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.
ايناس سمير says
I baked it today ,was delicious and smell beautiful fragrances the house , simple and sugar not much love it
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you enjoyed it!
Marie says
I baked this for the first time for a sick friend and had to bake a second for home after sampling. So simple recipie. We warmed the homies bake next day with icecream. Was divine.
Jessica Holmes says
Love hearing that Marie!
gabe says
Love this cake! It’s easy to make. Even when I’ve added cranberries people love it!
Jessica Holmes says
Cranberries would be amazing!
Sandy says
I am not much of a baker and I have to say this has become my go-to dessert to have at home or bring somewhere else. I follow the recipe exactly as does my sister who recommended it and we all love it.
Jessica Holmes says
Love that Sandy! Thank you for your lovely feedback.
Gayle says
I’m about to make this delicious sounding cake, wondering if I can use Skyr instead of Greek yogurt?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Gayle, I haven’t tried myself but I think it would work fine! Hope you enjoy it.
Gayle says
Hi Jessica, it was delicious! In my haste, I forgot to add the cinnamon crunch butter before baking… still tasty though! Have you ever tried adding spices to the batter? I’ve been asked to make an apple and cinnamon 80th birthday cake (I’ll remember the topping next time, last night was a practice run!).
Jessica Holmes says
Yay! I love hearing that Gayle! And yes I have added cinnamon and a little nutmeg to the batter before. It’ll make it a little speckled in appearance but it does taste fab!
Erin says
I have made recipe a number of times and absolutely love it! I’ve made a few modifications on it one being double the cinnamon sugar butter crumble top and don’t use the drizzled icing and I’ve also substituted apples for blueberries and it comes out amazing. Highly recommend this recipe
Jessica Holmes says
Love hearing that Erin! A blueberry version would be lovely!
Zdravka Angelova says
The cake is just amazing
Elizabeth Botsikos says
Cake turned out nice and spongy. I used 1/2 cup sourcream instead, with about 1/4 cup milk which made it moist. Also used 3 packets of sweetener with a couple tablespoons of sugar so it was sweet but low on sugar. Tasted really good. Great for breakfast or on the go with coffee.
Jessica Holmes says
Great! Thanks for the feedback Elizabeth!
David et Patou says
Délicieuse gâteau, facile a faire.. temps cuisson a prolonger selon le type de forme utilisé. miam miam
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you enjoyed it David!
Eman says
Best kace ever 😍
I recommend reducing the amount of sugar in the cake mix to half a cup
Add some brown sugar to the cinnamon toping and more cinnamon 🤤
Thank you jessica holmes for the recipe.
Jessica Holmes says
Yay! So glad you enjoyed it Eman!
Monika Dimova says
Delicious! You have to try it!
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you liked it!
Della says
It was really easy and delicious! Try it 🙂
Thanks, you are amazing.
Jessica Holmes says
Yay! Happy to hear that Della!
Charles says
Loved this recipe so much. I have an abundance of garden apples at the moment, and therefore plenty of friends queuing up! Is this cake good to freeze?
Jessica Holmes says
Love hearing that Charles! And yes it freezes well!
Alia says
I added few raisins and 1 tbls coconut powder it turned out gorgeous
Jessica Holmes says
Love hearing that!
Penny says
Beautiful cake…. I added a little lemon juice and zest…. + some cinnamon on this one…. Beautiful. Lol I took a photo but I don’t know how to add…. Thank you
Jessica Holmes says
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Penny! Unfortunately, you can’t add photos here but you can on Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram. I love to see them!