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.
Lynn says
Hi I luv this recipe but would like to make it in a square tin would it need any changes.
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Lynn, no changes needed. You can definitely use an 8 or 9 inch square baking pan if you prefer.
Dorothy Bollmeier says
I assume you invert the cake to remove parchment, then turn right side up again. Does the cinnamon topping stay in place fairly well when you do this?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Dorothy, that’s right. And yes I find it works fine!
Corriana Smiles says
Hi Jess
I made your Cinnamon Apple Cake today, and it was a great success.
Not much left after having guests for afternoon tea.
I didn’t make the icing as I try to cut down on sugar where possible.
It was so simple to make, just needed to cook it a little longer.
Thanks for sharing it.
Kind regards
Corriana
Jessica Holmes says
I’m so happy to hear that Corriana! So pleased everyone enjoyed it! Thank you for your lovely feedback.
Rachel says
I don’t have yogurt, what can I substitute it with
Jessica Holmes says
Sour cream would be the next best thing!
Deidre Bedford says
I am a terrible at both baking and cooking & avoid it as much as I can. Wanted to have a treat for my hardworking man, so as my multiblender is playing up, used this recipe as could use a wooden spoon. I have made this 5 times now, number 5 is in the oven. So one was in my opinion perfect, 1 overcooked 1 undercooked, 1 oh no, stuffed up, chucked dry into wet without sifting, thought well one piece will have all the baking powder & soda in it. I get distracted easily.
All have turned out fine, enough so that family, friends have been able to compliment believably.
Love this recipe, try it.
Jessica Holmes says
How good is that Deidre! Love that you’ve had so much success with this cake!
Leslie says
I have made this cake now 3 times!
What I did was split the flour 50/50 with almond flour and add two apples not one and cut the sugar in the cake to 100g.
Yummy
Jessica Holmes says
Great, love hearing that Leslie!
Joana says
My first time doing this cake. But also added some chopped pecans to batter, and had no yogurt so I replaced with sour cream. Turned out amazing. Thank you for the lovely recipe! ❤️❤️❤️
Jessica Holmes says
Brilliant! Pecans would be just lovely!
Zehra Gheewala says
Turned out delicious.
I had chopped up more than a cup of apples so I put it all in. Only became more moist and delicious. Maybe next time I will reduce the sugar if I am increasing the apples.
Jessica Holmes says
Glad you enjoyed it!
Pat says
I used 4 cups of apples, 2 tsp of cinnamon, and baked it in a 10 inch springform pan for 35 minutes. Delicious!
Jessica Holmes says
Sounds amazing Pat!
Rehana says
This was a very simple recipe and easy to make.
The whole family loved it. Definitely a winner and added to the ‘favourites’ tab.
Thank you!
Jessica Holmes says
So glad to hear that Rehana!
Aleks says
So easy to make but it took 45 minutes to bake properly.
I didn’t ice the top as felt it had enough sugar already.
We loved it and it will be added to my favourite recipes book. I like that it is made mainly with oil – much healthier.
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you enjoyed it!
Gaby says
I would like to know if you can freeze this cake.
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Gaby, yes you can!
Lorna says
I love this recipe as it’s so easy to make!! I don’t need a cake mixer that’s the best!! Result is so amazing my kids love it and I like it a lot too!! I also like that it uses oil instead of butter hence it’s a very light cake!
Jessica Holmes says
Love hearing that Lorna!
Mary says
This cake was amazing!! My hubby, daughter and I loved it!! I wasn’t really expecting it to be as good as it was! So simple to make!! My daughter asked if I could make this for Thanksgiving instead of apple pie!!!! ABSOLUTELY! Thanks for a great recipe!
Jessica Holmes says
Wow, that’s fantastic Mary! I’m so excited that it’s going to have a place on your thanksgiving table!
Jenny says
How long can I keep this cake before eating
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Jenny, this cake keeps lovely and moist for a few days but I like it warm from the oven!
michelina says
Hi Jessica
Is refrigeration preferred in
a cardboard type bakery box?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi, you can if you like! Or you can just keep it in airtight container at room temperature.
Jen says
I used sour cream instead of Greek yogurt and olive oil instead of vegetable oil. I also substituted brown sugar mixed with white sugar as it always makes a much moister cake. I always manipulate recipes to my taste and my mom always used sour cream. I did too with extra sugar cinnamon topping and everyone loved the cake! Super moist and delicious!
Jessica Holmes says
Sounds fantastic Jen! Glad you enjoyed it!
Rehana says
Oooh I’m going to try olive oil next time. I think a few raisins will be nice too. 😁