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 using oil as the main fat. This is because oil tends to add moisture to baked goods, like in my Olive Oil Brownies or my Pistachio 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!
Watch how to make it
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Let’s Bake
Cinnamon Apple Cake
A tender Cinnamon Apple Cake drizzled with a milk glaze.
Ingredients
Apple cake
- 210 grams (1 and 1/2 cups) plain flour or all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 150 grams (3/4 cup) caster sugar or granulated 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 or granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon butter, melted
Sugar glaze
- 30 grams (1/4 cup) icing sugar or powdered sugar, sifted
- 1–2 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) standard / 160 C (320 F) fan-forced. Grease and line an 8-inch round cake pan with baking or parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt 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.
TD says
Made this 3 times and shared it with the senior citizens center here in town. One lady said, “oh now you’re just showing off” as she gobbled her slice up! Best cake ever! Thank you for sharing this recipe.
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
Hahaha that made me giggle! Thank you for sharing!
Tim Bingham says
Tastes great. Moist. Not too sweet. Easy to make. I’m making it for Sunday brunch. It will definitely be a go to recipe in or house. Thanks so much.
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
How lovely! So glad you enjoyed it Tim!
Lorie Laux says
OH MY! I made this this morning and followed the recipe to a T. The best Apple cake ever! Delicious! Thank you so much for sharing!
Highly recommend the recipe.
Jessica Holmes says
How wonderful! Thanks for the kind review Lorie!
Maureen says
I have to agree with everyone that this is a fabulous apple cake recipe. I did cut the sugar and it still tastes great! Thank you so much for sharing your recipe!
Jessica Holmes says
Love hearing that Maureen!
Julie says
What can I use in place of Greek yogurt?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Julie, the next best thing would be sour cream!
Rachelle Vargas King says
I added pecans and used sour cream instead of yogurt since that is what I had. It turned out amazing!
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
That sounds fabulous!
SEVDA CEYLAN says
Dear Jessica,
I am writing from Turkey. I tried the apple cake recipe. It was amazing. Everyone who ate the cake loved it and they asked for the recipe. I gave it to everyone:) I looked at all your recipes and all of them might be my favorite 🙂 I will try them all one by one thank you soo much 🙂
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
This makes me so happy! Thank you Sevda! I hope you do get a chance to try more of my recipes 🙂
DJ says
Fabulous, thanks for also allowing us to see the recipe vs. struggling with the page !!
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
I hope you enjoy this one!
Deirdre says
Thank you, Jess, for another wonderful recipe. So glad I came across you.
⭐️ We love this cake and many others. You explain recipes so well and the instructions are always easy to follow.
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
That is so lovely to hear Deirdre – I was always hope thats the case, so you’ve made my day!
Lynn says
Excellent recipe.
I added crumb topping after the cinnamon topping was added.
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
That sounds lovely Lynn!
Lynn says
Hi Jessica
I wrote my first review before I actually ate a piece of this cake.
I tweaked the recipe for my preference by shredding the apples. adding crumb topping before baking and dusting with powdered sugar after it cooled. I cut it into pie shaped slices.
I believe it is one of the top 5 cakes I have had in my life. It has a rustic, earthy, addictive texture and flavor.
I have to say anything warm out of the oven is always yummy, but this cake is to die for. The 2 of us gobbled it in 3 days.
The next day I warmed it up in the oven and had it with an omelette breakfast.
Amazing cake!
Thank you
Happy Holidays
-Lynn
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
Wow Lynn, what a lovely review! You brought a big smile to my face – thank you for your kind words. So pleased you love this cake as much as I do!
bryony says
I never rate recipes but I felt this one really deserves it! I’m not a baker and made this for my husbands birthday and it turned out perfectly! It’s going to be a staple from now on. Thank you
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
How wonderful! Thank you so much for your kind review Bryony!
Eun says
The best best apple cake ever
For my kids I cut sugar in cake to 70% and skipped the glaze
Still super delish
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
Love that!
Marina says
I made this 3 times, without topping and glaze to avoid some sugar and fat, and I added the cinnamon in the dough and some walnuts. It still came out yummy, my dad stole my loaf and had to make another one for myself! Thank you from Italy!
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
Ohh that’s so lovely to hear Marina! I love that you made my cake in Italy!
cherise says
Loved this cake so much !!
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
So happy to hear that!
Ann garlick says
Delicious
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you enjoyed it!