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







Cindy says
Would substituting coconut oil instead work ?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Cindy, I haven’t tried with coconut oil so I’m not sure. But could be worth a shot!
Lorraine says
Made this exactly as the recipe stated & absolutely loved it! So easy, results….Lovely soft consistency, so tasty 😋 very addictive, definitely one of my favs 👌
Jessica Holmes says
Hooray! So glad you loved it Lorraine!
Gillian says
My first attempt and it was a great success. My hubby and I are loving it! The only thing I changed was the shape of the bake tin!
Jessica Holmes says
That’s great to hear Gillian!
Ms Joy Mcdonald says
By far, the best apple cake I’ve ever tasted!
Jessica Holmes says
Love that Joy!
Eileen says
Great
Kate Shipp says
very easy to make and it came out as a light, lovely sponge. I may add a little cinnamon to the cake mix next time, but that’s because I really like cinnamon, will be making this again.
Jessica Holmes says
I’m so glad to hear that! Thank you for your kind feedback Kate!
Patricia says
Great success!
Nice and moist cake, apple and cinnamon, a marriage made in heaven.
Thank you
Jessica Holmes says
Love hearing that Patricia!
Maria North says
Excellent cake, so light I loved it, and I don’t like apple cake! I make it for friends !!
Jessica Holmes says
How good is that, thank you Maria!
audrey m morris says
Can Iuse sour cream instead of yogurt? For the crumb topping can substitue brown sugar for the white?
Jessica Holmes says
Yes and yes!
Antoinette says
Delicious and easy! This is a staple in our house! I wouldn’t change a thing! (I did run out of sour cream so I had to substitute half sour cream and half applesauce). It didn’t last long😋! We simply enjoyed it and I’ll keep this recipe forever!
Jessica Holmes says
Hooray! So happy to hear that!
Nitsa says
I made this apple cake today. Yes it was moist and fluffy but it needed some buttery flavour and less oil. I think I’ll halve the oil and put in some melted butter for the remaining half next time. I will also add cinnamon and cloves to batter for more flavour. But otherwise it was ok.
Jessica Holmes says
Thanks for the feedback Nitsa.
Rachel says
I can honestly say this was the easiest and delicious apple cake I have ever made. Thank you and I will definitely follow a lot more of your recipes.
Jessica Holmes says
I’m so happy you enjoyed it Rachel!
Elvira Peros says
Delicious and easy. Next time I’ll use this recipe to make muffins. (I added cream cheese to my glaze)
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you enjoyed it! I also have a lovely Apple Muffin recipe you might like to try!
Lorraine says
Love this cake 😋……Can you freeze it?
Jessica Holmes says
Absolutely! It won’t have a super crispy crust like it does fresh from the oven, but it’ll still be delicious!
Missy says
I made this cake for the first time a few days ago and it was delicious and easy to make! The only issue I had was when I made the glaze it came out thin and when I drizzled it on the cake it disappeared….not sure why?
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you enjoyed it Missy. Was the cake still a little warm? That’ll make the glaze melt into the cake.
Missy says
I thought that the cake had cooled but it’s possible that it wasn’t cool enough. Next time I will wait longer to add the glaze. Thanks!
Bekah says
Can I grate the apple instead?
Jessica Holmes says
Sure! It’ll change the texture but still be delicious.