light, moist, traditional Greek vegan apple cake!

Milopita (Μηλόπιτα) or apple cake is traditionally enjoyed for breakfast in Greece. So moist, chock full of sweet, juicy apples and spiced with cinnamon and cardamom, milopita is a delicate breakfast or dessert that will become a fast favorite in your house!

This simple to bake recipe is a great way to use up apples that might be a little too bruised or old to eat on their own. And you can choose to mix in chopped walnuts or golden raisins for an apple cake with even more texture and tastes.

The apples for this cake are sliced, baked and chopped to your preferred size. Apple cider adds another layer of yum and helps to make milopita light and airy. I always like to freshly grind the cardamom seeds as they bump up the flavor and are the perfect complement to apples.

baked apples, cinnamon and cardamom

To bake your apples, just peel, core, thinly slice and layer in a baking pan.  Cover tightly with foil and bake for 30 minutes at 400 degrees. To give you a good idea of what your baked apples should be, I normally use McIntosh apples and this baking method gives me apples that I can mash with a fork using just slight pressure.

You can do this step ahead and keep your baked apples covered, refrigerated for 3-4 days.

sliced apples ready for the oven

Mix up the ingredients according to the instructions below and you’ll have a thick, aromatic batter – feel free to lick the spoon!  Spread the batter in an even layer in your baking pan.  And it’s a good idea to line the pan with parchment paper. Not only does it make the cake less likely to stick but also gives you ‘handles’ to help lift the cake from the pan for faster cooling.

milopita batter in pan

Your milopita will bake up in about 40 minutes and should be a beautiful golden brown on top.  The sides of the cake will have pulled away from the pan and a toothpick inserted will come out clean.  You can cool in the pan or lift it out carefully to cool on a board or rack. And wait until your milopita is completely cooled before cutting – your patience will be rewarded, I promise!

milopita out of the oven

Ingredients

• 2 cups mashed cooked apples (4-5 medium apples)
• 2/3 cup apple cider
• 3 1/2 cups flour
• 1 1/3 cups sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup vegetable or light olive oil
• 1 tsp fresh ground cardamom (15 pods)
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves

• 1 cup walnuts and/or golden raisins (optional)

Baking Instructions

In medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In larger bowl, mix sugar, apple cider, vegetable oil and spices until well blended.

In third small bowl, gently mash cooked, sliced apples.

Add apples to liquid ingredients, mix well.  Add dry ingredients to wet approximately 1 cup at a time. Stir to combine well.

If you’re adding walnuts, mix them in at this time.

Spread batter evenly in parchment lined 9×13″ baking pan. Bake for 40 minutes at 350 degrees. You can either cool your cake right in the pan or allow cake to rest for 10-15 minutes and then remove from pan to finish cooling.

Allow milopita cool completely before cutting.  Dust with powdered sugar.

This recipe also makes 2, 8″ loaf cakes (bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour) and the loaves freeze well for up to two months.

Bundt pans make a lovely, albeit less traditional, presentation too! This recipe fits a 10″ bundt pan perfect. Just bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 35-40 minutes.

Milopita’s in the oven now and so many aromas and flavors of Greece are filing the kitchen – breakfast is almost ready!

breakfast of milopita and coffee