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.
Sas says
So good. This recipe has made it into my handwritten favourites kitchen journal and will be regularly deployed.
Thanks!
Jessica Holmes says
Aw love hearing that!
Nilly says
The best cake I made ever so delicious, soft and moist l love it 😍😍❤️ I wish I could give 10 stars ✨
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you enjoy it Nilly!
Nina Fiore says
Possibly the best apple cinnamon cake in the world! I’ve made it as per the recipe, used crushed stake biscuits in the crumble, and also chopped walnuts. Any way, it’s superb. Serve warm with crème fraîche as a dessert, and then as a slice with tea. Either way it’s totally delicious!
Jessica Holmes says
Love that Nina! Thank you for the kind feedback!
Pallavi says
It’s absolutely delicious. The cake is so moist and crumbly and the crunchy cinammon sugar topping makes it a winner. Thank you for this awesome recipe, it is definitely for keeps! 🙂
Jessica Holmes says
Yay! So glad you enjoyed it!
Hatice cakan says
Family favourite, love it
Joh says
I didn’t have any baking soda so just used self raising flour instead and I used nearly two medium sized apples. Turned out lovely, thanks for a delicious Aussie recipe!
Jessica Holmes says
Yay! Glad you liked it Joh!
Teevanie says
This recipe was super simple and quite delicious! I wish there were more apple bites though. Next time I will definitely include more apples and perhaps try it with butter instead of oil. I find there’s a slight oily taste even the day after. Overall great recipe though! 🙂
Holly Jenkins says
Amazing cake!! I used a combination of cooking and eating apples and threw in a few blackberres. I also substituted 20ml of oil with 20g of butter. It came out incredicly well.
Jessica Holmes says
Love the idea of adding a few blackberries! Delish!
Vettese says
So easy to make, didn’t have yoqurt so used double cream instead, turned out amazingly tasty, definitely making it again 😋😋😋
Jessica Holmes says
Yay! Love hearing that!
Anna says
This is the perfect cake!!! ❤️ It is moist and not too sweet. I added 1/8 tsp of cinnamon, a pinch of nutmeg and all spice to the batter and replaced the oil with apple sauce. It came out perfect!
Thanks for this priceless recipe!! 🤩
Jessica Holmes says
Thank you for your lovely feedback Anna!
Louie says
After combining the ingredients I was worried the mixture was a little dry and wondered if I had accidentally put in too much flour. But I rolled with it and it turned out perfect. The batter is a thick batter, but it yields a deliciously soft cake. I love how the cinnamon crumble on top crisps up. I’ll make this one again for sure. I used a square 8 inch pan because that’s all I have to hand and it was a good fit.
Jessica Holmes says
Glad you enjoyed it Louie!
Essi T says
I made it for the first time and it was perfect. I was totally amazed of how fluffy it is, despite of the very simple procedure. My husband also liked it because it’s very light (he almost finished the whole thing). This will surely be a regular recipe in our home. Thanks!
Jessica Holmes says
So happy to hear that!
Mickey says
I made this again n this time used half oat flour n half All purpose flour n used half cup sugar n rest stevia . Came out wonderful.
Can I have sone crisp cookies recipes
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you enjoyed it Mickey! Check out our cookie recipes for more treats.
Jeffrey Lewis says
Best base recipe ever.
I adjusted this putting a layer of sliced apple in the middle, & a thinner layer on top sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. Gives an extra texture & apple zing to it.
Jessica Holmes says
Love that idea Jeffrey!
Massoum says
Easy and delicious
Thanks for recipe 🙏
Jessica Holmes says
Glad you liked it!
Martina says
Bish, bash, bosh, a craving satisfied with this super easy recipe. I didn’t have yoghurt so I substituted it with cream and a drizzle of lemon for some acidity and it was absolutely delicious. I was too impatient to let it cool down enough for the sugar drizzle but the cinnamon topping was lovely and crunchy. Yum, yum, most of it is gone…
Jessica Holmes says
LOVE that Martina!