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.
Debi Z says
I made the cake today, added 1 tsp of cinnamon to the batter, most of the vanilla extract but with a touch of almond extract, it was moist and tasted good. It was good without the glaze, good cake with tea or coffee.
Jessica Holmes says
Fantastic! Thanks for the feedback Debi.
Jennifer Yee says
How many days in advance can I make this cake? Can it be stored at room temperature or need to be refrigerated? Thanks!
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Jennifer, I find most cakes are best on the day they are made. But this one does keep nice and moist for a few days. I recommend keeping it in an airtight container at room temperature.
Tara says
Made this and used vanilla yogurt…so delicious!! The cake was a hit so tasty. Also instead of milk with powdered sugar mixed with more yogurt which added that little extra. Also so easy to make will be making over and over.
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you liked it Tara!
Sonia Douville says
Very easy to make and incredibly delicious and light as a feather
Jessica Holmes says
Yay! So glad you enjoyed it Sonia!
Alexis says
Let’s be straight up its Delish I only had a 30’ x30’ to cook in so it was a little less apple filled and not as high but still amazing and I put 1tsp of ground cinnamon in the batter cause we love cinnamon in our house and it was amazing … also I just sprinkled raw sugar with a teaspoon of cinnamon sugar on top instead of making the butter sugar mix and that too made it delightful … this time I made it in a square pan 20×20 and added a little more apple and still my cinnamon in the batter but did the butter cinnamon top and it was truly sensational … thank you thank you this is now saved as a favourite xxx I normally bake things with only honey or maple syrup not sugar so I would be grateful if you could give me a guide of how I could swap it out or ratio I could use ?
Jessica Holmes says
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Alexis! I’m sorry but I haven’t tested the cake with sugar substitutes so I’m not sure.
Shirley says
Mmmm mmmm mmmm. Just delicious!!!
I mixed it up at the kitchen table while my husband was cooking dahl at the stove. My Braeburn apple tree is laden with fruit so this recipe will be handy as a way of using some of the bounty. Thanks for sharing .🤗
Jessica Holmes says
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Shirley! And with homemade apples too – yum!
Denise says
The 1st time I made this everybody said how amazing it taste. I’m going to make another one today for the school bake sale.
Jessica Holmes says
Love hearing that Denise!
Georgia says
I made it for the first time today. Stayed true to the recipe for the most part. I added nutmeg along with the cinnamon. I find it brings out the taste of the apples nicely. I did not do the glaze. I opted to crush pecans, brown sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle it on top before baking. It was a big hit.
Jessica Holmes says
Sounds amazing Georgia! So glad you enjoyed it!
Jessica Borg says
The best apple & cinnamon cake ever. Recipe is easy to follow 🙂 5/5
Jessica Holmes says
Thanks so much Jessica!
Elba bulte says
Thank you, I will try soon. Hope it is successful as it sounds.
Celia says
Fantastic light fluffy cake, easy to make! I have made this at least 4 times in the past 3 weeks, everyone loves it.
Jessica Holmes says
That’s amazing Celia! Love hearing that!
Skskk says
Big hit with my LO. Very light, just the right amount of tart. I used Granny Smith apples. No cinnamon crumble, just more sugar on top.
Jessica Holmes says
Brilliant!
Jacqui says
Easiest Apple cake recipe I have ever made.
Looking forward to the taste test.
Jessica Holmes says
I hope you love it!
Linda says
This cake is amazing. Easy, moist and so tasty! I used 1.5 cups of stewed apples that I had made earlier and it worked well- just had to bake a little longer ~15 min due to the excess moisture.
Jessica Holmes says
Oh fantastic! Thanks for the feedback Linda!
Clarabelle says
Made this today. Few swaps were: sour cream with 1-2 tbs of left over fat free Greek yoghurt; 50gms soft dark sugar and 100 caster;same amount of self raising flour, 1/4 tsp baking powder and same amount bicarbonate of soda, pinch salt; grated and chopped 2 apples with a squeeze of juice, Needed 48 mins in oven. Perfect, light and moist🤤
Jessica Holmes says
Yay! So glad you enjoyed it Clarabelle!