This Apple Cake recipe is from a reader and is a gem of a find! The cake is really moist, perfectly spiced, and studded with tender pieces of fresh apple. The batter is incredibly fast to make with just a wooden spoon – no electric mixer required!
Dozer got in so much trouble over this Apple Cake.
This is how the usual routine goes down: He’s technically not allowed into the kitchen – albeit my house is open plan so strictly speaking, it’s hard to have a clear boundary that he needs to stay out of. But when I shoo him away, he is generally pretty good about taking himself off into the yard to chase rabbits, bark at birds or whatever other important contribution he’s making to make this world a better place.
But the minute whatever I’m making is ready and I take it to the area where I shoot my photos, he comes dashing inside.
“Dashing” is honestly the word. He doesn’t walk or lope. He dashes at a very fast paced trot, his heavy footed paws thudding through the house making the wooden floor shake (really, he does).
And that’s when he becomes a real nuisance. Because I’m concentrating on taking photos, I don’t always manage to catch him in the act of photo-bombing.
Case in point: Dozer photobombed EVERY SINGLE photo of this cake being dusted with icing sugar. 🙄
THAT CHEEKY BUGGER!!!
See look. Here he is AGAIN. And again. And again. GRRRRR!!!!!
So I apologise profusely to all those who find it a real turn off to see a DOG in food photos, but my bottom can’t afford for me to make this ridiculously delicious Apple Cake yet again just so I can get one single shot (I just wanted ONE!) of me dusting the Apple Cake without Dozer in the background.
OK, now I’m done stomping my foot over Dozer ruining my photos, a quick word on this Apple Cake recipe: It’s crazy easy and fast to make the batter, it’s made with FRESH apples (won’t work with canned, cake is not as moist), and it really is beautifully moist.
This easy Apple Cake recipe was given to me by the lovely Dorothy in Tennessee in the US. It was meant to be, because I had just shared an Apple Cake disaster on Instagram then a couple of days later, she shared this recipe with me (without having seen my epic failure!). I tried it once, twice, three times, then I decided I had to share it here because it is that good and that easy!
– Nagi x
More afternoon tea favourites
Cinnamon Swirl Bread – easy, no yeast!
Cheese, Herb and Garlic Loaf or Zucchini Cheese Loaf– quick bread, no yeast
Blueberry Lemon Loaf with Lemon Glaze or Blueberry Lemon Yoghurt Cake
Savoury Cheese Muffins or Cornbread Muffins (personal fave😇)
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Easiest Ever MOIST Apple Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour , plain / all purpose (Note 1)
- 3/4 tsp baking soda (bi-carb soda) (Note 1)
- 3/4 tsp EACH salt, cinnamon and ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg (or 1/4 tsp freshly ground)
- 1 1/4 cups white sugar (Note 2)
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 2 eggs , large, at room temperature (55-60g/2oz each)
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups apple , peeled, cored and cut into 8mm/ 1/3" cubes (~2 large, 3 small) (Note 3)
Optional Extra
- 1/2 cup flaked raw almonds
- Icing sugar . confectioners sugar, for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F (all oven types).
- Grease and line a 21 cm / 9" springform cake pan. (Note 4)
- Place flour, baking soda, salt and spices in a large bowl and whisk to combine.
- Whisk oil and sugar in a bowl, then whisk in eggs and vanilla.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix with a wooden spoon until JUST combined. Stir through apple (optional: add 3/4 cup chopped walnuts or other nuts).
- Pour into cake pan. Sprinkle over almonds.
- Bake for 50 minutes – 1 hr. Check at 50 minutes – it is cooked when a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- Cool for 10 minutes before turning out onto a rack to cool. Dust with icing sugar if using, then serve. This cake doesn’t need cream or ice cream because it is so moist, but I wouldn’t turn it down!
Recipe Notes:
2 1/2 cups sugar (I reduced to 2 cups)
3 eggs, beaten
2 tsp vanilla
3 cups sifted flour
1 tsp EACH baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ground cloves
3 cups peeled and chopped fresh apples
1 cups chopped nuts (I use walnuts) 5. Measures – Cups and teaspoons are slightly different in size between some countries. For most recipes on RecipeTin Eats, the difference is not large enough to matter or is relative throughout the recipe. For recipes where the difference does matter, different measures are provided for different countries, like in this Soft Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. For this Apple Cake, the measures per the recipe can be used no matter which country you are in except Japan. If you are in Japan, please do not use cups, use the weight measures provided. OVENS: I have a fan forced / convection oven but have made this in a standard / conventional oven too. I found that this recipe works better using the same temperature no matter which oven type you have. The only difference is the cook time – fan forced is ready at 50 minutes, standard oven is ready at 60 minutes. But no matter which oven you have, check your cake at 50 minutes. If your oven is weak, it may take over 1 hour for the skewer to come out clean. 6. Nutrition per serving, assuming 12 servings.
Nutrition Information:
LIFE OF DOZER
Well! After telling you how naughty he was while I photographed this Apple Cake, I’m not sure he deserves to be featured in his own section on this post…..
But who am I kidding. I can never stay mad at him.
Here he is “minding” the Apple Cake as it cooled. Just minding it. No cheeky thoughts running through that furry head, I’m sure….
This fab recipe is my daughter’s first try at baking! Such a success that she has made it
for a variety of events this holiday season…at least five times! Her boss sidled up to her
at an office pot-luck and whispered, “don’t tell anyone, but I’ve just had three pieces!”
Now we head to a Christmas party with some vegans. Can she substitute a vegan alternative
to the two eggs? We’re thinking chia/flax seeds and water.
you can replace the eggs with the brine from a can of chickpeas with great success. I copy and pasted the following…
***Three tablespoons of aquafaba is equivalent to about one whole egg, while two tablespoons of aquafaba is equivalent to about one egg white. Keep in mind that a can of chickpeas yields about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of this liquid, so about eight to 12 tablespoons.Oct 3, 2016
Your apple cake recipe is very close to a Penzy’s German Apple Cake recipe I have modified to suit our taste. It is also very moist, with more apples and nuts and less sugar and oil. I use 1 cup sugar instead of the original 2 cups, and use 1/2 cup veggie oil with 1/2 cup applesauce instead of 1 cup of oil. I also add more apples; up to 4 cups instead of just two. And I add 1 cup chopped pecans rather than the optional 1/2 cup nuts. . The Penzy’s methodology is basically the same, but uses a buttered and floured 9 x 13″ pan.
This cake is extra-wonderful with warm pecan caramel sauce drizzled over it.
Pecan Caramel Sauce
(modified from ‘Easy Caramel Sauce’, Food Network, Ree Drummond)
Yield: 1 1/2 cups
Ingredients
1 packed cup brown sugar
½ cup half‑and‑half
4 tablespoons butter
⅛ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans
Directions
1. Mix the brown sugar, half‑and‑half, butter and salt in a saucepan over medium‑low heat.
2. Cook while whisking gently for 5 to 7 minutes, until it gets thicker. Add the vanilla and cook another minute to thicken further.
3. Turn off the heat and stir in chopped pecans.
4. Allow to cool slightly and pour the sauce into a jar. Refrigerate until cold.
5. Microwave briefly or warm jar in hot water before serving over apple cake.
Notes:
Easy and delicious. Leftovers are wonderful on vanilla ice cream.
Thanks so much for sharing that sauce recipe Catherine! 🙂
I just made this cake and only had 1 egg so I substituted cinnamon apple sauce for the second egg. It is the most delicious and moist cake I have ever had. My family lived it and I can’t wait to make it again for Thanksgiving morning. Thank you for sharing. Kathy
I forgot to mention I used a Bundt pan and cooked it for about 65 minutes. Thanks Kathy
I’m so pleased to hear you enjoyed this Kathy!! Thanks for letting me know – N x
Tried it today and everyone loved the cake and its consistency ! 🙂 I lessened the amount of sugar and oil, and I added 2 tablespoons of water.
I’m so pleased to hear you enjoyed this Aral!! Thanks for letting me know – N x
Hi Nagi,
Just made the cake and it’s not for me it’s too sweet. I suspected it would be because it is a U.S. recipe and we keep adding more and more sugar to things. Chocolate chip cookies moved to chunks then double chunks, cake to cake plus pouches, sweet potato casserole sugar overload plus marshmallows, not for me. I like to taste layers of flavor and spice and since I have to cut back on sweets I only go for the best of the best. That is why I look to other countries. You and others are the best in the world. I will throw this cake away and try a tahini brownie recipe. They say sweet on sweet is good but this is better. I have some tips for your readers because I watch a lot of cooking shows and professionals. The oil sub can be unsweetened unflavored applesauce for cake not cookies and a 1 to 1 ratio (info googled). My batter was sticky and not pourable because I forgot to chop apples so eggs and sugar mixed together had to sit awhile. Experts say don’t do that. They also say don’t scoop flour into cup but spoon flour into cup or the bake may not come out right and lastly, for hummus if you want creamier (experts again) must process a full 3 minutes and beans must be warm. Add warm liquid from cooking pot or can. I haven’t tried any of your sweet recipes yet but I intend to.
Hi Claudia! I’m sorry this was too sweet for your palette. I find on the sweetness scale, this is medium – I agree that most US recipes are far too sweet, certainly for my taste. 🙂 I would say this cake is mid range, the Apple Muffins I just shared last week are slightly less sweet than this. 🙂 N x
The cake looks delicious.. and a delight for the eyes too..!! Hope the large furry one got his big share of the cake..! Thanks for the yummy recipe..
Hope you love it Reina! N x
Well just found your site and I too have an unusually large golden retriever named Harry and I have all the ingredients for the cake which I am going to make tomorrow. It looks fabulous. I love cakes with fruit. And large golden retrievers. Love the photo bombing. They are just the right height to do that
You are so right – their heads just peeking over table height!!! Hugs to Harry! N xx
Made the cake today. So so easy. So so delicious. thank you. It’s a keeper.
Made this cake. It looked just like the picture and tasted wonderful. Will be making this again and again!
Thanks Nagi .
I’m so pleased to hear you enjoyed this Sara! Thanks for letting me know! N x ❤️
Hi Nagi,
I’ve made this cake mow so many times and every one that tries it asks for the recipe, I can’t recall how many peeps I have directed to your fab site. Excellent stuff!
Question, how long will this store at room temp? I was planning on baking the day before a road trip to see my family out of town. I know how much they would love this,
Thanks again!
Tortoise
Hi Tortoise! So pleased you love this so much! It lasts 3 days easily, 4 if you have a very airtight container 🙂 Stores well because it is so moist! N xx
Hi Nagi,
A quick update. The cake travelled well and was promptly devoured by my dessert-loving family after our meal. I also whipped up a batch of the crème anglaise to accompany it and got rave reviews for the deelish combination.
Thanks again!
Tortoise
WOW you did the creme anglaise too! WOW! N xx
Delicious!! My “go to” apple cake now. This is by far the best apple cake recipe I have ever come across. One time I made it , I wanted to use up a lot of apples, so I put in double the amount, ie 4 cups, and I love it that way. Kind of baked apple stuck together with spicy, crunchy sweetness. It does still hold together as a cake and I make that way all the time now. I also had run out of ground cinnamon and cloves, so I ground cinnamon sticks and whole cloves in the coffee grinder. I have to say that grinding them yourself gives an even more amazing flavour- which is probably quite obvious to everyone else but was a revelation to me! 🙂 Thanks Nagi for another fabulous recipe!
Ohhhh YUM! I love that you used even more apple in this! So glad you love this Linda, I’m a huge fan of it, I make it often! N xx PS Gosh yes to every spice being freshly ground, it’s so good but I rarely do it for convenience reasons. 🙂 Especially for Indian and other heavily spiced cuisines, so many cookbooks recommend freshly ground! N xx
I’ve made this cake 3 times now and it’s always turned out great. I’m still new-ish to baking and this cake really is so easy to put it together and also — and this is the best part — it’s such a forgiving cake. I speak from experience — the second time I baked it, I got the flour weights all wrong, substituted one cup of all purpose flour for wholemeal flour, and used coarse grain sugar… but the cake was still delicious! No one guessed that the cake had wholemeal flour in it and the coarse sugar, which didn’t all melt, actually added a nice crunch to the cake! Thank you Nagi and Dorothy, for sharing your recipes with us. The world is a better place with people like you guys!
I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed this Clarice! Thanks so much for letting me know – and Dorothy too, I know she enjoys coming back here to read people’s feedback on her wonderful recipe! – N x
I love this cake! So moist. I am GF so made it with an all purpose GF flour and it turned out beautifully. P.S. Dozer being in the photos actually is one of the reasons I used this recipe – he is so cute!!!
i love that he sealed the deal for you! 😂
friends called to say they would like to visit i had apples , dashed to net to find a quick apple came and found here ty very much … sounds so yummy it will be in my oven in an hr .
Oooh! Hope you LOVED IT!
Nagi, I love your site and your recipes. I always get good results whenever I follow your recipes. My apple cake did not turn out as moist as yours but it is because of the pan I used. I am just starting to bake so I do not have all the tools yet but I will get there. Thank you.
https://wanderfuldays.com/2017/05/15/the-very-nutty-apple-cake/
Hello Nyss! I will pop over and have a look! 🙂 N xx
This exact recipe is in a old cookbook I bought from my church Holy Cross in Belmont. The book is called The Festive Fast by Marigoula Kokkinou and Georgia Kofinas which compiled recipes from various Greek-American ladies. The book has recipes that follow the Greek Orthodox fasting, meatless cooking to be specific that we do as part of the 40 days and Holy Week leading to Pasha/Anastasi.
Ohhhh! I love hearing that Anon! N xx
the moist apple cake was amazing. Definitely served 12. Was delicious and I will keep as one of my favourites.
Question: Does it freeze as I have lots left over
Also, I cup of oil I thought was too much as it leaked out of the cake tin and into the bottom tray of the oven
loads of it. Just pure oil. The cake was still moist though.
HI Janet! That is so odd, I have never experienced that myself nor has anyone left a feedback saying they had that problem. I am wondering …. is there any chance you over measured? Because that is when oil will leak out of a batter, if there was too much. 🙁 I am glad it was still moist and you enjoyed it!! And YES it freezes fabulously! N xx
Thanks Nagi for prompt reply, I love your recipes. I did not over measure in fact I thought it was too much oil so under measured. I think I did not line the spring form cake tin with baking paper high enough. I think the bottom is not a tight fit so next time I will line all the way up the sides and this should stop it happening.
Hi Nagi and Janet
I actually just tried this recipe last night at a potluck and had the same issue with the oil! Everyone loved it but my oven was filled with oil and my house still smells today so perhaps I will try the liner suggestion. Also do you have any suggestions for replacing some or all of the oil with a healthier option? It did taste wonderful though. Thank you.
Laura
Hi Laura, I’m sorry to hear that 🙁 Did you mix the batter until the wet and dry were combined?? What you can do is substitute up to half the oil with yoghurt or sour cream. N x
HI, this worked really well, but maybe a little dry? The texture etc was all as you carefully described in the recipe. Im thinking it would be nice to have it little more fudgy, or thickish, not sure really as I am not a cook by any means. You did recommend not to use brown sugar, and I used white, but i think the brown sugar maybe would answer this problem.
This is one of the few recipe sites that I like to come back to, because you take such care in describing all the ins and outs, and provide basic formulas, that help understand the process much better.
thanks
Hi Jenny! I’m so glad you enjoy my site, thank you for reading! I must say I’m really surprised, I have never had anyone say they thought this was dry. Compared to most cakes, it is very moist. It is definitely not fudgey though, not like my Chocolate Fudge Cake. This is definitely a sponge cake type, not a fudge cake (which I consider as the type of cakes where if you take the crumb and squish it between your fingers, it has the texture of fudge). White and normal/light brown sugar is fine! Just not raw or dark brown sugar 🙂
Recently made this cake for a work colleague’s birthday. I did have some concerns about how it was going to turn out as I read some of the instruction steps back to front – but the end result was fantastic- if I do say so myself 🙂 . Everyone who had a piece wanted the recipe – so I’ve shared your site with them.
Whoot whoot! So glad to hear you enjoyed it Carolyn, thanks for letting me know! N x
Love apple cake ,and this would have to be one of the easiest and best I have ever made – perfect balance of spices.
Hi! I usually have much success with your recipes – made a lot over the holidays and the lemon/blueberry bread was a bit hit too! I made this – this morning and I don’t know what happened. I followed the recipe to a tee and went over it after I tasted the cake and I didn’t have a senior’s moment and leave anything out…so I am at a loss! I did notice when after I added the wet and dry ingredients and apple – it seemed very dense – didn’t pour of the bowl into the springform pan – rather I had to spoon it out. Is the consistency at that stage before baking supposed to be more fluid? If so, mine was not. Sorry it didn’t work out – but not sure what I did wrong so I can correct it. I did follow the springform cake ingredients and was going to follow the original – but didn’t – oven at 350 – hmmm – stumped!
Hi Melissa! What was it like when it came out of the oven?? I’m actually really surprised because this is a pretty forgiving cake. The batter is thickish, not thin and pourable so it sounds like that was right. What was the texture of the finished cake like?? I literally made muffins using this exact recipe on the weekend and they were SO GOOD!