Apple Cake

(Mostly) Old Fashioned Apple Cake

We took Luke apple picking over the weekend (scroll to the bottom of the page for a picture!) and after bringing home approximately 20 lbs of apples I asked on Instagram if there were any apple recipes that you’d like to see. In addition to apple fritters and apple butter, I received so many requests for a “good apple cake”. Fortunately, I already had this recipe planned to share with you today. This is my grandmother’s apple cake recipe…. sort of. Because I’m basically incapable of leaving any recipe unaltered, I made a few subtle changes to her original recipe. I truly wasn’t sure if I could improve upon the original, but after taste-testing (and having my family taste-test) I decided I wanted to share my version with the alterations. Look, I’ve shared plenty of her recipes as she shared them with me (like her hot milk cake and apple dumplings!), so just trust me on the changes here! Because I know I’m going to get a few comments asking me exactly how my grandmother’s recipe was written, I included the notes on how to make it as per her instructions in the recipe card.

What You Need

The recipe is simple, and the texture and technique actualy remind me a lot of my banana cake. The crumb is a bit more dense than a classic cake and is almost like a quick-bread, between the sugar in the batter and on top it’s sweet enough that it doesn’t need any frosting.

Apples! I use Granny Smith, though you can substitute your favorite apple (or whatever you have on hand). Flour. Use all-purpose (plain) flour. Do not use self-rising flour, and I have not tested this recipe with cake flour so I can’t advise on that. Sugar. This recipe uses a fair amount of sugar. My grandmother’s recipe used all granulated, but I love the flavor brown sugar adds so I substituted half of the granulated sugar with brown. Cinnamon. A bit of cinnamon mixed with sugar makes the topping for this cake (and I toss the apples in a bit of it, too). Oil & Butter. Another deviation from my grandmother’s recipe: she uses all oil. I love the flavor butter adds so again I split it right down the middle and melt a stick of butter for my variation of the recipe. The cake is plenty moist enough (thanks to the apples) and doesn’t suffer for the reduction. Baking powder. Helps keep the cake from being too dense. Eggs. You’ll need 4. Large or extra large will work. Salt & Vanilla extract. For flavor. Buttermilk. This adds a subtle depth of flavor to the cake. Her recipe uses orange juice, which you can use instead, but I prefer to use buttermilk.

This is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!

How to Make Apple Cake

The batter for this recipe can be made in a single bowl in 5 steps and it can be done completely by hand (no mixer needed). TIP: Because this cake is moist and a bit dense it can be difficult to tell when it’s finished baking (the toothpick test doesn’t always cut it). If you’re not sure if your cake is done, pierce the center with a sharp knife and take a peek inside to make sure it’s not raw!