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







Andrea says
Who doesn’t love apples and cinnamon!
I made this apple cake yesterday,it was easy to make and dee-lish!
I will definitely use this recipe again.
(I substituted the Greek yogurt with sour cream because I didn’t have the yogurt.)
Jessica Holmes says
Awesome! So glad you enjoyed it Andrea!
Danielle Gehl says
5 stars
Easy and delicious. I am doubling my apples because I am using slices I froze from my apple trees. I did not make the glaze and did not feel I was missing out.
This recipe is a keeper!
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you enjoyed it Danielle!
Yvonne says
Easy to make and delicious! Made it 3 times, friends love it, recipe shared!
Jessica Holmes says
Yay! Love that Yvonne!
Chris T says
Made this for a cold winter dessert, and it was just what I was looking for. Soft cake with warm apples and crisp cinnamon topping. Will definitely make it again.
Jessica Holmes says
So glad to hear that Chris!
Mary says
It was easy to follow, easy to make and amazingly tasty and I am someone who didn’t like apple cake😋
Jessica Holmes says
Wow! Love that Mary!
Carlyn Harris says
Really no kidding best apple cake ever. I did substitute sour cream for yogurt as I had one but not the other.
Jessica Holmes says
Yay! Love that!
Dee says
Can this be made with apple purée instead of chopped apples?
Jessica Holmes says
Ooh I haven’t tried!
Sophie L says
Easy and totally delicious!!
Hazel says
Hello! Would like to ask could i make this in 8 inch 3 layers? Should i double or triple the recipe for the quantity i am looking at?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Hazel, this recipe makes one fairly thick 8 inch cake, so it really depends on how tall you want your layers.
Sarah says
Perfectly moist with great flavour and so simple to make!
Jessica Holmes says
Love hearing that Sarah!
Orea says
Thank you so much! Your recipe made my Thanksgiving extra special with this cake. It was easy to make and tastes amazing! My family and I enjoyed it very much.
Jessica Holmes says
Aww love hearing that Orea!
Janet says
Really nice and fluffy! My whole family enjoyed it. We even had it with a bit of ice cream on the side.
Jessica Holmes says
Oh love that Janet!
Shadi says
For the milk and sugar glaze, should I just mix icing sugar with milk, or should the mixture be cooked for a some minutes
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Shadi. There’s no need to keep the glaze, it should easily blend together.
polly says
hello! I’ve made this cake many times and everyone absolutely loves it!! I’m wondering what you would suggest if I were wanting to make it eggless?
Thanks for the fab recipe x
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you like this cake Polly! I haven’t tested it without eggs so I can’t suggest any substitutions I’m sorry.
Kiki says
I had my doubts when I saw how simple this recipe was, but OMG!!! Rave reviews!!!!! Fantastic cake, made it for the first time for Thanksgiving and it was devoured instantly, already got requests to make it again. Thank you so much great cake!!! 🙂
Jessica Holmes says
Yay! Love hearing that – so honoured it made it to your Thanksgiving table!
Beatriz says
Is very easy to do. That’s what I like because y don’t like to complicate my self