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.
Julie says
Absolutely the most delicious moist sweet cake I have tasted. Made for my Daughters during lockdown, My Nanny gift. And now my Daughters have nabbed the recipe and their children all love it too.
Jessica Holmes says
Aw that is so wonderful! So glad everyone loved it.
Jenn says
Super easy and tasty. I made the recipe as is and one using pecans and cardamom. I will definitely use this again
Jessica Holmes says
Love that! Pecans and cardamom sounds amazing!
Rhi says
Really easy recipe to follow. Smells amazing. Just unfortunate that the sponge tastes quite bland. Any tips? I followed the recipe exactly 😣
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Rhi, perhaps try adding some extra cinnamon and apples next time.
Fadia says
It’s the best apple cake I’ve ever tasted and the only thing I’ve change is mixing the apples with cinnamon and pumpkin spice, so moist and delicious thanks a lot and by the way no drizzle glaze on the top 🙂
Jessica Holmes says
Yay! Adding pumpkin spice is brilliant!
Amber says
Just made this to use up some apples. Simple, fast, good crumb, tender and moist. To make it a bit less sweet I left off the crumble and glaze today, so bolstered flavour with apple pie spice in dry ingredients. I can’t wait to play around with this recipe! I think cranberry will be next! Many thanks!
Jessica Holmes says
Love that Amber! Cranberry sounds amazing!
Swati Anant says
Hey! I’ve made this cake 3 times already and I must say me and my husband love this recipe a lot. Today again I am baking this but I don’t have Greek yogurt 🙁 can you suggest any substitute please?
Jessica Holmes says
I’m so glad to hear that! Sour cream is the next best thing.
Leah says
Hi! This looks great and I’d love to make it for my boyfriend’s birthday in a few days, however I’m in Canada and I don’t think we have “caster sugar” (or at least I’ve never seen/ heard of it where I live). What would you recommend as a substitute? Thanks!
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Leah, sorry for any confusion. You can simply use granulated sugar instead. I hope you love this cake!
Maria says
Can I substitute the plain flour for coconut flour or gluten free one? Have you tried that version? Thanks
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Maria, I’m sorry I’ve never tried this recipe with those flours!
Bethany P says
Changes I made: I grated 75% of the apples but left some chopped as well. I also added some thinly sliced apples to the top of the cake and made a salted caramel drizzle instead of the frosting!
I had to bake the cake well past 35 minutes. I’m not positive, but grating the apples might have made the batter moister which could have affected that.
I really enjoyed this cake!! I love the flavor and how moist it was. My husband was a fan also. Will be making this again!
Jessica Holmes says
Yay! So glad to hear that Bethany!
Christine says
Making this today and mine has now been in oven for 50 mins. Measured exact as recipe but my batter was more runny than the one in your video? Any suggestions? I am still waiting for skewer to come out clean. Thanks
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Christine, I hope your cake worked out! Do you know why your cake batter was more runny? That may have effected the bake time.
marie-eve says
I made this cake last week and it is one of the best cake I ever made. Very very moist, and slightly crunchy on top. Perfection!!
Jessica Holmes says
Yay! So glad you loved it!
Venetia says
Thank you for this recipe!
I love this cake! It’s so moist and delicious! I substituted the vegetable oil with butter cause I’d run out and didn’t add the sugar glaze but it turned out perfect anyway!
Jessica Holmes says
Awesome! Thanks for the lovely feedback Venetia!
Bethany P says
I’m going to make this but have two questions:
Would grating the apples vs chopping them make a difference?
Would this be good with a caramel drizzle instead of the powder sugar icing?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Bethany, I haven’t tried grating the apples before but I imagine it would be fine. And yes, a caramel drizzle would be lovely!
Scarlet says
I’ve made this cake twice already and I have to hold back from eating it all in one seating. Absolutely love it!
Jessica Holmes says
Yes! I hear you Scarlet! I feel the same way haha!
Karen Wilds says
So easy to make, looks and tastes delicious!
Jessica Holmes says
Love that Karen!