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







Kam says
Hi 🙂 how can I double the recipe to serve 16 people? I plan to bake it in a Bundt pan. Thank you!
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Kam, I haven’t tried personally, but double this recipe should be work. I’m not 100% sure it’s the right cake for a bundt pan though seeing as it’s so light and tender – it may tear.
Oopa says
One of the best recipes…have made in Nordic Bundt pan . different shapes many times. Have even halved the recipe and made in small Nordic pans. While buttering the pan, i used little cinnamon too along with butter & flour.
Thank you.
Jessica Holmes says
Oh that’s so good to hear! Thanks for letting me know!
Joanne says
I have several recipes for a cinnamon apple cake and this is the BEST one!! So easy to make and so moist. This is the recipe I’m keeping!
Jessica Holmes says
YAY! So happy to hear that Joanne!
helen romeo says
could you freeze?
Jessica Holmes says
Absolutely!
helen romeo says
sounds yum, but I have tins of bakers canned apple, can I us that? thankyouxx
Jessica Holmes says
Yes you can! Just drain them or pat with a paper towel to prevent too much liquid being added.
Karen says
I julienned the granny smith apples on my mandoline and they kinda disappeared into the cake. It was so lovely and simple, a beautiful warm dessert with cream.
Jessica Holmes says
Wonderful to hear Karen!
Nan says
I was skeptical, but the cake turned out awesome. Indeed the best apple cinnamon cake. My question is can I use half butter and half oil? Will it improve the taste?
Jessica Holmes says
I’m so pleased you enjoyed it Nan! I haven’t tried but you could experiment if you like. I tried a few variations as mentioned in the post and I did prefer oil – but half half could be a good compromise!
Niki says
I have made this hundreds of times. Everyone loves it. Have tweaked a little. I add some cinnamon & nutmeg to the flour. I double the cinnamon sand & add some half way so there’s some cinnamon crunch in the middle too.
Jessica Holmes says
Sounds incredible Niki!
Crystal van der Ross says
Wow love this recipe 😋. My husband can’t stop eating. Thankyou for sharing 😊
Jessica Holmes says
Yes! This makes me so happy!
Jayne says
Best apple cake I’ve ever made!! My brother-in-law loves it!!!!!
Jessica Holmes says
Hooray! So good!
MsMo says
Will bake it for the 2nd time for Father’s Day since my husband loves it! A new family favorite! Thank you 😊
Jessica Holmes says
Brilliant! Love that!
JUANITA says
Very good, going to make one with can peaches no can juice,Thank you for the recipe.
Jessica Holmes says
So welcome!
Amanda says
Made this for my sister-in-laws baby shower; she isn’t the biggest cake person. She loved this cake and so did everyone else! Definitely a crowd pleaser. This one will definitely be a regular bake for us from now on! Thank you Jess!!!!
Jessica Holmes says
I’m so glad to hear that Amanda! So pleased everyone loved it. Thank you so much for your kind review!
Irin says
How many apples to use? I don’t understand from the recipe? Thanks
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Irin, if you refer to the recipe card, you’ll need 1 cup of apple (approximately 1 apple).
Megan says
I love this cake; it is so easy to make and tastes divine. For me, there are very few flavour combinations which top apple and cinnamon so it takes no arm twisting for me to make this cake. I sometimes add additional cinnamon into the batter, or if I want to maintain the light colour, I toss the apples in cinnamon before adding to the batter. Either way, the result is always a delicious cake and a kitchen with wonderful apple cinnamony aromas.
I saw the raspberry almond cake which I will try next.
Jessica Holmes says
I’m so glad you love this cake Megan. I think you’ll love the Raspberry Almond Cake too!
Sue says
Can this cake be frozen?
Jessica Holmes says
Yes! I recommend leaving off the glaze and only adding that once your cake is thawed and ready to serve.
Sue oakley says
Thankyou