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.
Kate says
It’s Thanksgiving Day in Canada so happy, happy! Making Lemon Yogurt Cake. Can I substitute gluten free flour at a 1 to 1 ratio in you recipes? Thanks, Kate
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Kate, oh happy thanksgiving! I haven’t tried this recipe with gluten free flour so I’m not sure. But if you have a gf flour that says it can be subbed 1:1 with regular flour, it should be ok!
Veronica+Green says
Hi,
Can I use sour cream instead yoghurt .
Jessica Holmes says
Yes!
MrsScants says
I want to make this but my son has issues with texture of cooked fruit. Do you think it would work if the apples were either shredded or cooked and puréed?
Jessica Holmes says
I haven’t tried myself but I don’t see why not! Maybe shredded would be best?
Dianne V says
Super easy to make but absolutely delicious! Can’t love it enough.
Jessica Holmes says
Yes! Love that Dianne!
Nancy says
I can only say that this was the best cake i have ever made from scratch!! My cakes never turn out like this. My daughter ate half of the cake and she doesn’t even like apples!! Love this number one on my list for Apple season!!!!
Jessica Holmes says
How awesome is that! So glad to hear you and your daughter loved it Nancy!
Doug says
Brilliant, found it best to drizzle icing when cake is warm, made to date
Jessica Holmes says
Love that Doug!
Dee says
Nice not sweet but I will use self raising flour next time
Jessica Holmes says
Glad you enjoyed it Dee.
Nathan says
I made it with my 3 year old and it was great!
Jessica Holmes says
Aww that’s amazing Nathan!
MaryEllen says
Hello! Thank you for sharing the recipe! I am about to make it and wonder if I could double it and use a 9×13 pan? Would that need to cook too long and possibly the edged would dry?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi MaryEllen, yes you can! It should work fine!
Hp says
Excellent cake. 5 stars based on my substitution but I think the base is there. I had to make some substitutions because I was missing some key ingredients but I thought it would be comparable. It did not require the 2nd sugar icing. Sweet enough.
Substitutions:
Sour cream for yogurt
Half dark brown sugar half white
Brown sugar for the cinnamon topping.
Very white and fine spelt Flour. Looks and behaves like white flour.
Baked as directed. Awesomeness.
Jessica Holmes says
Love that!
Lucia says
So so good and not to sweet just perfect and so easy to make I make this cake today with my granddaughter she’s only 22 months it was easy and fun!! This recipe goes to my favorite recipe book thank you for sharing ❤️
Jessica Holmes says
Aw that’s amazing Lucie! What a lovely activity to do together!
DCN says
I’ve come to baking late. Didn’t succeed first tine round with young kids etc. Nervous. Overworked everything. No internet to save disasters. When I retired slowly tried again. I’ve tweak this recipe a bit. Didn’t want drizzle so put half cinamon in cake & half in sugar glaze. Used apple yogurt. Doubled apples. 1 of 2 eggs is a duck egg. (I swear by them for baking including eg cheese scones.) Am about to try with plums (with vanilla yogurt). Friends who’ve seen my pics or tasted cake want recipe, recommended to me by my lovely gardener I call Golden Girl (who used to run cafe & bake for it). Thank you!!
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you enjoyed it!
Ritah says
So yummy, quick and easy to make!
Jessica Holmes says
Love that!
Tammy says
Agree with previous comment that said this cake has no flavor. But having said that, the texture, crumb and moisture in this cake is very good. I would describe this cake more of a coffee cake with apples unlike more traditional spice cake with apples. Quick, easy and yummy enough!
Jessica Holmes says
Thanks for your feedback Tammy.
Caroline C says
Sorry, forget that (lockdown fog brain). I thought the cake too would be textured, so inverting it would ruin it. Stand down (lol)
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Caroline, your comment made me giggle. I also have lockdown brain so can relate! In answer to your question anyway, I usually grease the bottom and sides with butter and just line the bottom with baking paper. After I let it cool for a few minutes, I run a knife around the edges and then gently flip it onto a cooling rack. Then I use another cooling rack to flip it the right way up. Certainly not that graceful but it seems to work for me! Hope you enjoy the cake!