Apple and Cinnamon Cake

Enjoy the comforting flavors of Apple and Cinnamon Cake! This spiced dessert is perfect for cozy gatherings, with tender apples and a hint of cinnamon in every bite.

This moist and flavorful cake combines the sweetness and tartness of apples with the warmth of cinnamon, making it a perfect treat for any occasion. Its comforting aroma and tender texture will make it a favorite in your household this fall and winter.

Apples and cinnamon are a perfect Fall flavor combination for a good cake.

And a good cake is not too sweet yet not too plain and boring. There is also a certain charm in making a cake from scratch with simple ingredients for the whole family.

A great dessert for breakfast, afternoon tea, sweet snack, and to bring to a potluck.

Why You Should Make This Snack Cake Recipe

• This great recipe only calls for simple ingredients, absolutely nothing fancy or expensive in this recipe.
• Made from scratch. No boxed cake mixes or shortcuts. The old-fashioned way of baking delicious cakes.
• Short prep time – 20 minutes max. to prepare the batter and start baking.
• It is a family cake for a big family. Like grandma used to make. This Cinnamon apple cake yields 8-10 servings.
• Turns out moist and tender thanks to the sour cream.
• The texture is fluffy and not heavy and doesn’t taste like a boxed mix.
• The sweetness hits the perfect spot, without overpowering other flavors.
• Makes a perfect blank canvas for different fall-inspired drizzles and toppings.

Key Ingredients

• To make the cake – this recipe makes the cake from scratch and I don’t use a cake mix here. I add vanilla extract for a light sweet flavor. So the recipe will be pretty old-fashioned.
• Fresh Apples. I only use 2 regular apples, medium size or you can use one large apple. I peel the apples and remove the seeds and the core. 
• Spices: ground cinnamon and nutmeg.
• The sour cream that we will add to the cake batter will make it moist and soft.

What Are The Best Apples To Use For Cinnamon Apple Cake?

Try to choose juicy, firm apples with good flavors. Both green and red apple types are fine.

• If you like tart apples: go for Pink Lady apples, Jonathan, Granny Smith, McIntosh, Braeburn, and Cortland apples.
• If you prefer sweet apples: Fuji apples, Honeycrisp apples, Royal Gala, or Janagold.

It is a big matter of preference. Many people, including me, love how the tart apples complement the sweetness of the cake.
 But you may like only sweet flavors in your cake recipe, then pick sweet apples!

You can always try both 🙂

Another thing to consider is the texture. Granny Smith and Honeycrisp apples soften during baking but still maintain the meaty texture.

At the same time, Macintosh apples soften much more!

Equipment To Use To Bake Easy Apple Cake

• 9-inch round cake pan
• Large mixing bowl for mixing dry ingredients, and
• medium bowl for mixing wet ingredients
• Whisk
• Electric Mixer or simply wooden spoon.

How To Cut & Core Apples For Apple Cake

To cut and core the apples for use in cakes and pies, quarter them, and then slice out the core at an angle. Peeling the skin is optional as it also adds texture and nutrients.

Next up you can cut apples into cubes, slice them, or shred them.

Shredding, of course, brings out more juice, but also leaves out the crunchy texture of biting into an apple piece while eating the cake.

There is a cheat code in prepping apples – using a special scooper! It scoops the core with seed in one go.

I love using just chopped apples for my cinnamon apple cake, it is the most basic option. Slices go well on top of the cake.

How To Make Apple Cinnamon Cake

Making this entire fluffy cake only takes 20 minutes of prep work and 45 minutes of baking.

I love this apple cinnamon cake recipe for its simplicity and it is just about mixing wet and dry ingredients, adding apples, and baking!

The good news: we don’t have to pre-cook the apples.

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease and flour a 9-inch round cake pan. Set the greased pan aside.
2. Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg in a large bowl. Whisk the dry ingredients until combined. Set aside.
3. Beat the granulated sugar and unsalted butter in a separate bowl until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. 
4. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in the vanilla extract.
5. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, alternating with the sour cream, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Mix until just combined. 
6. Cut apples and fold the chopped apples into the cake batter.
7. Transfer the cake batter to the prepared pan and spread it evenly. 
8. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
9. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
10. Once cooled, dust the top with the confectioner’s sugar to decorate. 
11. Slice and serve.

What To Serve With Apple Cinnamon Cake

The best way to serve a thick slice of this Apple and Cinnamon cake is with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, whipped cream on top, or with a quick homemade glaze, and a cup of hot aromatic tea.

• Decorating the cooled cake with some chopped walnuts, sliced almonds, or chopped pecans adds more fall warmth to this cake.
• Mascarpone whipped cream is an amazing silky and delicious topping that takes 5 minutes to make.
• Regular whipped cream, homemade or store-bought, is another classic serving option.
• Custard makes great company for this cake, especially if you do have some tea.
• Crumb topping like Cinnamon Streusel topping, made with cinnamon, sugar, flour, salt, and melted butter. Very yummy and sweet!

Glazing options

The most basic glaze is made with milk and icing sugar.

But you can also go for caramel sauce – it makes the cake so decadent, or orange drizzle, apricot jam, or sweet honey butter.

One more simple drizzle recipe is made of water, vanilla extract, and powdered sugar. Mixed together they make a subtle sweet glaze that pairs well with the warm cake.

Storage

Leftover cake can be covered with plastic wrap and stored at room temperature for 2-4 days.

Stored in an airtight container, the apple cake with cinnamon will also last for about 2 days.

If you make an unglazed cake or bake some cake ahead, you can freeze it for up to 4 months.

Once the cake is cooled, wrap it in plastic wrap or paper towel, then in foil, and store it in an airtight container.

Making Ahead

This cinnamon and apple cake recipe is one of the best family-friendly desserts to make ahead.

Bake it over the weekend, portion, and freeze and you have delicious homemade cake for busy weeknight dinners or a sweet breakfast option. It stays delicious for months in the freezer.

And what can be better than a warm cake on a rainy fall day or cold winter night?

You don’t even have to glaze the whole cake, you can serve it each time with something you have in the fridge.

Easy Substitutions and Variations

• You can use Greek yogurt instead of sour cream, keeping the same proportions.

Both are very similar in texture and have the same tangy flavor. It is a good recipe no matter which option you pick.

• Self-raising flour is a substitute for all-purpose flour and it is a shortcut in baking, as the self-rising flour already has baking powder, salt, and the same all-purpose flower.

Which means you don’t have to add them again. All-purpose flour is basically just plain flour.

• Vegetable oil instead of butter.

The oil-based batter is very tender and keeps the moisture well. Coconut oil or any vegetable oil tends to work better than melted butter or regular butter.

At the same time, vegetable oil is suitable for vegetarians. Yet, oils don’t add that rich buttery flavor. So what you can also do is to use both: oil and butter.

• Another vegan substitute for this apple cake recipe is almond milk.

Fall Cake Recipe

Together with vegetable or plant-based oil, they can completely replace eggs, butter, and sour cream.

• Not everyone loves nutmeg. Classic nutmeg substitutions are ground cloves and ground ginger for “spicier” flavors. Both go very well with cinnamon and apple mixture.
• The cake itself can be flavored with vanilla, like I do, or you can go further and add orange zest, dried fruit, nuts, amaretto, or caramel.
• If you are worried that adding extras to the batter will make the cake dry, add a little bit of applesauce.
• Half of the white sugar can be replaced by brown sugar. Molasses in the brown sugar help to make the cake moist.
• This cake bakes well in a loaf pan or a bundt pan too!
• For a party or potluck, turn this excellent dessert into apple cinnamon muffins! Follow the same steps, but then instead of the pan pour the batter into the prepared tin (either lined with parchment paper or greased with non-stick cooking spray).
• It can easily become an upside-down cake recipe! In this case, use sliced apples.
• Finally, if apples are not your thing… try any other juicy season fruit like peaches or pears.

Tips For Making The Best Apple And Cinnamon Cake For Dessert

• If you’ve made the cake but felt like the cinnamon flavor was lacking, next time, instead of adding the cinnamon to the cake batter, rub it into the apple pieces/slices.
• Whenever you use flour, no matter what type, always sift it! It affects the measurements and the texture of the cake.
• The cake is always easier to cut when it is completely cooled down. Be patient!
• Watch the cake’s doneness.

Watch the timer and the cake color close.

Too brown – getting done and soon can be taken out, test with the toothpick inserted in the center or a cake tester.

Doesn’t hold the shape – not done and cannot be taken out of the oven! You know your oven better but I mastered my time and it is no more than 45 minutes.

• Cinnamon apple cake yield depends on the slices you make and if you make the whole cake or individual mini cakes. The recipe makes very generous 8 servings, but nicely sized 10 servings.

Popular Questions

How to keep apples from turning brown?

Chopped apples turn brown in under 15 minutes.

To prevent that, once you chop the apples, prepare a bowl with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 2 cups of water and let the apples soak in the mix for 5 minutes.

This will keep apples fresh for up to 7 days! Which makes it easier to make this recipe ahead.

How to Know When The Apple Cinnamon Cake is Done?

The cake is done when it was baking for 45-50 min max and the toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

You can use a cake tester too to determine if the cake is done.

How to Soften Apples for Baking?

If your apples seem to be too hard, you can soften them by macerating.

• Put chopped apples into a bowl, cover with sugar, and toss with your hands to make sure every piece is covered in sugar.
• Then drizzle lemon juice.
• Let the mix sit for 45 minutes.
• After 30 minutes check the apples, they can be already much softer.
• Then apples can be added to the batter mixture.

It is a completely optional step.

I don’t do it for Granny Smith apples, but I also know that some people hate this kind of apple in this cake. 

If you love this cake recipe, you’re going to love these other fall desserts too. Please click each link below to find the easy, printable recipe!

More Apple Cinnamon Recipes

Apple Cinnamon Muffins

Cinnamon Rolls with Apple Pie Filling

Apple Pie Mug Cake

Apple Butter Bread

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