, Brenda! That makes my day!
Yum!
Best of all, I have all the ingredients in the cupboard, so will definitely be making myself one to eat after the mad festive rush is over!
Hi Susan. Your photography shines and stands out as does this already very popular recipe. If using liquid sweetener, say date syrup, you think that in addition to the applesauce would be too much liquid in the recipe? Unless I cut the apple sauce down some? It would be over 3 cups of liquid. Curious.
Thanks for the kind words, Tom! Yes, that’s why I didn’t try to use maple syrup or date syrup in the recipe. I think it would be just too much liquid because it’s balanced right now. I’m sure it would be possible to do, but it would take some experimenting to find the right balance of flour, apple sauce, and liquid sweetener, and even then, this is such a moist cake that I’m afraid the results wouldn’t be as good.
Yeah!! A new killer recipe that looks soooo easy AND yummy. I am definitely going to serve this to guests this holiday season- yeah!!! Thanks a bunch and happy holidays
Do you think all-purpose gluten free flour would work?
I haven’t tried it, but I think it would.
Thanks for yet another great recipe! So simple, yet so satisfying!
I thought I knew it all, but I guess I dont. Never heard of the sweetener erythritol. Do you think the cake would taste good with the substitute? Where do you buy it?
I know Amazon has it, and NuNaturals also makes it (https://nunaturals.com/product/99), but it’s on the expensive side.
Hi Susan,
This is gorgeous!! And I can almost smell the ginger and spices just looking at it! I did not know there was such a thing as stevia baking blend, and I just watched the video about erythritol. I might get adventurous and try one of those out with my gluten free flour mix. Right now I’m leaning toward toward making a gluten free version of the chocolate blueberry cake, with carob and huckleberries. So nice to add another possibility to the list for holiday treats. Hope the holidays are good to you, and thanks for being so good to all of us!
xo
moonwatcher
Can this be made in a loaf pan or a rectangular pan?
Rectangular pan, yes, but I think a loaf pan would probably be too deep and narrow.
I’m baking this right now (as muffins) and it smells amazing!
Well, I may as well just get busy right this red-hot minute making this, because as soon as my husband sees it he’s going to start whining for it!
(But being a UPS man, he’s definitely earned himself a yummy treat this week, not to mention the right to whine a little bit!)
Do you think this will still work well and taste as relish if we swap in Gluten Free flour, like Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose GF Flour..? I can’t eat gluten..
That was supposed to read “taste as delish” *not* relish. lol
my computer auto corrected me without my consent.
This looks so good…wonder if I could use low-carb flour to make it
Might have to add frosting too hehe
Susan — I just made this cake and it is FABULOUS! I didn’t have candied ginger so I simply added 1/4 tsp extra powdered ginger. I also lined the bottom of my cake pan with some thinly sliced apples before pouring in the batter…. absolute heaven!
My mom and daughter spent all day making traditional Christmas cookies and I didn’t eat even one! (a huge accomplishment, by the way)! So this cake is my reward.
Thanks and Have a wonderful new year.
Hi Susan,
In the ingredient list there is a tablespoon of cornstarch listed. I see that the maple glaze uses a teaspoon of the cornstarch. Does the rest of the cornstarch get put in with the dry cake ingredients?
Thanks for sharing this recipe. I was at quite a loss as to what to make for dessert for my Christmas dinner. I was so excited to see this recipe. It looks perfect.
Hi Maryeb, the tablespoon of cornstarch goes into the cake and an additional tsp. goes into the glaze. I hope you enjoy it!
This recipe caught my attention. I love anything ginger but am not a big fan of cake. It is great. It stayed moist for days, I even had a piece for breakfast. Definitely a recipe that I will keep and may be use the base recipe with different spices and flavorings.
Just as an update if anyone else wants to make this as muffins: the recipe fills a full-sized muffin pan with some left over (which I just kind of smooshed into the 12 cups). They took about 30 minutes to bake. I skipped the glaze, but they still tasted great!
I made this tonight and loved it! I did not make the glaze and it was still delicious!
Oh my! I cannot wait to try this!
So easy and so good. Didn’t have the crystalized ginger and substitued Splenda instead of sugar. Omitted the icing and made in 9 x 9 pan. In essence was a real calorie savor. Wonder if substituting more vanilla or carob instead of ginger if it would be suitable as a plain cake or chocolate cake?
This is a fantastic dessert for the holidays. We celebrate with a Swedish theme to honor part of our heritage, but the pepparkakkor cake we have been making every year (loaded with eggs, butter, and sugar) doesn’t come close to the moist, rich flavor of your apple ginger cake…and so much more healthful! I made my own applesauce, which was a bit less than 2 1/4 c., so I added a splash of soy milk. Used a bundt pan and when cooled sprinkled lightly w/ powdered sugar instead of the glaze. Thank you so much for this, and all, of your recipes.
I made it tonight! Super good…with or without the candied ginger! This recipe ia a keeper. Thanks, Susan!
This recipe was delicious! Made it with turbinado sugar instead of white sugar, and it was moist and wonderful–like really sinful gingerbread. I was all ready for my husband to hate it (he always gives me grief when I cook with applesauce instead of oil/margarine), but he can’t stop eating it. Thank you, Susan.
Susan, Ditto re. this being one of your best photos yet! Question for you– can you share where you got the cake stand? I always love your eclectic dishes– would love to hear more from you about where/how you’ve acquired such a collection! My guess is savvy thrifting and/or estate sales, but perhaps you have other secret sources!?!?
Do share!
I wish I could remember where I got the cake plate, but I’m sure it was on sale or clearance at some store like Tuesday Morning, TJMaxx, or Marshall’s. I pick up a lot of dishes at those places at clearance prices and also shop thrift and antique stores. My very favorites, though, are locally made pottery pieces that I pick up at craft shows– sometimes I luck out and find an artist who is actually affordable. I’m always looking for dishes that I think will photograph well, and I really need to have an estate sale of my own because I’ve run out of space for new ones!
So easy to make and everyone enjoyed it
I loved the cake. My glaze was not so successful. Initially, I heated the maple syrup and then added the cornstarch. This resulted in lumps that were impossible to wisk away. I tried it again, this time mixing the syrup and cornstarch before heating. but being short on maple syrup I topped it up with a low sugar pancake syrup. This resulted in a goo that would not melt down. I would like to try the glaze again. Do you have any ideas for substitutions
Great! I’m just baking it
) with some little changes! Thanks for the recipe!
SOOOO delicious!! And it was amazingly easy to prepare!!
I’m so glad you liked it! One of the great things about fat-free vegan cakes is that there’s no butter and sugar to cream together. Couldn’t be easier!
i feel very very good recipe i love this very much
Made this wonderful cake today. WOW It is going to be one of mt favorites. I did make 1 change, I use brown rice syrup instead of the sugar. decreased the applesauc by 1/4 cup. It is so moist. I love it and I am so glad I foud your website!
OH WOW . . so good! we’ve decide to make one of these every Sunday. Today we are trying it in mini-bundt pans. THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!!! <3 <3 <3
I experimented a little – used pumpkin pie spice to replace the spices, noticed that the amount of applesauce is equal to one 24-ounce jar and I use brown sugar, maybe that makes even denser? Might even pre-mix the dry ingredients so I can just dump applesauce, vanilla and lemon juice in when I need a fix.
YUMMMMMMEEEE
Are the cloves in this recipe ground or whole? I assume they’re ground, but I can’t find ground cloves anywhere.
I can’t wait to try this. I’m trying to wait for a party at the end of the month so I can share it… but I might have to make it now and eat it all myself!
The cloves are ground. I’m surprised you haven’t been able to find them! I just buy them in the regular grocery store spice section.
I love the relative simplicity in making this and it’s one of those dishes that could easily fit in at just about any family gathering. Easy to procure all the ingredients as well. Lovely recipe indeed.
I would love to see a gluten free version of this. It looks delicious
I finally had all the ingredients, a bundt pan (had to buy one), and the time to make this today, and OH WOW! It’s just delicious! Tastes like a gingersnap in cake form! Sucanat is a perfect sweetener for it. My only boo-boo was putting the glaze on before the cake had cooled enough, so it absorbed into the cake. But that was just an aesthetic issue – it didn’t reduce its deliciousness one bit! What a perfect cake for Autumn and Winter! Thank you for another big hit at Chez Laloofah!
P.S. I’ve made this delicious cake a second time (certainly won’t be the last!), and this time I reduced the amount of sugar (sucanat) to 3/4 cup, and it was perfect. Everyone we’ve shared it with has loved it too! This is a real winner.
I just made this cake and it turned out beautifully! What a delightful combination of flavours. The only thing I changed was the quantities for the leavening agents. For 2 teaspoons of baking soda the correct quantity of lemon juice, at a ration of 1:6, is 4 tablespoons not 1. I also discovered that 2 teaspoons of baking soda is double the amount needed for 2 cups of flour. So most of the baking soda in the recipe wasn’t being utilised as with not enough lemon juice their wasn’t enough acid. I instead used 1 teaspoon of baking soda and 1½ teaspoon citric acid (1:1.5). I could have used 2 tablespoons of lemon juice (1:6), or 2 teaspoons of Cream of Tartar (1:2), instead of the citric acid. Cake rose beautifully.
The proportions are fine as written, and it rises perfectly. The amount of acid in the recipe is not just a result of the lemon juice but of all the ingredients, especially the apple sauce. Lots of people have made it with excellent results, and I wouldn’t want anyone to change the proportions because of one anonymous comment and have the cake flop.
Just made this and oh my gosh is it delicious. I used half coconut sugar and half erythritol, used fresh ginger instead of candied (I was out) and tossed in some cacao nibs. Amazing!
Susan, this cake was simply delicious. The texture was heavenly, and the spice combination provided wonderful depth and warmth. Thank you!!
I’m so happy that you liked it!
Long-time reader, first-time poster…
I made this the other day when my kids (ages 3 and 4.5) wanted cupcakes – the maple glaze was the perfect “icing” and although they didn’t need it, it was truly decadent with it! What a treat and couldn’t be easier.
I went plant-based about a year ago and have lost over 40 lbs – your blog helps keep food interesting! Thanks for all your efforts!
This was a very tasty easy recipe and made a nice big cake. I used some of it to make a Scottish trifle and the cake was perfect for that. It’s a moist cake and very flavourful. I didn’t put on the glaze.
Hi Susan,
I wanted to report in that I made this lovely cake both gluten free and nearly sugar free and it was lovely! I decided to make it for dessert when a friend brought his two kids over for dinner. I went to the co-op thinking I might try sucanat, based on some of the comments to this post, but when I got there I found they had a Wholesome product called Zero that is the erythritol you mention above. I had watched Dr. Gregor’s video and was impressed. So I tried it. I used about 2/3 cup of the Zero and almost 1/3 cup of sucanat. And I did use the crystallized ginger bits in the cake, too.
For gluten free, I used a mix I made up myself in the days I used to bake a lot. It’s brown rice flour, sorghum flour, a little quinoa flour and potato starch. The one thing I forgot to do is to add some baking powder to the recipe, which is kind of standard in Gluten Free Goddess recipes in addition to the baking soda. There’s usally at least a tablespoon of leavening in cakes with similar proportions of flour to your recipe. If I had done that, I think it would have risen a tad more, since gluten free mixes need that extra “boost,” but nevertheless it was wonderful, and came out of the bundt pan intact even though I did not have cooking spray to treat it with. I made the maple glaze as well, and put it on just before we ate it.
The ten year old does not like ginger, but he loved the cake. He said the little pieces in the cake were just right and not too much. He gave his sister, who loves, ginger, the extra garnish, deciding that was too “gingery” for him. She loves ginger, and ate all of those, including the few extras I had. They took half of the cake home for breakfast the next morning.
I just wanted to let your readers know that this cake works with a gluten free mix, and it also works with nearly all erythritol. I think I could have used all Zero and it would have been fine, especially with the crystalized ginger bits in it to give a little kick.
I also had a piece and did fine. There was not enough sugar in it to produce any terrible side effects. Still, I decided to stay on the safe side, and let the rest of the cake leave the house. Didn’t want to hedge my bets!
It’s very nice to know I can use this erythritol for special occasion cakes and treats. I will definitely make this recipe again. The 13 year old liked it so much she asked me to send her the link.
So, even gluten free and nearly sugar free, it’s still a classy hit!!
thank you,
xoxo
moonwatcher
I’m so glad it worked out for you! Thanks for sharing how you made it gluten and nearly sugar free. I’m happy to hear that works and am thinking that now that I’m avoiding wheat and sugar, maybe I can make it your way as a treat sometime.
I made this cake today and we love it. Great recipe! So easy to make and so delicious.
Made this over the weekend– definitely a keeper!
This looks truly amazing. I can’t wait to bust out my vintage bundt pan for this gorgeous cake!
I made this for my Valentine in a heart-shaped silicone mould and he and I (and my family who got half) loved it. I subbed with a GF-flour blend and erythritol sugar, left out the candied sugar and it still turned out great. The glaze was a perfect touch. Thanks so much!
This looks so heavenly, I can’t wait to try it. Am I the only one who doesn’t know what or where to get candied ginger? I read all the comments and it seems to be the case.
Let me know where I can pick that up.
Marsha, I find it in the spices section of the grocery store. If you can’t find it locally, you can buy it online from Penzey’s or The Spice House.
Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe, finally I fund the one that Im going to keep for ever.
My husband an I love the flavor , taste divine we like this king of spice, I made into muffins next time I will use the bundt pan that I just bought it!
Thank you!