This moist French Apple Cake recipe has become one of our favorite fall desserts. It’s easy to make, delicious, and it holds together beautifully. Plus? Don’t tell anyone, but it’s gluten free!
Originally published in December 2021; this post has been updated.
Gluten Free French Apple Cake Recipe
This easy recipe makes a tender and moist cake that slices nicely and tastes divine. So divine that we make it regularly during apple season!
Besides a delicious gluten free dessert (the obvious answer!), this cake would be a great make-ahead addition to a brunch menu or tea time.
The Handcrafted Pantry
Ready to DIY your pantry with more wholesome ingredients? Check out my ebook, The Handcrafted Pantry! Filled with delicious recipes for some of your favorite condiments, snacks, and toppings, it’s the guide you need to start skipping packaged products and embrace homemade.
Ingredients
Flours — This gluten free apple cake calls for two types of gluten free flour. You’ll use both rice flour and almond flour for this recipe. I used a white superfine rice flour; you could also use brown rice flour. A 1:1 gluten free flour blend that is made for gluten free baking will work, too. If you don’t need to make this cake gluten free, you can simply replace the alternative flours used here with all-purpose flour.
5 Easy Steps to Transform Your Pantry!
Ready to switch from store bought to homemade? Let me help you make some changes! Grab my FREE five-part guide to getting started.
Sugar — Use your favorite brand of granulated cane sugar. I prefer organic. If you like a little more depth of flavor, brown sugar is a suitable option, though the resulting cake
Coconut oil — This works great for the dairy free people among us, but if you’d prefer butter, use an equal amount of that.
Eggs — Fresh eggs, store bought, use what you have readily available.
Sour cream or yogurt — We’ve made this with both sour cream and yogurt (most recently with sheep’s milk yogurt) and all work equally well and help to make this French apple cake extra moist. If you use yogurt, opt for plain or vanilla.
Apples — We used a mystery apple variety for this recipe! They were harvested locally and we just don’t know what they are. These apple varieties that are delicious in pies will work well here, too, but use what you have. Slice them thinly to create the delicious layers of apples in this cake.
Rum — Traditional French apple cake batter calls for rum. We did not use it in this recipe, simply because we didn’t have any on hand. You, though? Could add a quarter cup of spiced rum to jazz it up, if you like.
Making This Gluten Free Cake
My husband has been the real baker in the family ever since we were married. I have to give credit where it’s due; he’s adapted well to baking for us gluten free folks. (His starting point for this recipe is from the French apple cake recipe at The Manual.)
While the oven preheats, peel and thinly slice apples.
Grease a cake or pie pan.
Whisk dry ingredients in one bowl, and the wet in another until foamy.
Add wet to dry, and stir until just combined. Fold in apples.
Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan and top with granulated sugar.
Bake until golden brown. Cool the pan on a wire rack before serving.
FAQs
How do I store apple cake?
If there’s cake left, store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days. You can also make and freeze this apple cake for up to two months.
What type of apples are best for cake?
Pick up varieties that are considered firm, and you can mix tart with sweet like you would for a pie. I prefer a slightly tangy apple like Gravenstein or Granny Smith apples.
How do I cut apples for cake?
Peel first, then slice off half of the apple next to the core. Lay it down on the flat side and cut off both ends, right up the core. Finally, cut off the remaining piece from the core. You can now easily slice each of these pieces into thin slices.
★ Did you love this recipe? Be sure to give it a star rating below! ★
Moist & Delicious Apple Cake
Ingredients
- 4 large apples
- ½ cup almond flour
- ½ cup rice flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ cup granulated sugar plus 2 tablespoons for sprinkling
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup sour cream or yogurt
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 4 tablespoons coconut oil melted
Instructions
- Peel and thinly slice apples.4 large apples
- Preheat oven to 375ºF.
- Lightly oil an 8” round cake pan or pie pan
- Whisk flours and baking powder together in a large bowl.1/2 cup almond flour, 1/2 cup rice flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder
- In a separate small bowl, combine sugar, eggs, and salt together; whisk until foamy. Add yogurt and vanilla, mixing until evenly combined. Stir in melted coconut oil.1/4 cup granulated sugar, 2 large eggs, 3/4 teaspoon salt, 1/2 cup sour cream or yogurt, 1 tablespoon vanilla extract, 4 tablespoons coconut oil
- Add wet ingredients to the flour mixture, stirring until combined.
- Fold apples into batter until thoroughly coated; pour batter into prepared pan, using a rubber spatula to spread the batter evenly.
- Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons sugar.
- Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until a knife or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The cake should be golden brown on top.
- Remove cake from oven and cool on a wire rack.
Notes
- Traditional French apple cake batter calls for rum. We did not use it in this recipe, simply because we didn't have any on hand. You, though? Could add a quarter cup of spiced dark rum to jazz it up, if you like.
- Feel free to substitute an equal amount of melted butter for the coconut oil.
- If you are not gluten free, you can simply replace the alternative flours used here with all-purpose flour.
- Optionally: Embrace the flavors of fall by adding cinnamon and nutmeg to the batter.
I love this recipe. I still have to try it with rum.
Can I freeze left-over cake?
I haven’t, but I think it would freeze well.
Would it be possible to substitute a cup for cup gluten-free flour blend for the specified flours in the recipe?
I haven’t tried that, but I think it would work!
I will second the poster that said 4 large apples were too much to fit in this recipe! Could depend on your definition of a “large” apple, though. In any case, I used four large Fuji apples, the 8″ cake pan was crowded and the batter-to-apple ratio was barely adequate to coat each slice. It ended up needing an additional half recipe of batter to pour over the top and fill in the little gaps.
Great recipe, it was just the correct sweetness and wonderful served warm, with a little ice cream or topped with syrup as a breakfast treat.
Yes definitely depends on the apple, I’m glad you worked it out!
I had to substitute tigernut flour for the almond flour, but tried to make it as written otherwise. I found that I could not put close to 4 large apples in. I probably put 3 medium apples and that was plenty. I think that I used the full 4 tablespoons of oil. I found the taste to be great… definitely the exact correct sweetness. My major objections was that mine came out extremely greasy. Either I measured wrong or there was way too much coconut oil. I am going to try it again with less oil (maybe 2 T) since it was otherwise very good.
Sounds like you experimented and made it your own!
I would like to try this with the rum but shouldn’t the dry ingredients be in increased to compensate for the additional liquid? Can you tell what and the amount to increase? Than you.
It should be ok as is, but if it seems much too wet after mixing, I would add more almond flour a little at a time until the consistency seems good.
Can you use coconut flour or tapioca flour instead of rice flour?
No, on either of those. If I were replacing the rice flour, I’d try millet, cassava, or sorghum.
How did you know I’ve been looking for a gluten-free French Apple Cake recipe? You also included coconut oil for the dairy-free crowd, but what can I sub for the sour cream or yogurt to make it truly DF? Unfortunately, I’m GF and my sweet hubby is DF, so we are like Jack Spratt and his wife. Finding good recipes that work for us both is hard!
Coconut milk yogurt should work!