Name: Vegan Eve's Pudding
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 30 min
Ingredients: 900 g (unpeeled weight) Bramley apples, about 4 large (or use 5 Granny Smith apples); 80 g (½ cup) light brown soft sugar; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 1 Tablespoon lemon juice; 2 Tablespoons water; 160 g (1 + ⅓ cup) plain (all-purpose) flour; 10 g (1 Tablespoon) cornflour (cornstarch); 1 + ⅛ teaspoon baking powder; pinch salt; 110 ml (⅓ cup + 2 Tablespoons) unsweetened non-dairy milk; 50 g (3 Tablespoons + 1 teaspoon) non-dairy yogurt; 50 g (3 Tablespoons + 1 teaspoon) vegan butter (melted); 50 ml (3 Tablespoons + 1 teaspoon) neutral oil (such as sunflower); 120 g (½ cup) caster or granulated sugar; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; ½ teaspoon vinegar; a handful flaked almonds

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Vegan Eve's pudding - this classic British pudding consists of tangy stewed apples topped with tender vanilla sponge cake.

This vegan version is easy to make and is total comfort food! Serve it warm with custard for a delicious, nostalgic dessert.

Vegan Eve's pudding in a white baking dish on a brown surface with a jug of custard, bowl of flaked almonds and sliced apples.

This vegan Eve's pudding aka apple sponge pudding is a retro dish that really deserves a revival!

It is a wonderful cold weather comfort food pud, served warm with lashings of custard or vanilla ice cream. The perfect end to a Sunday dinner.

What Is Eve's Pudding?:

Eve's pudding, also known as Mother Eve's pudding, is a traditional British dessert which consists of a layer of stewed apples topped with a simple vanilla sponge cake, often a Victoria sponge mixture.

The name is a reference to the biblical Eve tempting Adam with the apple.

In it's original form, Eve's pudding was a boiled pudding made with apples, breadcrumbs, currants and suet. I think that the more modern version of apples and sponge cake sounds much nicer however!

A jug of vegan custard being poured onto a slice of Eve's pudding.

What Do I Need To Make Vegan Eve's Pudding?:

Apples: I recommend using Bramley cooking apples if you can, or a sharp variety such as Granny Smith if not. Any kind of apple will work in a pinch though.

Plant milk: You can use any kind you like but it should ideally be unsweetened and soy milk is best as it has the highest protein content.

Non-dairy yogurt: I love using plant yogurt in vegan cakes, it is a great egg replacer and keeps the cake moist as well as adding flavour.

Either soy or coconut yogurt will work, ideally unsweetened. I like the Coconut Collaborative.

I haven't tested any substitutes for the yogurt I'm afraid. Oatly creme fraiche would likely work, and possibly unsweetened applesauce.

Vegan butter and oil: Generally in cakes butter adds flavour, but oil makes the cake more moist. I've gone for the best of both worlds and used both!

For the best results you should use a vegan block butter rather than the spreadable kind in a tub. I recommend Naturli Vegan Block or Flora Plant block.

For the oil I tend to use sunflower as it has a neutral flavour, though any neutral flavoured oil will work.

Vinegar: This helps the cake rise and gives it a light texture. I use either apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar. You can also use lemon juice instead.

Plain flour: Just regular plain (all-purpose) flour. I don't recommend swapping it for wholemeal, it will make the cake too dense.

I haven't tried making this cake gluten-free, but I suspect that it would work ok with a gluten-free flour blend plus ¼ teaspoon xanthan gum if the flour doesn’t already contain it.

Cornflour (cornstarch): Adding a bit of cornflour (cornstarch) gives the cake a lovely light texture. You can swap it for more plain flour if you don't have any.

Sugar: I use light brown sugar for the apples, and caster sugar for the cake. You can use granulated sugar instead.

Baking powder: Needed to make the cake rise.

Salt: a little bit of salt rounds out the flavour.

Vanilla extract: Extract is better than essence and you can also use vanilla bean paste.

Lemon juice: I add a bit of lemon juice to the apples as I prefer them on the sharper side to balance out the sweet cake. You can omit it if you prefer.

Flaked almonds: These are not strictly traditional but I like to scatter a handful of flaked almonds over the top of the cake before baking for a bit of extra flavour and texture.

Close up of vegan Eve's pudding with a spoonful removed from the baking dish.

How To Make Vegan Eve's Pudding:

(Full measurements and instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the page)

Peel, core and thickly slice the apples. Place them in a pan with the brown sugar, vanilla extract, lemon juice and water.

Step 1, the peeled, cored and sliced apples in a pan.

Bring up to a simmer and cook for a couple of minutes until the apples have softened slightly but still retain their shape.

Tip them into a greased baking dish and spread level.

Step 2, the cooked apples in the baking dish.

To make the sponge, sift together the flour, cornflour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.

In a separate jug, whisk together the milk, yogurt, melted butter, oil, vinegar, sugar and vanilla extract.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir with a balloon whisk until no dry lumps remain.

Drizzle the batter over the apples and spread it level. Scatter over a handful of flaked almonds.

Bake the pudding for 25-30 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake portion comes out clean.

Serve warm with custard or ice cream.

Top Tips:

All of my recipes are developed using grams, and as with all of my baking recipes I really do recommend using the metric measurements with a digital scale rather than the cup conversions. Cups are a wildly inaccurate measuring system and you will get far better, more consistent results using a scale, not to mention that it is also easier and less messy than cups!

It is not traditional to add cinnamon to the apples so I didn't here, but it would be delicious with a teaspoonful added while they are cooking.

For the best results follow the recipe closely and make it exactly as written. Changing any of the ingredients could affect the outcome of the cake.

Make sure that you don't over-beat the batter as that can make the cake tough. Just mix it until no dry lumps remain. I recommend stirring it by hand with a balloon whisk.

You could swap the apples for pears if you wish, or use a mixture of both.

I highly recommend serving this vegan Eve's pudding with vegan custard. Alternatively it goes great with my vegan vanilla ice cream.

Can I Make It In Advance?:

Eve's pudding really is best freshly baked, still warm from the oven; so I don't recommend making it in advance.

You can prepare the apple mixture ahead of time and keep it refrigerated for a day or so before making the rest of the pudding.

Any leftovers can be stored in the fridge for 3-4 days and reheated in the microwave to serve.

More Vegan Pudding Recipes:

A slice of custard topped vegan Eve's pudding on a white plate.

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5 from 4 votes