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, like in my Easy Peach Cake, 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.
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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 or flavourless 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 sugar, cinnamon 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.
Nutrition Information
Serving Size: Calories: 310 Sugar: 25 g Sodium: 143.8 mg Fat: 14.1 g Carbohydrates: 42.7 g Protein: 4.8 g Cholesterol: 42.2 mg







Suvarcha says
Hi Jessica,
The cake looks yum! I want to make this eggless, pls let me know if they can be replaced. Thanks!
Jessica Holmes says
I haven’t tested this recipe without eggs I’m sorry.
Carolyn says
Lovely moist cake. Would be even better with a scoop of ice cream or spoonful of crème fraiche.
Jessica Holmes says
Oh yes please to ice cream or custard!
Serena says
This looks amazing! Quick question if I wanted to make it nondairy what can I use in place of the yogurt? Thank you
Jessica Holmes says
Perhaps you could try a dairy-free yogurt? I haven’t tried myself.
Malvina Wegrzynowski says
Easy to make and Delicious! It was awesome everyone’s favorite at Thanksgiving! So good!!!
Jessica Holmes says
Love that!
Preetika chadha says
Hi the cake was delicious but the end result wasn’t like yours..the cinnamon crumbs looked like these lumps of browning rather than this even coated look you got..was wondering what I did wrong..so it didn’t look very nice looking though it was very moist and flavourful..
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Preetika, just use your fingertips to evenly spread the cinnamon sugar across the top of the cake. If the crumbs were too brown, perhaps double check your oven isn’t running hot. An oven thermometer is a great way to do that!
niki says
made this today and OMG, winner winner after my chicken dinner.
Best flavoured and textured cake I think ive ever made !
Jessica Holmes says
Love that Niki!
Momza says
This one is a keeper. Will make again. Instructions are clear and results are as promised. Added more than a cup of chopped apples – about 1- 1/4 cups. Baked 30 min in 9” round metal pan with removable bottom. Sprayed with Pam and it popped right out after cooling.
Yummy
Jessica Holmes says
So glad it worked out well for you!
Janet says
Wonderful cake even my grandson who doesn’t like cooked apples loves this.
Jessica Holmes says
Yes! Love that Janet!
Frankie says
It’s apple picking time and have everything now to start baking this cake. As I commented last year and before, my neighbours, family and relations love this cake. Making some for Thanksgiving this weekend (Canada) to give out to my adult children and some neighbours. Also make one or two for Christmas dessert. I just put your link in a group I’m in…time to share..this cake is also delicious with homemade caramel sauce.
Jessica Holmes says
This makes me so happy to hear Frankie! I’m so glad you love it. Thank you for sharing it with your family and friends!
Frankie says
Which I could send a pic..I made 4 ..9 x 13 and cut in halves, had enough batter left to make a 9 x 9 cake. So in all gave away 8. With leftover apples I made apple filling and caramel sauce with carnation milk…gave some with the apple filling and a little jar of caramel sauce with cake so they can put on top of cake with a spoonful or two of the caramel..that can be warmed up in microwave. (Before baking these I made 2 apple/banana cakes to try as hubby bought a bag of over riped bananas same week he was going apple picking and had to get rid of them..( made some banana cakes too)
Jessica Holmes says
Sounds amazing Frankie! Served with caramel sauce, sounds like the best present ever. Feel free to always share photos on Facebook or Instagram, or you can email me at jessica@sweetestmenu.com – I love to see them!
fiona says
Can this be frozen once cooked?
Jessica Holmes says
Yes absolutely!
Jody says
I’m wondering if buttermilk might be a better option here than yogurt? I have both in the fridge so I could use either. What would be the difference between using yogurt or buttermilk?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Jody, I recommend going with yogurt as per the recipe. It works perfectly!
Jody says
Will do! Thanks!
Kate says
First atempt with this cake and it was amazing… went down a storm with the family…
Jessica Holmes says
Love hearing that Kate!
Shlomit Glaser says
Amazing..!
Tess says
Make it all the time and it is always an absolute hit! Made it for our 96 year old gran as she isn’t much for iced cakes recently, and she couldn’t stop talking about it.
Jessica Holmes says
Aw that’s lovely to hear Tess!
Marie Sussum says
Amazing recipe! It was a tums up all around. Thank you. 😊
Jessica Holmes says
Love that!