Applesauce Pound Cake {Gluten-free, Paleo, Egg-free}
This paleo pound cake is the perfect simple cake made with applesauce, almond flour, and other wholesome ingredients. It’s paleo, egg-free, and gluten-free.
There’s nothing quite like a piece of pound cake at a bakery or a coffee shop! I’ve been seeing so many recipes online recently for copycats for the Starbucks lemon loaf pound cake and it got me wanting to try my own version! After realizing I was out of lemons, I wound up making a cross between a pound cake and applesauce cake, which is SO delightful!
Poundcake is traditionally made with regular flour, butter, milk, eggs, and sugar, but this version is made with no eggs, no grains, and with natural sweeteners like maple syrup and applesauce. The end result is a cake that’s moist and fluffy with a hint of apple flavor, and topped off with powdered sugar as a nod to traditional applesauce cake.
The Ingredients for the Paleo Pound Cake
- Almond Flour and Coconut Flour. These both work uniquely and I haven’t made the pound cake with any flour substitutes.
- Golden Flaxseed Meal. This is used as an egg substitute in the cake. Normally, you would make a “flax egg” with water and flax, but it’s added in dry for this cake. You can technically use regular flax if that’s what you have on hand, but it will change the color of the cake a bit.
- Baking Powder. I like this baking powder!
- Applesauce. This naturally sweetens the cake!
- Maple Syrup and Vanilla Extract.
- Almond Milk. You can also sub another dairy-free milk.
- Ghee. Ghee is clarified butter so any milk solids are removed, but you’re still left with that buttery flavor. Though I haven’t tried it, you can also try to use melted coconut oil instead.
- Organic Powdered Sugar. This is optional for topping!
How to make Paleo Pound Cake
- Make the batter. Combine the wet and dry ingredients in a bowl. The batter will be moist but firm, and the texture somewhere between a dough and a batter.
- Bake. Add the batter to the loaf pan, and use a spatula to evenly flatten. Bake in the preheated oven for 50 minutes or until the top of the cake is golden brown, and a toothpick can be inserted and comes out clean.
- Serve. Carefully transfer to a cooling rack and allow to cool for 20 minutes before topping with optional organic powdered sugar and slicing and serving.
Do you store this cake in the fridge?
Yes! You can also freeze it, but it likely won’t make it to the freezer… we finish it quickly when we have it around!
Can you use banana instead of applesauce in this recipe?
Applesauce is used in the cake as a natural sweetener and a partial swap for eggs. Banana would likely work, though I haven’t tried it. It would however change the flavor of the cake.
What can you use instead of almond flour?
I haven’t used anything other than almond flour in this recipe, so it would take some tweaking to get it right with another flour.
What can you use instead of coconut flour?
Coconut flour is a unique ingredient and hard to swap out. You can try oat flour, but it may not work quite the same.
Can you make this cake dairy-free?
Technically, by using ghee instead of butter, the cake is lactose-free. Ghee is clarified butter so any milk solids are removed, but you’re still left with that buttery flavor. Though I haven’t tried it, you can also try to use melted coconut oil instead.
Can you use a different topping instead of powdered sugar?
You can add a glaze like a lemon glaze, or simply leave the toppings off altogether!
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Applesauce Pound Cake {Gluten-free, Paleo, Egg-free}
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Ingredients
- 2 cups almond flour
- ¼ cup coconut flour
- 2 tbsp golden flaxseed meal
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ¼ cup applesauce
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 1 cup almond milk, sub another dairy-free milk
- ⅓ cup melted ghee
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp organic powdered sugar, optional for topping, not paleo
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F and grease a loaf pan, or line with parchment paper.
- Using a large bowl, combine the almond flour, coconut flour, flaxseed meal and baking powder. Stir until fully incorporated.
- Add the applesauce, maple syrup, almond milk, ghee and vanilla extract. Stir to combine. The batter will be moist but firm, and the texture somewhere between a dough and a batter.
- Add the batter to the loaf pan, and use a spatula to evenly flatten. Bake in the preheated oven for 50 minutes or until the top of the cake is golden brown, and a toothpick can be inserted and comes out clean.
- Carefully transfer to a cooling rack and allow to cool for 20 minutes before topping with optional organic powdered sugar and slicing and serving.
Notes
Can you sub ghee with coconut butter?
I haven’t tried it, but I would use melted coconut oil for the ghee if you want to replace it!
I really want to give it 5 stars….I was so excited about trying this recipe! I am new to all the food changes…but I tried it and even though the toothpick came out clean it was still not cooked in the middle. The only thing I changed was I had to use coconut instead of ghee. I have an allergy to dairy even though it says ghee is dairy free I am too nervous to try. Is there something I should have done differently? Less coconut oil? Could I use plant based butter? I even cooked it an extra 10 mins.
Sorry about that! Melted coconut oil for ghee should work. I find that coconut flour can vary a lot with dryness depending on the brand. I like the brand Anthony’s!
Would the substitution of one egg for the flaxseed meal work well? Or would two eggs be needed? Thanks!
Do you think you could sub ghee for olive oil or vegan butter? Thanks!
Vegan butter should work!
If you wanted to use eggs instead of flax would it be 2 eggs?
I haven’t tried real eggs instead but it would probably take some tweaking since there’s added moisture so I’m not sure!