A deliciously easy Cinnamon Apple Cake made from scratch. This soft and tender Apple Cake is packed with fresh apples and features a crunchy cinnamon topping and a drizzle of sweet frosting.
Apple-licious 🍎
Can we take a moment to talk about the match made in heaven that is apple and cinnamon? This terrifically tender Cinnamon Apple Cake is my new fave.
It’s soft, it’s sweet and it’s jam-packed with fresh, juicy apples. The final touch is a sprinkling of sugary cinnamon and a sweet milk glaze.
Can I just say that I never thought a Cinnamon Apple Cake could taste so good. I baked quite a few cakes to get this recipe JUST right and when I finally landed on the winning recipe, I was beyond excited.
One bite of this soft and fluffy masterpiece and I was fist-pumping the air. After many failed Apple Cinnamon Cakes, I instantly knew this one was the winner. Of course, I had to have a few more slices just to be oh-so-sure.
When I first attempted this cake, I started by used oil as the main fat. This is because oil tends to add moisture to baked goods, like in my Olive Oil Brownies or my Malteser Chocolate Cake. I love using oil in cakes.
The first cake was lovely and soft and the taste was on point. But the edges were a little dry for my liking. So I moved on to see if butter would work better, while also slightly altering the amount of flour and sugar.
Let’s just say, it didn’t. The first butter version used melted butter and the cake was heavy, dense and not great. To add lightness and get back closer to the original version, I tried creaming the butter and sugar, like I do in my Baked Cinnamon Sugar Donut recipe. It was better, but still nothing rivalled the oil version.
So finally, I returned to oil, but used a little less flour and added yoghurt to ensure the cake was soft, moist and never dry. It was crowned the WINNER.
What you have here is a melt-in-your-mouth cake that’s studded with fresh apples. It boasts a sugar cinnamon crumble, that once baked, becomes crisp and flavourful.
The cinnamon topping blends perfectly with the juicy, chunks of apple. Then, just because we can, we drizzle the entire cake with a two ingredient sweet sugar glaze. It’s pure perfection.
TIPS FOR MAKING APPLE CAKE
- This Cinnamon Apple Cake is incredibly easy to make. You only need a bowl and spoon – no need for an electric mixer.
- You can use any kind of apple you like, I use red Royal Gala apples. You’ll need to peel and then chop your apple into roughly 1/2 inch squares – discarding the core.
- Mix the dry ingredients with the wet ingredient until combined – try not to over mix.
- The crumble is made using sugar and cinnamon. Mix together using melted butter until it clumps like sand. Sprinkle over the top of your cake batter – no need to be perfect here.
- Bake until golden and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- The final touch? Drizzle over the sweet sugar glaze and serve!
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PinDescription
A tender Cinnamon Apple Cake drizzled with a milk glaze.
Ingredients
Apple cake
- 210 grams (1 and 1/2 cups) plain flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 150 grams (3/4 cup) caster sugar
- 1 cup (approximately 1 large) red apple, peeled and roughly chopped
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 120 ml (1/2 cup) vegetable oil
- 120 ml (1/2 cup) Greek yogurt
Cinnamon topping
- 50 grams (1/4 cup) caster sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
Sugar glaze
- 30 grams (1/4 cup) icing or powdered sugar
- 1–2 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 C (360 F). Grease and line a 8 or 9 inch round cake tin with baking or parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, add flour, baking powder, baking soda and sugar. Add chopped apple and stir briefly to combine.
- In a separate bowl, add eggs, vanilla, oil and yoghurt. Whisk briefly just to break up the egg yolks.
- Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and gently mix with a wooden spoon until combined – but be careful not to over mix. Spoon batter into prepared tin.
- To make cinnamon topping, combine cinnamon, sugar and butter. Mix together until lumpy and wet. Sprinkle over cake batter.
- Bake cake for approximately 30-35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Transfer cake to a wire rack to cool completely.
- To make the glaze, mix together sugar and 1 tablespoon of milk. Stir until smooth. If the glaze is too thick, add an extra tablespoon of milk. Drizzle glaze all over the cake.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 389
Keywords: Apple cake, Cinnamon apple cake, One bowl apple cake
Cake was moist and so delicious (thank you). Small thing; cake collapsed in the middle while cooling on the rack – why would that be? Underbaked? Pin came out clean though….
★★★★
Hi Malou, so glad you enjoyed the cake! Sinking can happen for a variety of reasons, it could have been slightly under baked like you mentioned, or it could have been things like, if you open or shut the oven door while it was baking, if you over-mixed the cake batter or even if your oven temp was too hot.
WOW WOW WOWWW!
this tasted AMAZING
just one thing tho, when i made it the second time, i added more apple 😀
thanks so much for sharing this
Awesome! So glad you enjoyed it Kiriana!
Hi. Just put the cake in the oven. The batter was rather thick and difficult to spread with the lining paper. Is this how it’s supposed to be? Have I done something wrong. I will get back to you after we tasted it. It smells wonderful.
Hi Niki, do you think you changed or left out an ingredient? The batter is fairly thick but just like regular cake batter – it shouldn’t be too hard to spread.
Update. The texture and taste is great. This recipe is a keeper. I will hold back alittle next time on the flour and add one more apple. Thank you
Great! So glad you enjoyed it Niki!
Could you use other types of fruit?
Hi Michele, you totally can! I’ve made it with pears before but berries would be nice too!
Love this recipe.. Already made 2nd times..
Thanks for sharing.. 💕
★★★★★
Love that! Thanks Norita!
I needed a cake recipe that was quick, easy & didn’t require me using the kitchen aid – the kiddies were both fast asleep at the same time!! This cake definitely fit the brief & I had all the required ingredients on hand. Wow!! This will definitely be part of my go to repertoire – I mixed a little cinnamon & nutmeg through the batter as well, and used raw sugar instead of caster for the crumble.- gave it a lovely caramelised crust on top! Can’t wait to make it again!! Ps I was wondering if this has been tried with a different fruit- like plum or nectarine? I imagine they might make it too moist & not bake as well?
★★★★★
Hi Sarah! I’m so glad you enjoyed this cake! I love having recipes up my sleeve that only use a bowl and spoon – something therapeutic about that style of baking sometimes! I actually haven’t tried this recipe with plum or nectarine – only pears and apples. But I think it would work ok if your fruit wasn’t too ripe and juicy ☺️
I’d saved this recipe a while ago, and so glad I stumbled upon it again!! Have just read through a bunch of other recipes I will be trying out soon. Couldn’t agree more, something nice about just using a bowl & spoon. I did think a less juicy plum might be ok, so will give it a go and report back once I do!
Thanks 😊
LOVE this recipe!! Thank you for sharing it!!
I’ve made it twice so far.. My husband adores sour cream donuts so I used sour cream instead of Greek yogurt and he said it was by far the best cake recipe I’ve made in a while! Tonight I’ll be making it as a muffin and will be using egg replacer as I’m out of eggs. Will follow up to confirm it’s yumminess 🙂
★★★★★
Aw I LOVE hearing that! Thanks for the kind review Andria!
This recipe looks delicious! I was just wondering, if I omitted the crumble topping, would the recipe altogether change or would everything else stay the same(baking hour etc.) I? intend to put the cinnamon in the batter and maybe add some cloves and walnuts. Thank you in advance!
Hi Circe, the recipe can stay the same. You might just want to check it a couple of minutes earlier if baking without the crumble topping.
Hi I made this one day when I was having a “puty party:” as I was all alone and the weather was miserable outside. It was super easy and tasted delicious. I managed to give done to a friend the next day and ate the rest myself over a couple of days. When my husband returned home I had to make it again do he could taste it and he slid thoroughly enjoyed it. I am going to make again today with my grandkids as it’s so easy. Thank you for sharing.
Hi Ellie, I’m so glad you enjoyed this cake! And I love that you’ve made it a few times to share with family and friends. That’s the best kind of baking!
When shall I drizzle the glaze? When the cake is still warm or when it cool completely?
Hi Heba, once it’s cooled! You can do it while it’s warm but it’ll sort of disappear and soak into the cake – still delicious though!
I made these as muffins and they were delicious! The kids devoured them! Thanks for the great recipe.
Oh what a great idea! Love that! ☺️
Can I ask how long do you bake it for and at which temperature if I make the muffins?
Hi Kim, you can use the same temp and bake them for approximately 15-18 minutes.
Thank you so much for replying! I can’t wait to try this recipe.
Can I incorporate the cinnamon into the cake instead of on the surface? I would like to cut into layers and add filling which would mean cutting off all the delicious cinnamon sugar on the top!
Absolutely! I’ve done that before (adding cinnamon to the batter), it’s lovely too!
Thank you for your reply, can’t wait to try it!!!! 😍
I just made it for a 3rd time this Christmas. Easy, PERFECT apple cake. I like to serve it in a square or rectangle tin as a coffee cake for breakfast 😃
★★★★★
Amazing! Thanks Beth ☺️
Hi 🙂 I made this cake and it was delightful. It just didn’t taste cinnamony enough! So I added more cinnamon the second time and suggest that.
★★★★★
Thanks for the feedback Golshan!
Easy to follow and the outcome was just like the image displayed! One of the rare occasions on the internet
★★★★★
Yay! So glad you enjoyed it Karan!
I want to make this but I don’t have Greek yoghurt is there a substitute for yoghurt?
Hi Mylene, you could use sour cream instead.
I forgot about dessert for Christmas until someone asked what we were having for dessert. Since I am trying to clean out the refrigerator, I had to see what was available. I had everything but the yogurt so I subbed sour cream and it worked. Everyone loved it! I will make this again.
Barbara
Hi,
I made this for my son altering the dairy based ingredients to non dairy options due to allergies and added extra apple and the outcome was fantastic!! Moist, fluffy and so delicious I had to make another as my entire family wanted some!
Thank you!!
★★★★★
Amazing! Love hearing that Ally!
I made this cake and it was fantastic. We added a little more apples. I am going to make it again for a holiday party. It was very easy.
Amazing! So glad you enjoyed it Michelle!
Hi, I used only half of the sugar, as I wanted to make it healthier It still came out great, thanks so much for sharing!
Amazing, thanks for the feedback Lu!