Grain Free Apple Butter Walnut Cake

I realized today that it has been close to forever since I have posted a new recipe! This seems to happen a lot when I am planning new cooking classes for work. All of my energy and creativity goes into the new recipes for the class, and you, my poor loyal blog fans, are left so deprived!  It is also the beginning of gardening season in southern Ontario where we live, and being an avid gardener, my priorities have definitely been focused elsewhere for the last month or so. Enough with the excuses though, however good they are! I am fixing it here and now, before another minute goes by! 

I made this cake this afternoon, while doing another test run of a new grain free bread recipe that is very (very!)  promising. (I did have some gardening to do but mother nature was not cooperating, so I opted to stay inside!) Both recipes turned out well, but the bread has a few minor issues that I still want to tweak before I post it. (I have to tell you, though, that it stays soft, it slices thin, and lasts for a few days wonderfully as the recipe stands right now…but I will save the rest for another post! It will be worth waiting for, trust me!)

Now, back to the cake! I was initially aiming for something close to a cinnamon bun flavored cake (because grain free dough does not like to roll up!)  But, when I was getting the eggs out of the fridge, the jar of apple butter was staring at me with such aplomb that I knew it wanted to be a part of the cake. Apple butter, in my humble opinion, is such an under-utilized ingredient in the kitchen. It has a much more concentrated apple flavour than applesauce, and lends itself to many different uses in the kitchen. I have made a killer salad dressing, a marinade, and now this lovely cake, all with fantastic results.   Be sure to buy one that has no added sugars, the apples are sweet enough on their own. (Eden makes a lovely one, I highly recommend it!) It would also be divine on a slice of my new grain free bread, toasted, with a slathering of butter…just sayin…

Grain Free Apple Butter Walnut Cake

Batter:

5 eggs

½ cup coconut flour

1/3 cup arrowroot starch/flour

¼ cup chickpea flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 Tbsp Apple cider vinegar

½ tsp salt

1/3 cup coconut sugar

1/3 cup kefir, yogurt or non dairy alternative like cultured coconut yogurt

¼ cup melted coconut oil

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Topping ingredients:

½ cup chopped walnuts

½ cup apple butter

2 Tbsp coconut oil

2 tsp cinnamon

¼ cup coconut sugar

Preheat oven to 350F

Line an 8x8 glass baking pan with parchment or grease well.  Set aside.

Measure all of the batter ingredients into a medium to large mixing bowl. Using an immersion blender, (or a whisk and lots of elbow grease) mix until very well combined and smooth.

Scrape batter into prepared pan and set aside.

Using  the same bowl, measure the topping ingredients and mix well to combine. Drop spoonfuls of topping evenly around the top of the batter, giving a swirl with a knife to distribute it slightly.

Bake in preheated oven for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the middle comes out just clean.

Remove from oven and cool before cutting and serving.