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.
Gail says
Hi! I have a freezer full of apple purée- can I use this ?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Gail, I’m not sure I’d recommend that. It’s quite different texturally to uncooked apple and I worry it might make the cake too dense. Perhaps swirling it into the top of the cake batter right before baking would work.
Stephnie says
Delicious and perfect
Joanna says
The best moist apple cake ever!
Fast to make.
Scrumptious.
Jessica Holmes says
Yaaay! Thanks Joanna!
Brenda Teo says
Hi! Thank you for your recipes. I love baking with oil and yogurt! Love all the crumbs on top of cakes too. Can I substitute self-raising flour instead of all purpose flour here? If I do, should I reduce the raising agents?
Many thanks!
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Brenda, I haven’t tested this cake with self raising flour. You’d have to experiment as 1 cup sr flour has approximately 1.5-2 teaspoons baking powder (and no baking soda). So the ratio might be similar but not quite the same.
Jordanandiansmom says
Just stopped by to print this recipe AGAIN! It is sooo easy, it is sooo good. Been making it for a couple of years now. Only thing I do differently is to add some nuts to the topping and usually double the recipe and make muffins for my ladies group, they love ’em too! Stop searching and hit print!
Jessica Holmes says
Such high praise! Love it!
Sandy smallwood says
Best cake I made in years,not to sweet but so moist and yummy 💖
Jessica Holmes says
Love hearing that Sandy!
Carla says
I wanted to try this but I wanted to poach the apple with some red wine I have left. I’m wondering if the apples are poached if it’ll get too moist? Perhaps it would be better to leave out the yogurt? Have you tried sour cream instead of yogurt? Or vegan yogurt? So many possible experiments!
Jessica Holmes says
Hey Carla, I haven’t tried this recipe with poached apples – sounds amazing though! Maybe just pat them dry to avoid too much extra liquid. I don’t recommend leaving out the yogurt. Sour cream instead of yogurt will be fine. I haven’t tried with a vegan yogurt. Report back and let us know how your experiments go!
Camila says
Hi. Tried with vegan yoghurt and a tsp vinegar worked perfectly fine 🙂
Jessica Holmes says
Hooray!
Lisa says
OMG, best cake ever. Quick to make. Light, moist and so scrumptious. Can’t wait to share with my friends and family.
Jessica Holmes says
Yay! Love that Lisa!
Zahra Isthiark says
So easy to make, so delicious to eat!!! Love this recipe!
Jessica Holmes says
Yay! So glad you loved it!
MP says
Hi, just wondering if could use regular yogurt if I don’t have greek
Thanks x
Jessica Holmes says
Yes it should be ok!
Kriti says
Substitute of eggs pls.thnx
I don’t use eggs
Jessica Holmes says
Hi, I haven’t tested this recipe with an egg substitute I’m sorry.
Patti says
Was delicous. I doubled to fit in a 9×12 baking pan for party. And used 3 granny Smith apples sliced thin and in very small pieces. Everyone loved it.
My only concern was the amount of oil. Can the oil be substituted with apple sauce or something else.
Jessica Holmes says
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Patti! I haven’t tried this recipe with apple sauce or any oil substitute. If you do give it a go, let us know how it goes.
Suzanne says
I made this cake this afternoon for dessert! It was amazing! Everyone loved it. Super easy and pairs great with vanilla ice cream!
Jessica Holmes says
Yay! So happy to hear that Suzanne!
Sandy says
So so good! Made this cake 3 times already and everybody loves it! Do you think I could substitute yogourt with sour cream ? I often have leftover sour cream that I would like to use in other recipes.
Jessica Holmes says
Yes love that Sandy! And absolutely!
Maurizio says
Super yummy delicious cake. I put three small apples. Didn’t have any Greek yogurt and used raspberry Yeo valley.. love the crunchy cinnamony top of the cake!!
Jessica Holmes says
So happy to hear that Maurizio!