Buckwheat Apple Cake With Honey

This delicious buckwheat apple cake with honey is really easy to make; it’s naturally 100% gluten-free and refined sugar-free.

Apple slices get folded into a buckwheat flour batter, spiced with cinnamon and sweetened with honey. A glaze of apricot jam makes it glossy on top, while the inside stays light, rich, and juicy. A perfect cozy fall dessert!

This buckwheat apple cake with honey is more apple than cake

I love using buckwheat in recipes. Buckwheat flour is healthier and lighter than regular all-purpose flour, has a pleasant nutty taste, and packs so many more nutrients. Buckwheat soda bread is always on our menu, and we’ve paired buckwheat with plums in a delicious buckwheat plum cake with cottage cheese and a buckwheat upside-down cake.

But fall is when apples are everywhere. Besides my favorite apple dessert tufahije, I was craving a juicy gluten-free cake that’s easy to make, light, and healthy. And that’s how this buckwheat apple cake with honey was born. It looks a lot like the famous invisible apple cake, except this one can never go invisible; the buckwheat won’t let it.

Here’s why you’ll love it:

It’s rich and refreshing. There are more apples than buckwheat batter in this cake, so it’s very juicy and tender, not dry at all. And despite all that juice, it slices beautifully.

It’s completely gluten-free. It’s a light dessert with more apples than flour, and it won’t leave you feeling stuffed.

It’s sugar-free, too. We sweetened it only with honey, and that’s plenty. Apples, honey, and cinnamon together are an unbeatable flavor trio.

You need only a few ingredients. Apples, buckwheat flour, honey, milk, butter, cinnamon, a teaspoon of baking powder, and a little apricot jam on top. That’s all it takes to make a really delish cake.

It’s super easy to make. Fifteen minutes of work, and most of it is peeling apples. Fold them into the honey-cinnamon batter, bake for 50 minutes, brush with warm apricot jam. Glossy, gorgeous, gone by evening.

You can easily adapt it. Swap the apples for pears, quinces, plums, or peaches, or mix a few. Toss in walnuts or raisins between the layers if you like a little crunch and chew. Every fall can taste a little different.

What goes into this buckwheat apple cake

APPLES – You’ll need 8 apples: 7 go into the batter, and 1 goes on top. I ran out and topped mine with pears, and it worked out great. Pears, quinces, or stone fruit all work, so feel free to swap them all. If you can slice it, it can go in this cake.

BUCKWHEAT FLOUR – Only 14 tablespoons (100 grams), so light buckwheat flour works just as well as the nuttier, healthier dark buckwheat flour.

HONEY – Ours is a mix of chestnut, linden, and wildflower honey. I admit I’m too lazy to swap the honey supers on our hives to catch each type separately. Any honey works here, as long as it gets along with apples.

EGGS – Three large eggs hold everything together. No need to separate the egg whites and egg yolks here, they get whisked together in one bowl.

BUTTER – Just 2½ tablespoons (35 grams), unsalted. Most of it goes into the batter, and a small piece greases the edges of the pan.

LEMON – Well, the juice. It goes onto the sliced apples to keep them from turning brown. If your lemons are small, use two.

CINNAMON – Optional, but its warm flavor loves apples and makes the whole kitchen smell like fall. No other spices needed.

APRICOT JAM – Brushed on while the cake is still warm for a beautiful glossy finish. I used sugar-free apricot jam. Peach jam works too, or skip the jam and use honey.

How to bake a delicious buckwheat apple cake with honey

STEP 1: Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) with the fan on. In a small saucepan, warm the milk (don’t let it boil) and melt in the honey and butter. Spice it up with a tablespoon of cinnamon. Save a small piece of butter for greasing the pan.

STEP 2: Crack the three eggs into a large mixing bowl and whisk the egg whites and egg yolks together. Pour in the warm milk and honey mixture. No mixer needed here, a whisk does the job.

STEP 3: Add the dry ingredients: buckwheat flour and 1 tsp of baking powder. Whisk until smooth. The batter should be very runny, with no buckwheat flour clumps hiding anywhere.

STEP 4: Wash and peel the apples. For a 9-inch (24 cm) tin, you’ll need seven medium apples for the batter and one more for the top.

STEP 5: Slice the apples thinly with a knife or a mandoline. Knife-cut slices are a little sturdier and less likely to break when they go into the batter. Toss them right away with the juice of one large lemon so they don’t turn brown.

STEP 6: Drop the apple slices into the bowl with the batter and gently fold them in with a rubber spatula until every slice is coated. Keep one apple’s worth of slices aside for the top.

STEP 7: Line the bottom of a 9-inch (24 cm) round springform tin with parchment paper and grease the edges with butter. Pour in the apple batter. No need to arrange each slice; just press them down (gently) as flat as you can.

STEP 8: Arrange the saved slices on top. Mine are pears, because the apples ran out before the cake did (okay, I hid a few for the photos). Works totally great.

STEP 9: Bake on the middle rack for 50 minutes at 350°F (180°C) with the fan on. If the fruit on top browns too fast, lay a piece of parchment paper over the tin.

STEP 10: Give the cake a few minutes to rest. Meanwhile, warm ½ cup (about 175 grams) of apricot jam in a small pan and brush it over the top and sides. Once it reaches room temperature, it’s ready for slicing and serving.

A few useful tips and tasteful twists

Don’t overheat the milk. Honey is acidic, so if the milk is too hot, it will curdle as soon as the honey goes in. Too much heat also destroys all the good stuff in honey. If the milk isn’t warm enough to melt the butter, melt the butter in a separate bowl and stir it into the mixture.

Don’t slice the apples too thin. A mandoline is fine, but paper-thin slices break apart once you fold them into the honey buckwheat batter. If you want the apples to stay visible in the cake, a knife gives you sturdier slices.

Don’t burn the top. Keep an eye on your cake while it bakes. If the top apple slices start browning too fast, cover the cake with a piece of parchment paper. Check for doneness with a toothpick.

Give it time to chill. This cake has way more apples than batter, so it needs a little patience before slicing. Once it reaches room temperature, pop it in the fridge for an hour to firm up. Clean slices are worth the wait.

Brush it with honey. Out of apricot or peach jam? Mix a few tablespoons of honey with ½ tablespoon of water and brush that over the cake instead.

Serve it with something creamy. A spoonful of whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream turns a slice into a proper dessert. Pour a cup of coffee and put your feet up.

How long will this buckwheat apple cake with honey keep

I can’t tell you exactly how long it lasts, because ours never makes it past day one. But it’s made with simple ingredients, so it keeps well if you don’t eat it all by the evening.

In the fridge: Store it in a covered container, or keep it in the tin and wrap the top with plastic wrap or aluminum foil. It stays good for up to 5 days.

In the freezer: Wrap it in plastic wrap or tuck it into a container or resealable bag. It keeps for up to 3 months. Freezing it in slices means you can grab just one when the craving hits.

Love baking with buckwheat flour?

Here are some more buckwheat recipes you might like:

Dandelion Buckwheat Bread With Honey

Buckwheat Biscotti With Fruits and Nuts

Buckwheat Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies

Buckwheat Upside Down Plum Cake

Buckwheat Cookies With Strawberry Jam

Buckwheat Soda Bread With Yogurt

Plum Buckwheat Cheesecake With Cottage Cheese

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