Kale cake? Yes! You can't taste the kale in this delicious vegetable cake, but it gives this cake a bright green colour and leaves some goodness behind. Hundreds of readers have made it and loved it.
Kale Cake! From Veggie Desserts + Cakes published by Pavilion Books. Image: Clare Winfield
Kale Cake
I love this kale cake so much, that I've included it in my debut cookbook, Veggie Desserts + Cakes, all about vegetable cake recipes and vegetables in other desserts!
It has long been popular on this blog and hundreds of readers have written to me to tell me how much they've loved it.
I hope you love this vegetable cake too. Find out more about my vegetable cake cookbook.
This is the most popular vegetable cake recipe on my blog, with countless readers making it time and again.
Kale has risen up the ranks to become the world's trendiest leafy green, but I've shunned the usual kale chips and smoothies, and made it naughty by baking it into a cake.
Apple Kale Cake
This kale cake has a delicate apple-flavoured sponge, topped with a zesty apple icing and, although there is quite a bit of kale, the flavour doesn't overpower the other ingredients.
I've found that the fresher the kale, the brighter the colour of the cake.
When I can get my hands on freshly picked local heads of kale, the green is incredibly vibrant.
Supermarket bags of chopped kale also work fine, but the colour can occasionally turn out a little less bright.
But don't be tempted to add more kale to make the colour brighter or its flavour will come through too much!
Why Make Kale Cake
I've added applesauce to this veg cake, so less oil needs to be used.
This kale cake is sweet without being too sugary and has moist texture, as vegetable cakes often do.
For the icing, instead of the usual buttercream I beat the powdered sugar with applesauce and just a little butter to solidify it.
The tangy sweet icing compliments this vegetable cake well.
I know that you're still sceptical.
Heck, I would be if I hadn't tried it.
More Vegetable Cake Recipes
If you're looking for more unusual vegetable cake recipes, try:
cauliflower banana bundt cake with cinnamon icing
lemon cucumber cake with gin icing
vanilla pea cake.
Kale Cake Recipe Testimonials
I've had LOADS of readers make this kale cake again and again, so here are some of their thoughts:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "This was great – and I entered it to a competition and won first prize! Thanks!" - Mark
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "It was fun to keep people guessing as to why it was green. Needless to say, the cake received lots of compliments and there was none left. Several people asked where I found the recipe." - Megan
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "It was very tasty!" - Laurel
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "I just made this cake.. It’s delicious!!!!! Will definitely make it again" - Caroline
Vegan Kale Cake
And a reader successfully made it into a vegan kale cake:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "Delicious! I made it with flax “eggs” – came out great! Thank you for the beautiful recipe." - Lyd
Tips for Making Kale Cake
- Puree the kale very well, making a slightly stringy paste, in order to get an even green colour.
- If necessary, add a little of the applesauce to the kale to make pureeing easier.
- A hand blender/emersion blender works best to puree the kale.
- Readers have had success using flax eggs to make a vegan kale cake.
- Use any apples that you like to eat, gala, cox etc...
- Fresh kale can produce a more vibrant colour, though supermarket bags of chopped kale still work well.
- Don't be tempted to add more kale to get a brighter colour or the flavour will come through too much.
- Check out my other naturally green vegetable cakes!
Get the Kale Cake Recipe
If you make this kale and apple cake recipe, please tag it with #veggiedesserts on Instagram or other social media. I LOVE seeing your recreations of my recipes! Also, pop down to the comment and let me know how you got on with the recipe. It’s always great to hear from my readers.
Kale and Apple Cake with Apple Icing
Ingredients
- 3 cups loosely packed, (200g) kale raw, woody stalks discarded)
- 3 eggs
- ½ cup (100ml) vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ cup (100g) applesauce (see notes on how to make your own)
- ¾ cup (175g) granulated sugar
- 2 apples peeled and grated
- 2 cups (250g) plain flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
For the Apple Icing
- 2 cups (250g) icing sugar
- 2 tablespoons butter softened
- 2 tablespoons applesauce smooth, puree if necessary
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Grease and line 2 x 8”(20cm) round cake tins with baking paper.
- Tear the kale leaves into bite-sized pieces and boil or steam for a few minutes until tender. Refresh by running under cold water, drain and puree well with a hand blender.
**Kale is one of the more difficult vegetables to puree since it's quite fibrous. I've found that a hand blender works best. Persevere for a few minutes to blitz the fibrous leaves to a paste. If necessary, add a little of the applesauce when pureeing to make it easier to blitz.**
It will still be slightly stringy. Set aside. - Beat the eggs, oil, vanilla, applesauce and sugar together well with an electric mixer. Beat in the kale puree and grated apple.
- Sift in the flour, baking powder and salt and gently combine, taking care not to overmix at this stage.
- Pour into the prepared tins and bake for 30 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean.
- Cool for 2 minutes in the tins and then turn onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- For the Apple Icing:
Sift the icing sugar into a bowl, add the other ingredients and mix with an electric mixer until smooth. - Store in the fridge until ready to use. Frost the completely cooled cake.
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information provided is approximate and can vary depending on several factors, so is not guaranteed to be accurate. Please see a registered dietician for special diet advice.
Emily @amummytoo
Can't get over how beautiful this is. And sound so yummy. Thanks so much for joining in with #recipeoftheweek. I've Pinned and Tweeted this post and there's a fresh linky live now for this week. Hope you can join in! x
Kate Veggie Desserts
Hi Emily, thanks so much - it was indeed yummy. And thanks for pinning and tweeting about it. 🙂
[email protected]
I saw this over at Made With Love Mondays and, as a kale-oholic of long-standing, was intrigued. Super idea and fun colour. Pinning!
Kate Veggie Desserts
Thanks Kellie, I hope you get a chance to try it. If you do, let me know how it goes. The colour is amazing and even with all that kale in it you can't actually taste it. 🙂
Kirsty - Hijacked by Twins
I'd be curious to try this one! #RecipeOfTheWeek
Kate Veggie Desserts
Hi Kirsty, it sounds strange, but it is really delicious. You can't taste the kale and it is such an amazing colour. I hope you give it a try. 🙂
Coombemill
This looks truly original and a great way to get greens into kids! Love it. Stopping by from Made with love Mondays
Kate Veggie Desserts
Thank you! My kids loved it, it really is a great way to feed them greens. 🙂
nutritious deliciousness
that is amazing! would love a taste, I will definitely try it as I've always got kale in the fridge and need other ways to eat it! #recipeoftheweek
Kate Veggie Desserts
I hope you do try it, it's lovely and such a surprising way to use lovely kale! 🙂
Kate Veggie Desserts
Go on, Sarah, try it! It seems strange at first to be baking with vegetables, but we're all used to carrot cake so kale cake isn't that huge a step, really. Embrace the green cake! 🙂
Louisa, Eat Your Veg
Genius. Kale & Apple Cake, now I'd never have thought of that but what a great idea and so pretty too! I always seem to have a surplus of kale from my weekly veg boxes, so it's good to have a few ideas up my sleeve. I really really MUST try a green smoothie too, would be such a fab start to a day. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your blog by the way and shall make every effort to drop by more often :))
Kate Veggie Desserts
Thanks Louisa! So nice coming from a fellow veg-obsessive! Seriously, get on the green smoothie train. You can't even taste it and you feel so invigorated after drinking it. Then put the rest of the kale in cake! Yum!
Brittany
Cool! I googled veggie desserts and this amazing website came up. Do you substitute agave or something else for sugar? I want to try to eliminate refined white sugar from my baking but I'm no expert in how to adjust recipes for this
Kate Veggie Desserts
Hi Brittany. I'm so glad you like the site. This is quite a 'wet' recipe already, so I'd substitute the sugar for 1/2 cup agave and add an extra 1/4 cup of flour. I hope that works, please let me know.
Brittany
It turned out well. I diced the apples instead of grating them, which I think I like better. It wasn't too sweet since I went without the icing but I enjoyed it. I think that next time I will try to do it with pears instead
Kate Veggie Desserts
I'm glad you liked the cake, Brittany. Pears sound lovely, as does making it with diced apples. 🙂
Caroline
I just made this cake.. It's delicious!!!!! Will definitely make it again 🙂
Kate Veggie Desserts
I'm so glad you liked it Caroline! Thanks for dropping back to let me know how it went. 🙂
Javelin Warrior
So wonderfully green! And I love the use of the applesauce for both the cake and the frosting. Very creative a great way to work in more fiber and less fat/sugar...
Kate Veggie Desserts
Thanks. I'm all about easy ways to cut out the fat and sugar!
Capture by Lucy
Ooh great to discover your blog - I love experimenting. I shall be here some time...! #recipeoftheweek #tastytuesdays
Kate Veggie Desserts
I'm glad you like the blog, Lucy. I'm off to check yours out now. 🙂
Scott
This just stopped my heart. So freaking beautiful. So freaking delicious sounding! I will share this recipe with my friends!
Honest Mum
This looks AH-mazing and my kids would love green cake! Thanks for linking up to #Tastytuesdays. This week's is now live!
Kate Veggie Desserts
Thanks Vicki. My kids went pretty wild for it - and they're used to green everything! See you at #TastyTuesdays!
Kel
That looks amazing, I am drilling at the thought of apple icing!
Kate Veggie Desserts
Thanks Kel. The apple icing is great. Lowering the fat is a great bonus to a lovely appley flavour.
Jean
It looks incredibly green!
I am absolutely tempted to try making it because of its green-ness!
Kate Veggie Desserts
Thanks Jean, you should really try it. It is so, so green!
Kristen
I love your blog- its so wonderfully creative! So far I've looked at all your cake recipes and I think i'll make it a goal of mine to make each of them, they look great 🙂
Kate Veggie Desserts
Oh, that's so lovely, Kristen! Do pop back and let me know how they go. 🙂
Janie
It looks stunning and so moist! Thanks so much for sharing with Tea Time Treats, could you please email me a photo for the round up as I seem to be unable to copy any of the images. Thank you!
Janie x
Kate Veggie Desserts
Thanks Janie, I've sent it to you. x
Alison
Kale in a cake? I would never have thought of it. It looks lovely though
Kate Veggie Desserts
I'm so obsessed by vegetable cakes that it doesn't seem strange at all to me anymore! 🙂
June @ Squeaky Kitchen
Very interesting combination!
Kate Veggie Desserts
Thanks June 🙂
Jenny @ The Brick Castle
I have a bag of kale and I really wasn't sure what to do with it - cake seems a great idea - my family won't believe it when I present them with a green cake! 😀
Kate Veggie Desserts
I'm sure they'll be pleased! Though perhaps shocked at the fab bright green colour! 🙂
Nora
I too am a convert of Kale green smoothies, I'm having one every morning and it has completely cleared my skin of acne! I can't wait to try this cake as a very healthy treat!
Kate Veggie Desserts
What a great bonus! I just feel far more revived than I do with coffee so I love it. I hope you get a chance to try the cake. Let me know how it goes. 🙂
Olivia
Computer wouldn't let me make my own comment but so far so good with this cake! I had a taste of the batter and wound up licking the whole spoon! Very yummy! I myself added about of teaspoon of cinnamon to the frosting to add some flavor. Nice to have a dessert not to feel guilty about!
Nicole R
Hi Kate! I am making this cake on Saturday for my mom (her birthday is on St. Patricks day!). A few questions -- you say to "Grease and line the tins", I get greasing it with oil, but what are you lining the tin with? Also, what kind of apples do you recommend (royal gala, granny green etc.). Thank you!
Kate Hackworthy
Hi Nicole
You could line the cake with baking paper, but it's fine not to. For the apples, just use your favourite eating apples. Granny Smith could be a bit too tart, but Royal Gala would be perfect. I hope you like it!
Stéphanie M Roy
Hi, could I make this with rice flour?
Kate Hackworthy
Hi Stephanie
I haven't tested it with rice flour, but if you're used to substituting rice flour for wheat flour in cakes, then just substitute it how you normally sub it. Please come back and let me know how it turns out!