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 š
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 used oil as the main fat. This is because oil tends to add moisture to baked goods, like in my Olive Oil Brownies or my Malteser Chocolate 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!
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PinDescription
A tender Cinnamon Apple Cake drizzled with a milk glaze.
Ingredients
Apple cake
- 210 grams (1 and 1/2 cups) plain flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon bakingĀ soda
- 150 grams (3/4 cup) caster 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
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
SugarĀ glaze
- 30 grams (1/4 cup) icing or powdered sugar
- 1–2 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) standard / 160 C (320 F) fan-forced. Grease and line an 8 or 9 inch round cake tin with baking or parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, add flour, baking powder, baking soda and sugar. Add chopped apple and stir briefly to combine.
- In a separate bowl, add eggs, vanilla, oil and yoghurt. Whisk brieflyĀ just to break up the egg yolks.
- Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and gently mix with a wooden spoon until combined ā 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.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 389
Keywords: Apple cake, Cinnamon apple cake, One bowl apple cake
Hi I am planning to make this cake Friday evening to take to a family gathering Saturday afternoon. Is it best to leave the cake out or fridge it or freeze it?
Hi Tanya, this cake is still lovely and moist the next day. Iād cover it well with plastic wrap once completely cooled and leave it out at room temperature. Drizzle with icing just before serving!
Wow thanks for this quick response. I will leave it out. I am excited to try this as my family just love apple cake and I hope to impress!
I hope they love it!
Hi, i donāt have greek yogurt at home but I do have normal yogurt. Will it work?
Hi Ada, it should work ok, but I do recommend using Greek yogurt or sour cream if you can.
Absolutely love this cake and the family is hooked! Iāll be baking this in all sorts of variations; rhubarb, blackberries, blueberries etc. Lovely recipe! Thank you xxx
★★★★★
Btw I doubled the recipe and used a bigger oven tray and it still worked a treat x
Love this! āŗļø And I love the idea of trying it with different fruits – delish!
I’m planning on using some of my just harvested Jonagold apples to bake this tomorrow but I don’t have any yoghurt. I’m going to use either quark, which is fat free, or cream cheese. Which do you think would work best please?
★★★★★
Hi Tricia, excited you are going to try this cake! Iāve never used quark in my baking before in my baking so Iām unsure, but if itās a yogurt substitute it may work. Let me know how you go.
It didn’t really work as I’d hoped! Although the cake tastes good, the texture is not right – too greasy and dense. Love the crunchy toppingāŗ.
Tricia
Aw sorry to hear that Tricia! Was that using the quark?
Yes, l shall freeze this first effort in portions and use warm with custard as a dessert. Next time I will stick to the recipe because it’s just so simple to make,
I need for this to be a bigger cake. Could I double it and put in a bundt or tube pan?
Hi Kathy, yes I think you should be able to double this recipe!
How much time would be needed for baking? If the recipe is doubled.
★★★★★
Hi Anas, it depends on the size of the baking pan you use. Youāll just have to monitor it. When a skewer inserted comes out clean, you are good to go.
Love this recipe! It’s super easy to make and its really delicious!
★★★★★
So glad you enjoyed it Leanne! š
Hey! Great recipe!
What can I replace greek yoghurt with?
Can I replace it with milk?
Hi Zeina, I really recommend using yogurt in this recipe or sour cream if possible.
Made this. It’s so soft and incredibly tasty. Thank you!
★★★★★
Amazing! Thanks Chitra!
A very nice tasty cake. Will do it again. I grated the apples with a potato grater. I used single cream instead of yogurt as I didn’t have any, and Granny Smiths apples which are a bit tart. It needed 40 minutes in my oven.
So glad you enjoyed it Brigitte! Love the idea of grated the apple too!
I made this delicious cake today and it is over the top! I am passionate about tea parties and the items I choose for entertaining, this will always be a part of my Fall tea menu! Here in the South (In the states) we love our tea parties and take great pride in them.
Aw this makes me so happy to hear Laura! Thank you for the kind feedback. Love hearing that Iām part of your party all the way over here in Australia š
Oh my word! This is the most delicious cake ever! So light and moist. And a doddle to make. I have never made apple cake before but had loads of apples a friend gave me from her orchard and was asked to make a dairy free cake for a get together . I substituted plain soya yoghurt for the greek yoghurt, Stork margarine for the butter and water instead of milk in the glaze. I used more apples – closer to 2 cups than the stated 1.. I have sent the recipe to my mum in South Africa and she is going to try it later this week.. Thanks for sharing.
★★★★★
Iām so glad you enjoyed it Liesl! And so great to hear it worked so well even with the changes. Thank you for trying one of my recipes!
Sounds delicious, Do you think this would work with GF flour?
Hi Maureen, I havenāt tried it myself with gluten free flour so I canāt really say for sure! But if you do try it, please let us know how you go!
Baked this cake today.
Iāve never made an apple cake before so was very sceptical about how it would turn out, my god! This has to be the best recipe Iāve ever stumbled across!
So light and fluffy and the cinnamon and sugar crumb on top make the best crisp!
★★★★★
Aww so happy to hear that Danielle!! Thank you for your lovely feedback!! āŗļø
THANK YOU for a wonderful recipe! I made it this morning with Aurora apples a friend gave me from her friendās orchard in the Okanagan. Doubled the recipe and used 4 large apples, added 1 tsp. salt. Used granulated sugar but cut it down to 1 cup (for double recipe). Baked in 9×13 pan.
It turned out perfect! Not too sweet and the salt balances the flavour.
Added cream cheese to icing sugar and thinned with cream with a dash of. Vanilla!
Amazing! So glad you enjoyed it Betty!
Hi! This sounds delicious. Do you think vanilla flavored greek yogurt work or you think that would be too sweet?
Hi Jessica, I think it would be ok!
Iāve made this cake 4 times since my daughter went apple picking late September. Itās a hit with everyone, I made the third one was for Thanksgiving last weekend (Canadian) and daughter wouldnāt let anyone take any of the 4 pieces left home..and brought it to work next day..since I still had apples left I just made one today for my hubby and myself as we are having our leftover turkey and potatoes etc tonight. I made the caramel sauce for thanksgiving but son took what was left so I made a new batch and made slits in cake and poured some on the cake itself to try…they picked a huge bag of apples so Iāve been baking cakes, cookies, muffins…think I have 10 apples left finally going to sliced apples to dip in the caramel sauce ..Thank you for sharing I put this page in my notes.
★★★★★
Aww Frances, this is amazing to hear! Iām so pleased you have made and enjoyed this cake so many times! āŗļø And honoured that it was part of your thanksgiving feast too!! Thank you for trying one of my recipes! ā¤ļø
Fantastic recipe kids absolutely love it
BUT!! It takes a longer than 35 mins to cook through probably though
★★★★★
Glad you enjoyed it Rodney!
Hi – could you tell me how long this cake will keep? And also if it can be frozen. Looks gorgeous, and easy! Thanks.
Hi Sheila, this cake is lovely and moist and will stay that way for a few days. It can also definitely be frozen!
This is so tasty & so easy – my 11 year old loves to make it!
★★★★★
Aw I love hearing that Victoria!
Is there any substitute for the Greek yogurt?
Hi, you can use sour cream instead.