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, like in my Easy Peach Cake, 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.
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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 or flavourless 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 sugar, cinnamon 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 Information
Serving Size: Calories: 310 Sugar: 25 g Sodium: 143.8 mg Fat: 14.1 g Carbohydrates: 42.7 g Protein: 4.8 g Cholesterol: 42.2 mg







Mizinga Edwards says
I made it and it was as a very popular one and did not last long enough . Every one loved it. Really stress free baking
Jessica Holmes says
Love hearing that! Thank you for sharing!
LJ says
I made this dessert for the first time it turned out well. I didn’t have 8″ round pan but 10″ worked and reduced the bake time to 25 minutes. The cake turned out soft and moist. Another thing I accidentally cut the sugar from 3/4 c to 1/4 c and it was still good as the sweetness came from the topping. I am wondering if I used 8″ pan square, will it turn out? Please advise.
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you enjoyed it LJ! You can absolutely use an 8-inch square pan. I’d maybe check it at the 25 minute mark too, as it might cook a touch faster.
Linda says
I used Granny Smith apples didn’t do the glaze topping as
it was sweet enough for us .Absolutely delicious 🤤 will definitely be making
again will it freeze ? I’m making your lemon cake next 😊
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you enjoyed it Linda! Yes it freeze really well!
Amanda says
Hi. Can you use a flour, sugar and butter crumble topping? I’m not
a Baker haha, learing as I go.
Jessica Holmes says
On top? Yes that would be lovely! I do something similar on my Small Banana Cake recipe.
Amanda says
Hi. I made it and took a tad longer to cook, went quite dark and didn’t fully rise in the centre. Still ate it thou haha and it was very nice!
My dilemma was that the mixture was quite dry when I combined all ingredients. I used granulated sugar which I prefer. Do you think that was the problem?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Amanda, thanks for the feedback. Did it look drier than cake batter in the video? The cake batter should be thick but not dry. Granulated sugar should work fine. Did you forget or change any other ingredients?
Amanda says
Hi. The consistency was similar, mine a tad drier. Made it three time and still sunk inthe middle and really brown 9n top.
I did notice that it risen quite quickly in the oven, in five minutes and I used recommend baking powder etc Measured with spoons. Also, I cooked on gas mark 4 and didn’t open till 30 minute mark. At a loss now.
Jessica Holmes says
Sorry to hear that Amanda! Perhaps it’s to do with your oven? Have you tried getting an oven thermometer to double check if your oven is running hot or cold? It could be running hot, which would cause the cake to rise quickly, brown too much and not fully cook in the centre.
GG says
Easy. Delicious. I could not stop eating. I can’t wait to make again next weekend for Mother’s Day.
Jessica Holmes says
Love love love that!
Kangai James says
It ask came out perfect and so auntie we Cant stop eating it.
Didn’t get the icing and cinnamon topping right
Jessica Holmes says
I’m so glad you loved it!
carol douglas says
Very moist and delicious.
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you loved it!
Liz says
Just made this. Easy. Sooooo delicious.
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you enjoyed it Liz!
Bob V says
Brilliant
Many thanks
Reema says
Tried this yesterday for our son’s 1st birthday. It was a huge hit. I topped it with cream cheese frosting and blue sugar pearls. I was quite pleased with the results. Checking out your other recipes as well. Great work. Thanks! 🙂
Jessica Holmes says
That sounds so lovely Reema! Happy birthday to your little one!
Karin says
Oh, my! This was delicious and so easy to make!
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you enjoyed it Karin!
Linda Bradley says
I LOVE this recipe, I made it again a few days later. I used 1 cup of chopped granny smith apples cooked with cinnamon and sugar. It’s the most delicious cake ever! I don’t make the glaze either.
Jessica Holmes says
Hooray! Love that Linda!
Jenny says
Have made this cake so many times and every time everyone goes nuts for it!! I put in a bit less sugar and sometimes don’t bother with the glaze but overall it’s a sure winner every time!
Jessica Holmes says
That’s so wonderful to hear Jenny!
Vivien says
I did everything as recipe says, and while the cake looks well, smells good, and is perfectly spongy, it’s excessively OILY! I eat a your everyday, heavy Eastern European diet, but this is over the top oily for me. I feel like when I eat a lot of low quality fast food, and I only took a few bites of then cake. I’m not sure what I expected after baking a cake using mostly sugar and oil, I guess the good rating took my common sense.
Jessica Holmes says
Sorry to hear you didn’t enjoy it Vivien. Perhaps you would enjoy a butter-based cake more. Thanks for trying it!
Karen Arriaga says
I made this recipe today, and it was amazing. Everyone loves it, and I love it. I reduced the sugar to 1/2 cup and added pecans and walnuts to the cinnamon topping. I used green apples. Thank you!
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you loved it Karen! That sounds so delicious!