Could this be the very first recipe I wrote down with the thought of a recipe blog one day? It is. Hooray. Or should I say “finally!” I posted on Instagram that I made a cake, and then made a version that was a whole lot healthier almost a year ago, with the idea to share it, and then I shied away from it. Does time between when I made it up and today really matter, though? Not anymore. I have felt for quite some time that my season would come for sharing more, and maybe this is the start of that season.

But more on the recipe, and less about me. Well, actually, what I am about to say IS still about me. I have four kids, and with each of my children, I have had to be crazy about my diet while nursing them. No dairy with the first and second, no dairy, nightshades, gluten for a time, and no soy with the third, and then no dairy, soy, and nuts with the last. I have spent many hours finding recipes that were dairy/soy-free but still tasted like what I was used to eating. I would tweak and make changes to recipes I loved, with some great successes and some significant failures. I once was so desperate I tried to make cheese out of zucchini. It sounds ridiculous now with so many dairy-free cheese options out there, but this was eight years ago, and I lived in small-town USA, and such things didn’t exist. It should be noted that zucchini cheese is just as bad as it sounds.

Spiced vanilla applesauce cake ingredients

So, a year ago, when I made this recipe, I was nursing my baby girl, and it came out as a win. I feel like I want to call it a “snacking” cake. It isn’t overly sweet, but it does have the warmth from all those cozy spices (ginger, cinnamon, cloves) and probably suits the fall season.

I originally made it with my a good ol dairy-free cream cheese frosting (recipe is coming for that one too), but I wanted to have something that was completely refined sugar-free. I tried a few concoctions with ingredients like coconut flour, cashews, and maple syrup, and it wasn’t great. Keeping it simple with a thick date caramel was the answer. Heilala’s alcohol-free vanilla also stepped it up a notch, and this isn’t sponsored by them at all – I only wish. It would also be great with classic vanilla buttercream on top. You do what feels right for you.

To have a recipe I actually made out there on the interweb for others to try feels momentous to me, I hope you try it out and then send it to all your friends that would like it. Remember to tag me on Instagram if you do!

Spiced Vanilla Apple Sauce Cake

Makes 1 (9-inch) cake

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp kosher salt

2 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp ground ginger

¼ tsp ground cloves

¾ cup coconut sugar

¼ cup maple syrup

2 flax eggs (2tbsp ground flax + 6 tbsp water), or you can use real eggs

1 cup applesauce

½ cup oil (I used a sunflower coconut oil blend, if using coconut oil make sure it is melted)

½ cup plant-based milk (almond)

scant ½ tsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Prep a 9-inch springform pan by lining the bottom with parchment paper and lightly oiling and flouring the sides of the pan.

2. In a small bowl, make 2 flax eggs by mixing the ground flax and water, and letting it sit for at least 5 minutes. In a measuring cup mix plant-based milk (I used almond) with a scant ½ tsp of apple cider vinegar, let this sit for at least 5 minutes as well.

3. Put flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves in a large mixing bowl and whisk together.

4. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk coconut sugar, applesauce, maple syrup, flax eggs, milk mixture, oil, and vanilla until well combined.

5. Pour liquid mixture into the large mixing bowl with flour mixture, fold until it is well combined, and no flour spots show. Pour the batter into your prepped springform pan and, with your spatula, evenly spread it, making the top smooth.

6. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 32-40 minutes. Place it on a cooling rack for at least 10 minutes and then remove the cake from the pan. After the cake is thoroughly cooled, spread your choice of frosting on the top.

I like to keep this cake in the fridge for up to 4 days. Below is the recipe for the frosting pictured. This date caramel also tastes great as a dip for apples, or in some sort of apple bar as a caramel.

Date Caramel “frosting” (refined sugar-free)

Ingredients

8 dates, pitted

7 tbsp water, plus more for soaking dates

2 tbsp coconut oil

¼ tsp salt

Directions

1. Soak pitted dates in hot water to cover them for 10 minutes. Drain out the water and put the dates, 7 tbsp of new water, coconut oil, and salt together in a blender or food processor.

2. Blend until smooth, probably about 5 minutes or so because you need to stop and scrape down the sides every 30 seconds or so to make sure it comes out smooth. If it seems too thick, you can add water 1 tsp at a time until desired consistency. Spread on the desired cake or put it into a container and keep in the fridge for a couple of days.