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.
Lin says
What a great east & tasty treat! I used 2 apples & put 1teaspoon cinnamon in the flour as someone suggested, added 1/4 cup sultanas, used strawberry yoghurt as that was all i had in the fridge, didn’t do the topping or the drizzle and this cake is so delicious & moist, will definitely make again, thank you!!
Jessica Holmes says
Love hearing that Lin! Thanks for the kind feedback!
Dina says
I tried this cake today and it came out perfectly and tasted amazing .. The only one thing I changed is that I added cinnamon in the batter and glazed it with homemade caramel sauce with butter and cinnamon and topped it with walnuts .. Perfect recipe .. Thank you so much for sharing !
Jessica Holmes says
Wow that sounds amazing Dina!
Zarina says
Hi Jess
I have tried your recipe and it comes out so good . My kid said it was delicious and they like it so much. Thank you for your recipe.. thank you again.
Jessica Holmes says
So happy to hear that Zarina!
Nikki says
Hi Jessica! I’m planning to make this tomorrow for Father’s Day. I was wondering if I could replace caster sugar with granulated sugar or powder sugar. I don’t caster sugar on hand and due to the pandemic, I can’t go out to buy some. Also, what can I use as a replacement for greek yogurt? Thank you.
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Nikki, you can definitely use granulated instead of caster sugar. And if you don’t have Greek yogurt, I reckon natural yogurt or sour cream. Hope your family enjoys it!
Jenny says
I make this with one extra apple, without the sugar glaze, using sugar-replacement in the cake batter and real sugar in the cinnamon mix for the top of the cake. Still a treat, but disappears very quickly….
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you enjoyed it Jenny!
Juliette says
Good morning
I m new to baking but loving it at the moment and have been baking once a week since lockdown.
I want to bake this cake for Father’s Day on Sunday. Just a question if I use sour cream instead of yoghurt will the flavour or moisture change a bit?
Thank you.
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Juliette, excited you are going to try this cake. It’s totally fine to use sour cream instead of Greek yogurt in this recipe – hope you enjoy it!
Anna says
I am lactose intolerant, is there any chance that I can skip yoghurt and cake will still be good?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Anna, I haven’t tried without the yogurt so I can’t recommend. Perhaps there’s a lactose free yogurt product you could try?
Elise Carroll says
This is simply the best apple cake. I used more Royal Gala apples (simply because I like my cakes very fruity)… The texture is sensational. Thank you so much for sharing this. This is a firm favourite in my kitchen now 🙂
Jessica Holmes says
I’m so happy to hear that Elise!
Rosie says
This recipe was SENSATIONAL. I got so many compliments on it and it was all eaten in one sitting! Thank you 🙂
Jessica Holmes says
Love love love hearing that! Thanks Rosie!
Emme says
Hello, am I able to use any other pans or muffin tin? I have a 9×13 pan, 7in round spring pan or muffin tin but not a round 8 or 9 in pan. Please advise! I’m excited to make the recipe. Thank you!
Jessica Holmes says
Hi! Yes you can! You can use the 7 inch cake tin (cake will just be a bit deeper so might take a little longer to cook) or you can use a muffin tin. Hope you enjoy the cake!
Riz says
Hi Jessica!
Ivm so glad I found your recipe! I am pretty new in baking and don’t have complete pan shapes and sizes Can I use 6 inch loaf pan instead?
H
Thanks a lot! 💕
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Riz, you should be able to. You’ll just have to adjust the cooking time as the cake batter will be much deeper.
Carol says
I made this for my family tonight with a little extra apple and without the icing drizzle. Everyone loved it. The cake was wonderfully light and moist, while the cinnamon topping had a great crunch. Thanks so much for this recipe!
Jessica Holmes says
Aw so happy to hear that Carol!
Anna says
i baked the cake and, i love it.definitely the Greek yogurt made it the differences. Lovely recipe and easy to make it..Thank you.
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you enjoyed it Anna!
KAREN says
I volunteered to make a birthday cake for a friend – I’m definitely not a baker so this cake was perfect! Really easy, looked good and tasted even better. Thank you so much 😁. I used 2 apples.
Jessica Holmes says
Love hearing that Karen! Well done!
KC says
I made this today and used regular plain yogurt because that’s all I had. It was amazing and my husband said it is to die for. Will definitely make this again!
Jessica Holmes says
Love hearing that!
Monika Singla says
Can I use normal yogurt in place of Greek yogurt in this recipe?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Monika, it’s best to use Greek or natural yogurt or sour cream as it’s the acidity that helps make the cake lovely and soft. But normal yogurt will work.
jaika says
Hi very happy with my outcome . Thank you . The cake turned out just as promised !!!
Jessica Holmes says
Great to hear that!