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.
Diego says
I’ve cooked this hundred times !! It’s just delicious.
Thanks & one kiss from another cook miles away !
Jessica Holmes says
Yay! Love hearing that!
Maria H says
Best apple cake I’ve had in years and super easy to make! This will be on my favorite list for sure. I don’t know if it was my oven or what but I had to bake 10 minutes longer than recipe stated and it was perfect. Great for coffee or a dessert! YUMMY!
Ps. I didn’t have Greek yogurt so I used sour cream… perfect!
Jessica Holmes says
Fantastic! So glad you enjoyed it Maria!
Debbie Williams says
Is there any reason you couldn’t use an 8×8 pan instead of the 8″ round? Might be easier to remove from the pan if you leave parchment hanging over the edge a bit.
Thanks!
Jessica Holmes says
Yes you definitely can Debbie! It will make a slightly thinner cake so you might want to check it a couple of minutes earlier.
Gabbsey says
Do you think this cake has enough structural integrity to it to be turned into a layer cake? Thanks!
Jessica Holmes says
It does have a pretty soft and tender crumb. I think perhaps a two layer cake maximum!
Judith Phythian says
Dear jessica
I thought you may be tickled by this. We open our garden for charity and much baking is required and your cakes and chocolate cookies 🍪feature on most open days. As this weekend was the coronation I thought I should make an extra effort so baked a passion curd cream cake, a hazelnut and coffee sponge with roasted nuts and also your cinnamon and Apple cake (replaced the apple with rhubarb and marzipan as I had no apples). As the cake was still warm I served them with custard. People only had eyes for your cake and we sold out of the two I baked within 30 min.
Thank you for your hard work, it is much appreciated even when there is not always time to tell you so ( have a thunderstorm at moment and hope my three ginger cakes in the oven will survive the power cut)
If you fancy a few minutes peace, look our garden up on YouTube under Haldon Grange.
Best wishes Judith
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Judith, I’m so glad you wrote to me! Your comment absolutely made my day. So pleased the cake was such a hit – a rhubarb and marzipan version sounds amazing. I also just looked your garden up on YouTube – my word! What an incredibly beautiful space. I’m sure so many people are blessed by your lovely garden.
Judith Phythian says
Thank you jessica for your lovely reply. Another open weekend tomorrow so I am in the kitchen looking up your recipe and saw your comments. If you are ever the UK you are welcome to stay in our Airbnb, it would be an honour to host you.
Thank you again for the great recipes, if I can’t sleep you can usually find me on your site planing my next sweet menu!
Jessica Holmes says
How kind, thank you Judith! We would absolutely love to come visit one day. We’ve missed travel the last few years and the UK is top of the list when we get to travel again. Keep letting me know how your bakes go, love hearing about it!
Toktam says
OMG, how delicious this was! I just had a small issue and would appreciate if anyone could help.
I replaced the flour with oatmeal and the sugar with maple syrup as I usually do with any recipe I try. Everything looked and tasted perfectly, the only problem was that when I cut the cake, it totally crumbled. It was practically impossible to get a slice.
I am thinking maybe 2 eggs are not enough for the oatmeal? Anyways, I would love to hear your ideas.
Many thanks
Xoxo
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Toktam, I’m sorry I haven’t tested the cake with oatmeal and maple syrup so I can’t say.
Kim says
Turned out delicious. Light not too sweet. (Making double the recipe) I used what I had at the moment. Instead of regular flour, I used 1 1/2 whole white wheat flour, and 1 1/2 oat flour, 3/4 cup of dates replacement of white sugar and 1/2 melted butter. My kiddos enjoyed it. Something a little better than donuts. 🙂
Jessica Holmes says
Great! So glad the family enjoyed it Kim.
Cathy says
I’m the last person to be found in a kitchen, you’ll find me in a garden any time. But I made this apple cake and and it was perfect. Certainly my best. I’ve made a few cakes and biscuits, (we all need to eat) and I guess the score is high when everyone in the family comes back for more!
Really nice light tasty.
Jessica Holmes says
How brilliant to hear! Thanks for the lovely feedback Cathy. I hope you enjoyed a slice in your garden!
Andrew says
Hello, I was wondering how you would scale the recipe to use a 9 inch round instead of the 8?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Andrew, I haven’t tested this recipe in a larger format I’m sorry. You could use a 9-inch pan – it would just be slightly thinner and may cook a bit faster.
Monica says
I’ve made this cake many times now and it’s still a favorite. I have used the raw apple as the recipe states and then I have used cooked apples (pie apple) and it comes out even better.
Jessica Holmes says
Oh love that Monica! I’ll have to try that next time!
Craig kent says
Lovely cake .I also made it with rhubarb and ginger instead of apple and cinnamon. Turned out good
Jessica Holmes says
That sounds lovely!
Terrie says
So easy to make! I made this for my son’s birthday and it was delicious! I wonder if anyone has any advice on getting the cake out the pan without losing a lot of the Cinnamon topping.
Jessica Holmes says
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Terrie! I don’t have too much advice I’m afraid – I just ensure I have a large mitten on and tip the pan up and back as quick as I can!
Shirley Bo says
Made plenty of apple cakes and this one is the best by far.
Jessica Holmes says
That’s wonderful to hear.
Sumi says
This is such a delicious cake and so easy to make. However, my cake was crumbly and I’m not sure what I did wrong.
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you liked it Sumi! One of the most common reasons for a crumbly Cake is over baking.
Sumi says
Thank you for the reply, Jessica. I shall try baking the cake again and will let you know how it turns out.
Laetitia says
Delicious! I had lots of compliments. I just modified it with things I had at home (2 pears instead of apple, normal yogurt, adding cardamom with cinnamon, and reduced the sugar to my convenience). Your recipes are perfect as always! Thank you/Merci !
Jessica Holmes says
That sounds wonderful! So pleased you enjoyed it.
Linda says
I just made it and it is indeed delicious. Thank you. To make it a bit healthier I used two apples, lemon juice, only half a cup of sugar, a third of the flour was wholemeal and I used sheep’s yoghurt.
Jessica Holmes says
I’m so glad it worked well for you Linda!
Maggie says
Hi, just wondering:
For the vegetable oil, can I use light olive oil instead?
Thanks, Maggie 🙂
Jessica Holmes says
Hi, yes you can!
Julie Brooker says
I just can’t get my cake to look as light in color as yours in the photo. Could it be I used buttermilk instead of Greek yogurt? Otherwise, very delish.
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Julie, yes you can if you like. The colour could be affected by the oil you use, or if you used a different sugar. But regardless of the colour, I’m sure it was delicious!