Apple Cake, Ice Cream and Apple Butter

Last week, I scored 150# of pink lady apples for 15 cents/lb!!!  YAY!  So we've been eating them like crazy...I've also been making apple crumble, apple butter, and apple sauce {really, just WHAT is the difference between the two?}.  I still plan on deyhrating some as well, but for now we're just eating them like crazy--oh, so GOOD! 
Last night was my niece and nephew's birthday party, so I made Elana's  Apple Cake from Elana's Pantry.  Yum!  I served it with coconut milk icecream and apple butter.  I didn't have almond butter on hand, so I just ground almonds in my vita mix...my brother came up to me afterwards and said, "Wow, I am amazed at your ability to make something so good out of nothing!"  Um, is that a compliment?  I'll take it! ;-)  Of course, "nothing" means gluten, dairy, and egg free.
Here are the adaptations I made:

{APPLE CAKE}


1 apple, cored and quartered
1 c. almonds
1 tsbp. coconut oil
1/3 c. agave nectar
1 tbsp. Ener-G egg replacer plus 1/3 cup almond milk, mixed well
1 tsp. gf vanilla extract
1 tbsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. sea salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grind almonds with the coconut oil into an almost-nut-butter-consistancy.  Scrape the almost-almond-butter into a bowl and set aside.  Place the quartered apple to blender and pulse.  Add the almost-almond-butter, agave nectar and egg replacer and blend until smooth.  Add the spices, vanilla, and sea salt.  Mix well.  Pour in a greased 8x8" pan.  Bake for 28-30 minutes. Serve warm, a la mode, with a spoonful of apple butter on top.  (I so wish I'd gotten a pick of this--it was purty!) 

This version will not rise as much as the original from lack of real eggs.