It’s Officially September, and to me that means APPLES!
Autumn is finally here and apples are ready to be baked into those delicious fall favorites!
Lately, the cake has been on my mind. I absolutely LOVE the end result of how the lovely cake looks sitting on the cake stand waiting for everyone to gather together and enjoy with one another at the festive table!
I am truly excited for you to receive the same JOY I experienced when I took the first bite of this cake! This is my new Fall favorite and I hope it will be yours too!
My re-creation from the old traditional “Apple Cake” has been transformed into lovely paleo, low carb, gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free,& SUGAR-FREECAKE. Make this a healthy tradition that you feel BLESSED to serve this at you table year after year!
I called my Autumn cake; LOVELY Layered Apple Cake. It was inspired by my bundt cake pan. I was thinking of how can I satisfy each bit with those delightful tart slices of fresh, crisp apples that you can actually physically see.
Since all my baking is 100% sugar-freeI kept thinking of ways how to add the favour and caramelization to the layered apples without the traditional method of sugar. Yes, I could have just used coconut sugar and this cake would still be 100% paleo, yet that is not my vision for my baking! I tend to go the extra mile, always ;) My vision for this Lovely Layered cake and all of my baked goods recipes is to optimize and BLESS your body, mind, and soul.
This means “natural” sugar, yes, even coconut sugar, maple syrup, and all other "paleo approved" HIGH sugar sweetener options are not worthy to give you the optimal results I am after. So what could I use instead of SUGAR to make my apples abound with flavor & have that tasty crisp (not mushy) texture?
FAT! But not just any fat. I wanted my apples to drizzled in this lovely fat that helps you burn fat!
Each Layer of apples I added a healthy dose of MCT Oil, which is my favorite MCT oil (highly concentrated coconut oil) to absorb deep into the apples. Sugars, the only thing they are good for is to spike your blood sugar, increases body fat, leading to not so lovely energy, bad cravings, and brain fog. I LOVE MCT Oil because it has the capacity to absorbed by your body and converted into brain-fuelling, fat-burning ketone energy! This is absolutely lovely. And you know you why I called this Layered Apple Cake “Lovely”? Not because it is simply DELICIOUS, but because it truly is something your body and brain will thank you!
Why do I add this LOVELY fat that makes ketones in most of my baking? First of all, this fat undergoes heat much better than any other fat, making it super safe to bake with. This is very important because damaged oxidized fat leads to toxins in the body and undesirable effects on your body! Ketones are the BEST energy source that can’t be stored as fat, and you get rapid, yet, lovely long-lasting energy.
If you don’t have or can't get access to MCT oil, you can use extra virgin coconut oil; you just have to melt in before you add it to the apples and into the cake batter. Just remember it will not give you the same KETONE effects as the MCT Oil, but it is still super healthy and is a great alternative!
Now, let’s Talk Apples!
The best apples to use in this Lovely Layered Apple Cake are Granny Smith apples. By nature, these apples are much more tart, dry, and don’t become mushy when cooked. When you slice into your first lovely piece you will be very pleased to see how the slices apples stayed in their perfect form!
Next, I peeled, de-cored, and sliced the apples nice and thin (about 4-5mm thick). Now, these apples need to get sugared and spiced up! I mixed in my go-to sugar-free sweetener; Lakanto Golden (monk fruit) & cinnamon of course! Tossed the thin sliced of apples to cover all sliced with the sugar & spice.
I added the MCT the first time right away to the the the mixture and found that the apples got very wet, that's why I decided to drizzle MCT over the apple layers when layered in a bundt pan. I like to make my desserts look pleasing to the eye so I add a little atop thin overlapping layers of apple slices inside the bundt pan before I added the first layer of cake batter.
The lovely sugar & spiced apples are layered evenly in between the center of cake batter. Add the second half of the remaining cake batter on top!
Let’s make, BAKE & BIT into your LOVELY Layered Apple Harvest Cake!
B L E S S I N G S
Andrea Witthoeft | Bakerlita
RECIPE
CAKE BATTER
1 ¼ cups coconut flour 1 cup almond flour ½ cup arrowroot flour 1 cup Golden Lakanto 1 teaspoon baking soda 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon sea salt 6 free-run eggs (room temp) 1 can full-fat coconut milk (400mL) 1/3 cup organic unsweetened Apple Butter ¼ cup MCT Oil | or coconut oil (melted) 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
APPLE LAYERED FILLING
4 Med. Granny Smith apples (peeled, cored and sliced) ¼ cup MCT Oil | or coconut oil (melted) 2 tablespoon ground cinnamon 1 cup Golden Lakanto
GLAZE/ICING
2 cups Lakanto Powder Sugar 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1 tablespoon Lemon Juice 1/2 cup warm water 1/2 cup (40g) Chopped pecan halves
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 10-inch tube pan (or large bundt pan) with flour-based baking spray.
Measure/weigh out coconut, almond & arrowroot flours into a bowl. Add Lakanto sweetener, salt, cinnamon, baking soda & powder. Whisk all together & set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together all wet ingredients; whisk until well mixed.
Fold in the dry ingredient into your mixed wet ingredients & set aside.
Peel, cut & remove the core of apples. Slice apples into thin slices; about 4-5mm. place apples in a large enough bowl that you can mix sugar & spice!
Add the sugar & spice ingredients on top of the thin-sliced apples and toss to coat.
Add one thin layer of over-lapping apples to bottom (OPTIONAL) of the pan to create a pretty apple pattern on top of the cake, drizzle one tablespoon of MCT oil, or melted coconut oil on top of apples.
Scoop out ½ of the cake batter in the bottom of the prepared pan. Layer all the remaining apples on top. Scoop out the remaining cake batter on top of the apple layer.
Bake for 1 & 15 minutes, or until a toothpick tester inserted in the cake comes out clean. When the cake is done, cool for 10-15 minutes and flip it carefully out onto a wire rack to cool. It may not come out perfect, but that's why we have the glaze to cover the imperfection ;)
GLAZE ICING
In a small bowl mix Lakanto powdered sugar, warm water, vanilla & lemon juice until the mixture becomes light & thin (I used about 1/2 cup of water, you can add more if needed). Pour the sugar-free glaze over the outside & inside edges of overlapping apples on top of the cake.
Garnish with chopped pecans around the edges where you drizzled the glaze down the bundt cake.
Store cake loosely covered with plastic wrap if you don't decorate/ eat it right away ;) !!!
Andrea Witthoeft
Author