This spiced apple cake is a moist, tender, and cozy fall dessert! It's made in an 8x8-inch pan, topped with streusel, and easy to make using pantry staples.
I can't believe I'm saying this, but I may have actually found a dessert to rival zucchini bread. This apple cake has the same moistness and cozy spices, but it has added sweetness and the slightest bit of texture from diced apple.
This cake doesn't skimp on apples. It uses 2 large apples or 3 cups of diced apple, and that's just for one 8x8-inch snack cake!
If you're new to snack cakes, they are single-tier cakes that are baked in a smaller baking dish.
I also have snack cake recipes for sour cream chocolate cake and ginger carrot cake, both of which are also part of my Lynn's Desserts series. All of these recipes are adapted from my friend Lynn's bakery recipes.
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Recipe highlights
- Snack cake: This apple cake makes 16 2-inch cake slices. It can be adapted into a 9-inch round layer cake, if desired.
- Fall flavors: Cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and apple combine to make this ultra-cozy spiced fall dessert.
- Streusel topping: In lieu of frosting, this apple cake has a brown sugar crumble and powdered sugar glaze.
Ingredients
- Apples: I tested with Fuji apples and Ambrosia apples and they both work well, but I preferred the Ambrosia for its additional sweetness.
- All-purpose flour: Most recipes from the Lynn's Desserts collection use standard all-purpose flour for practicality's sake.
- Baking soda and eggs: These are leaveners. The eggs also add moistness. I do not recommend replacing them with a vegan alternative.
- Neutral oil: I typically use canola oil when a recipe calls for neutral oil. Vegetable oil also works. Olive oil can be used but note that depending on the strength of the olive oil the flavor will come through in the baked cake.
- Spices: Cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves give the cake warmth.
Step-by-step visual
Above is how the apples look when I slice and dice them. I do not remove the peel, but you can if you prefer.
To dice the apple, I cut wedges off of the apple, thinly slice those wedges, then cut the slices into smaller pieces. Measure out roughly 3 cups of diced apple.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar, oil, and eggs. Stir in the diced apple.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. Using a sifter or a fine mesh sieve, sift about half of the dry ingredients into the apple mixture, stirring until combined. Sift in the remaining ingredients.
- Stir until just combined. It should be a relatively thick batter. Scoop the batter into the prepared 8x8-inch baking pan. Spread into an even layer. Top with the streusel topping.
- Bake the cake on the middle oven rack at 350F for 40-50 minutes, or until the cake is pulling away from the edges of the pan and the center of the cake is firm and golden. Once cooled, drizzle with the powdered sugar glaze.
Top Tips
- I use this parchment paper cut into squares in this 8x8-inch baking dish. This allows the cake to release easily from the pan.
- Metal pans are best for baking cakes. I use this Nordic Ware 8x8-inch pan. If using a ceramic baking dish, note that the cake will likely take longer to bake.
- Frosting option: I prefer giving apple cake the streusel treatment instead of traditional frosting, but this cake would also be delicious with standard frosting. For cream cheese frosting, check out the recipe used with my ginger carrot cake.
- I just use a fine mesh sieve to sift the dry ingredients, but if you have a flour sifter that is the more traditional option. I also use the sieve for the sugar because sometimes sugar has clumps in it, but this is not required.
- Enjoy a slice of apple cake with a cup of spiked apple cider.
FAQ
This is a pretty thick apple cake, so if turning it into a layer cake note that it will have tall layers. That being said, yes!
One 8x8-inch snack cake is approximately one layer of a layer cake if using a 9-inch cake pan. The cake will bake a touch more quickly in 9x9-inch pan than 8-inch. Simply multiply the recipe by 2-3, depending on how many layers you'd like to make, then divide the batter between cake pans.
Because of the moisture from the apples, this cake is more likely to underbake than overbake.
The cake is done when the edges pull away from the pan, the top is golden and domed, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
A very gentle shake of the pan should show no jiggling in the center of the cake. If it jiggles, it still needs more time to bake.
This is up to you! I leave peels on the apples because they soften enough that I find they are barely noticeable. However, you can peel the apples if you don't want peels. It won't affect the cake.
Storage tips
- Storage: The cake keeps best in the fridge for 3-4 days. Because it's such a moist cake, it doesn't dry out too much in the fridge.
- Freezing: Apple cake freezes well. Freeze the entire cake or freeze it in slices. Let thaw at room temperature or overnight in the fridge.
More fall desserts
Did you try this recipe? You can leave a star rating in the recipe card or a review in the comments below. Or check out my cookbook and keep up to date with my YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, or newsletter!
Recipe
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Apple Spice Snack Cake
Ingredients
For the apple cake
- 2 medium red apples see note #1
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- ½ cup neutral oil such as canola or vegetable
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups all-purpose flour 240 g flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
Crumb topping & glaze
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons butter coconut oil also works
- pinch of salt
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease an 8x8-inch metal baking pan. Place a square of parchment paper in the base of the pan for easy cake removal (optional.)
- Dice the apple. To do this, I cut the apple into wedges, thinly slice those wedges, then cut the slices into smaller pieces. Measure out roughly 3 cups of diced apple.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar, oil, and eggs. Stir in the diced apple.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg, salt, and cloves. Using a sifter or a fine mesh sieve, sift about half of the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, stirring until combined.
- Sift in the remaining dry ingredients. Stir until just combined. It should be a relatively thick batter. Scoop the batter into the prepared 8x8-inch baking pan. Spread into an even layer.
- Make the streusel topping in a small bowl by whisking together all-purpose flour, brown sugar, melted butter, and a pinch of salt. Crumble this across the apple cake.
- Bake the cake on the middle oven rack at 350F for 40-50 minutes, or until the cake is pulling away from the edges of the pan and the center of the cake is firm and golden.
- Remove from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons of milk until smooth. It should be easy to drizzle. Add extra milk 1 tablespoon at a time, as needed.
- Drizzle the cooled apple cake with the powdered sugar glaze. Slice and enjoy!
Notes
- Apples: Choose a sweet variety like Fuji, Ambrosia, or Honeycrisp. I leave the peel on the apple but you can remove it if you prefer. Two apples yields roughly 3 cups diced apple or 1 pound of diced apple. It's okay if you're slightly under 1# or 3 cups.
- Storage: The cake keeps best in the fridge for 3-4 days. Because it's such a moist cake, it doesn't dry out too much in the fridge.
- Freezing: Apple cake freezes well. Freeze the entire cake or freeze it in slices. Let thaw at room temperature or overnight in the fridge.
Susan says
Delicious! I am glad that I cut back on the amount of sugar to 1 cup though, because it is very sweet. I didn't add the powdered sugar glaze either.
It is moist and so tasty.
Cassidy Reeser, MS, RD says
I'm happy to hear that it worked well for you with a little less sugar! This is my friend's recipe so I didn't want to change it too much, but I'm partial to less sugar as well so I think I'll try that next time 🙂
Jen says
This is a wonderful and easy cake.
Cassidy Reeser, MS, RD says
So happy to hear you like it! Thanks for the review.
D says
Made the house smell amazing while it was in the oven!! Will make this again for sure.
Cassidy Reeser, MS, RD says
It's like a fall candle! Thanks so much for the review 🙂
Jackie says
Amazing! This is the best cake I've cooked in a while. Made it to visit a friend and she loved it too.
Cassidy Reeser says
Yay so happy to hear that! Thanks for leaving a review! 🙂