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.
Jo says
I gave it a 4 because the icing didn’t look great, but it tasted amazing a defo winner and very easy to make
Jessica Holmes says
Glad you enjoyed it Jo!
MG says
Hello! Could you confirm you used 210 grams of flour? My flour brand indicates that 1.5 cups would be 180 grams, which is quite different. Want make sure I use the correct amount. Thanks and looking forward to baking this!
Jessica Holmes says
Hi, yes it’s definitely 210 grams of flour here. Once you start digging, you’ll see that no one can quite agree on the exact amount of flour per cup. But I use the conversion of 140 grams of flour per 1 cup (240 ml). But I never measure my flour in cups, only grams!
Yvonne Bercov says
I made this for my grandson‘s 14th birthday as he requested an apple cake. It was a huge hit, everyone loved it. I used a pink lady apple and did not add the final topping as it felt like it had enough sweetness without it.
Would definitely make it again. Thank you.
Jessica Holmes says
So happy to hear that Yvonne! Thank you for your lovely feedback.
Erica says
Really liked the texture of the cake but needs double the amount of apple. 1 cup just got lost
Jessica Holmes says
Thanks for the feedback Erica! You can definitely add more apple if you like.
Christiana says
Absolutely delicious! Made some changes: I used 2 apples cut into small cubes,sprinkled them with lime juice and zest, and 1tsp of cinnamon some local Nangae nuts ( close to almonds but less intense in taste) and 1/2 cup of some rum soaked raisins. Left the glaze out, it’s too sweet for my taste.i tried your original version before but this one definitely beats it !
Jessica Holmes says
Sounds incredible! Thanks for sharing Christiana!
Fatima says
Absolutely delicious! Best ever apple cake. I used a Granny Smith apple instead and a third less sugar.
Thank you Jessica
Jessica Holmes says
Wonderful! So glad you enjoyed it!
Lina says
This is my first time making this recipe, and I wanted to surprise my father.
Do you thing there is other
substitutions for the Greek yoghurt?
Love your recipes!
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Lina, sour cream would be the next best thing. Some readers have also commented that they have used regular yogurt as well.
Senga says
Used cream with a tbsp sour cream instead of yogurt as I didn’t have any. Lovely moist cake.
Jessica Holmes says
That sounds just lovely Senga!
Shahnaz Monir says
I have already made this 4 times in a month. I have used half cup of sugar. Everybody, young and old, loved it. Today I am trying a variation making it with apple and banana.
Jessica Holmes says
How wonderful! Thanks for your lovely feedback Shahnaz!
Dani says
Do you think I could use lactose free yoghurt for this?
Jessica Holmes says
I haven’t tried but I think so!
Ruth says
Thank yo Jessica for posting this recipe, it looks easy enough for me to try.
If I need to make a cake for 12 how would you modify the ingredients?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Ruth, I hope you enjoy this one! You could make two? Or you could maybe squeeze 12 slices out of this one!
Yasmine says
This is such a delicious cake! And easy to make. Just didn’t have icing sugar so drizzled it with a tiny bit of maple syrup. It was scrumptious!
Jessica Holmes says
Wonderful! Thank you Yasmine!
Meeta says
This cake is always a HUGE hit with my family and friends . Thank you Jessica, for sharing the recipe
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you love it! Thanks for your lovely review Meeta!
Linda says
I love this recipe. It’s quick, simple and dioicous. I use vanilla yogurt, just because that’s what I have in the house.
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you enjoyed it Linda!
Evelyn says
I’ve made this before and it’s a definite winner!! Love it! Just wondering though if I could substitute the apples w nectarines? I was given a big bag and they’re pretty ripe..
Jessica Holmes says
I think that would be lovely!