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







Cheryl Bonifant says
Can this be made ahead of time and frozen? Thanks!
Jessica Holmes says
Absolutely Cheryl!
Francine says
Very good basic apple cake recipe.
Jessica Holmes says
Glad you enjoyed it Francine!
Areeba says
Absolutely delicious
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you enjoyed it Areeba!
Brigitte Collings says
Very tasty cake. Everybody loved it. I wonder if one could freeze it,
Jessica Holmes says
So glad to hear that Brigitte! You absolutely can. It freezes well!
Dee says
This was one of the best cakes I’ve ever made, thanks to the great recipe!
Jessica Holmes says
I love hearing that Dee!
Sarah Mackins says
I love this recipe, the cake is so moiste and delicious. I’m going to try it as muffins next time.
Jessica Holmes says
Love hearing that Sarah! You might also like my Apple Muffin recipe.
Ned Overmyer says
I have made this twice and given the recipe to 10 people at least one who has made it with rave comments! It is wonderful! I have made it with the glaze and without. Much better with glaze!
DELICIOUS,
Jessica Holmes says
How amazing! Thank you so much for your kind review Ned and sharing the recipe love with your friends!
Larry says
The cake was very popular indeed. Loved it.
Thank you very much, it’s going into my favourites folder to be made again.
Jessica Holmes says
Hooray! Love that Larry!
Charis says
Love this cake. You think I could use blueberries or strawberries instead of apple?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Charis, yes this cake works well with other fruits. Definitely blueberries, pears and peaches. I would be careful not to use too many strawberries, as they are very moist and release a lot of water when baking so can make for a soggy crumb.
Alex says
Thanks so much for this recipe – amazingly moist and tasty cake. We added lemon zest, and an extra 2 apples (one chopped in the mix and one sliced and arranged on top, then your cinnamon and sugar topping + a little extra cook time. Best apple cake ever! Thanks for all your testing to make it perfect. You’re a genius!!
Jessica Holmes says
Oh wow that sounds amazing! Thank you for the lovely feedback Alex!
Bonnie says
Delicious. I made them as muffins for a breakfast item. Worked out really well. I like that it’s not too sweet. I actually added another apple and a banana along with walnuts. Thank you for your recipe.
Jessica Holmes says
Oh that’s wonderful to hear Bonnie!
Lyn says
Absolutely delicious. Probably the nicest Apple Cake I have ever made or tasted. I wouldn’t change a thing about it.
Jessica Holmes says
How wonderful to hear Lyn!
Megan says
I don’t typically leave a review, but this was a great cake. Cakes with yogurt always seem a cut above the rest in terms of flavor and texture. I used a 10-inch square baking pan, and it fit well and browned wonderfully. For the topping, I switched from granulated to brown sugar and added 2 TB of oats. Next time, I will increase that to a 1/4 cup oats. Thank you for the great recipe.
Jessica Holmes says
Love hearing that Megan!
azita sagharzadeh says
I made this cake with addition of cinnamon and walnuts to the batter and sprinkled some crushed pecans on the top. It looked gorgeous. The cake was too moist for me so I will cut the amount of yoghurt to half next time.
Jessica Holmes says
Thanks for the feedback Azita. Adding walnuts and pecans sounds amazing!
Tonia says
this is the best easiest to make cake always my first choice in easy to bake cakes and everyone loves it
Jessica Holmes says
I’m so happy to hear that Tonia! We love it too!