National Applesauce Cake Day just happened. That made us think a lot about our recipes. Any time we share a picture of an apple pie, we immediately hear protests from folks who say you can’t enjoy apple desserts on a low-carb diet. It’s true that you can’t have a standard traditional apple pie on a low-carb diet. But there are tons of low-carb apple pie and apple cake recipes that are delicious; they just don’t follow the standard recipe.
Applesauce in a cake can replace eggs and cut back on processed sugar. Applesauce cake was popular during WWII, during sugar rationing. So today we’re sharing four low-carb tasty apple cakes you can enjoy without worrying about your blood sugar.
We love starting with this recipe because it uses one of the best low-carb tricks for when you want an apple dessert without the high carb count. It mixes zucchini in. The mild flavor and tender texture of the zucchini stretches the apples in the cake. The cake uses a cup of apples, half a large zucchini and a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar. You are left with an apple cake that no one will suspect is hiding a vegetable. A serving has 148 calories, five grams of carbs, two grams of fiber and 13 grams of fat. Get the recipe.
Usually, when we think of upside down cakes, we think of pineapple, but we love any fruit-at-the-bottom cake. The apples caramelize as the cake bakes, and, when turned out, you are left with a beautiful top. The cake itself is a spice cake made with pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg and cardamom. This is a perfect cake with coffee or tea. We always share the original recipe’s nutritional information while encouraging you to calculate it yourself with your own ingredients. Unfortunately, the website’s information is a bit sparse. A serving has 202 calories and seven grams of carbs. Get the recipe.
While this cake has the same name as the first one on our list, it couldn’t be more different. This cake has a layer of baked diced apples in caramel on top. This is almost like an upside down cake that is baked right side up. Unlike the upside down cake, the cake portion of this dessert is a simple white cake. A serving has 245 calories, 7.5 grams of carbs, 3.2 grams of fiber and 23 grams of fat. Get the recipe.
Finally, to celebrate the holiday, we have the cake itself. Using unsweetened applesauce makes it lower in carbs than many cakes. But this recipe wasn’t written to be low-carb. You can cut sugar out of it by replacing the half a cup of maple syrup in the recipe with a low-carb alternative. As it’s written, it’s already lighter than most cakes, but you can make it lower in carbs if you want. A serving has 103 calories, 15 grams of carbs, one gram of fiber and four grams of fat. Get the recipe.
We hope you enjoy baking with apples. They don’t have to be off limits when you are eating low-carb! You just have to use the right recipes!
