This easy recipe for apple cake is a wonderful way to showcase fresh apples. Soft and tender with a stick-to-your-fork moist crumb and juicy apples in every bite, this cake is delicious plain, topped with buttery brown sugar glaze, or even a quick dusting of confectioners’ sugar.
One reader, Jenny, commented: “So there are ok and good recipes, and then there are recipes like this – ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS! This will be put in the recipe box and made for years to come. ★★★★★”
Another reader, Kathy, commented: “I have made many different apple cake recipes in the past, but yours is absolutely the best! I love all the spices you include and the brown sugar glaze! It is also the most moist apple cake I have ever made. ★★★★★“
This apple cake is just the thing to make when you have some freshly picked apples from the orchard (or the grocery store), and you want a simple recipe for a crowd-pleasing dessert that’s ready to eat in the next couple of hours. And will be just as tasty served tomorrow!
The apple flavor is front and center, complemented by the background flavors provided by warm spices and sunny orange juice. If a beautiful fall day were a cake, it would taste like this.
And if you need more inspiration, here is a list of 30+ fall cake recipes.
Everything You’ll Love About This Fresh Apple Cake:
- Tender, soft, and moist like fresh peach cake, banana cake, pumpkin cake, and spice cake
- Chock-full of juicy apple chunks
- Perfectly spiced with the flavors you love in apple pie (with less time + effort)
- Easy to make—no mixer required, no fussy decorating
- Don’t have to wait hours for it to cool completely before eating
- Dairy-free cake recipe like zucchini cake
- Transport and serve right from the baking pan
- Wonderful plain or topped with a dusting of confectioners’ sugar or a brown sugar glaze
Sheet cakes are renowned for being easier than layer cakes—no leveling off cake layers, no fancy decorating tools, no assembly whatsoever. Slicing and serving is a breeze and you’ll appreciate that this dessert can feed a crowd, but is still completely manageable to make. It’s easy to transport, too!
Favorite Pan: I really like to bake quarter sheet cakes in a glass 9×13-inch pan or this metal pan that comes with a lid. The lid is super convenient for storing & transporting!
Recipe Testing: What Worked & What Didn’t
I love this spice cake and knew it would be the best starting point for today’s version. The biggest change, besides altering the spices, is using apple chunks instead of shredded.
- Test cake #1 included 2 teaspoons baking powder and 1 teaspoon baking soda, and 3/4 cup each of brown and white sugars (like the spice cake). The cake browned pretty heavily and rose a bit too high, and needed just a touch more moisture and flavor.
- For test cake #2, I reduced the baking soda slightly, to 3/4 teaspoon, and changed the ratio of sugars to be 1 cup white and 1/2 cup brown. To brighten up the apple flavor, I added a little orange juice and a bit of lemon zest. This cake came out lighter in color and perfectly moist, but the lemon zest was overpowering the apple.
- For test cake #3, I kept everything the same as the previous cake, but left out the lemon zest. This apple cake turned out perfectly golden and rose up just enough, with those beautiful dimples on top revealing the apples within. And the orange juice adds the perfect amount of fresh flavor and moisture, allowing the apple flavor to really shine.
Ding ding ding! We have a winner!
Key Ingredients You Need
- Flour: All-purpose flour serves as the base. You’ll use sturdy all-purpose flour instead of cake flour in this recipe because of the thick, wet batter.
- Baking Powder + Baking Soda: These ingredients help the cake rise.
- Spices + Vanilla: Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, and vanilla—apple’s flavor support team! We use a similar spice combination for apple cobbler, too.
- Oil: Helps guarantee a moist crumb without weighing the cake down.
- White + Brown Sugar: Both sweeten the cake and brown sugar provides flavor. We’re using a mix of brown sugar AND white granulated sugar, though, because brown can weigh down a cake.
- Applesauce: Applesauce adds moisture, and the combo of applesauce + apple chunks ensures an apple-forward flavor in every bite! Make sure you use unsweetened applesauce.
- Eggs: Eggs add to the cake’s structure. This is a big cake, so you need 4 of them.
- Orange Juice: I promise this cake doesn’t taste like oranges! We’re using 2 Tablespoons, and it works so well to bring out the sweet-tart apple flavor. I love using orange juice with fall spices—it’s also the surprising ingredient in my pumpkin bread.
- Fresh Apples: I like to use a mix of sweet and tart apples.
Best Apples to Use
Firm apples are ideal for baking, and you may remember that if you’ve tried my apple crisp before. Avoid soft or mealy apples. For depth of flavor, it’s best to bake with a mix of sweet and tart apples. For this fresh apple cake, I usually use about 1 and 1/2 Honeycrisp apples and 1 Granny Smith apple.
- Tart apples I love to bake with: Granny Smith (in my opinion, this is the best overall apple for baking), Braeburn, Jonathan, and Pacific Rose
- Sweet apples I love to bake with: Jazz, Pazazz, Honeycrisp, Pink Lady/Cripps Pink, and Fuji
For a detailed list of my favorite apple varieties, and when to use each, you can visit my post The Best Apples for Baking.
Peel & cut the apples into 1/2-inch chunks, just like we do for apple turnovers. You need about 3 cups (360g) of apple chunks:
No Mixer!
Since we’re not creaming butter, you don’t need a mixer. Grab a big bowl for your dry ingredients, a medium bowl for your wet ingredients, combine it all, and then fold in the apples.
It will seem like too many apples. It’s not, I promise!
Topping Fresh Apple Cake
Today’s fresh apple cake is so moist and flavorful, like a lighter, spongier version of apple cinnamon bread. But here are some optional toppings… because who doesn’t love an accessory?!
If you’re looking to add some extra flair and sweetness to your fresh apple cake, I guarantee no one will turn down a slice smothered in the buttery brown sugar glaze. It’s the same exact glaze I use for this apple Bundt cake (just added a bit of salt), and it gives the cake a caramel-apple flavor profile.
I also love this cake with a dusting of confectioner’s sugar (pictured above), just like I enjoy serving my baked apple cider French toast. Note that the confectioners’ sugar will melt and disappear into the cake after a few hours, so it’s best to do this right before serving. Other topping suggestions:
- Drizzle with salted caramel sauce, just like I do on these apple cinnamon scones. Apples + salted caramel = a match made in heaven.
- Spread some apple butter on a slice, for extra-deep apple-cinnamon flavor.
- Add brown butter icing from these apple blondies.
- Slather on a layer of salted caramel frosting—if you’d really like to indulge your sweet tooth.
If you’re really feeling the fall vibes, serve it with a glass of honeycrisp apple sangria!
I hope you LOVE this!
Print
Fresh Apple Cake
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: serves 12
- Category: Cakes
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
You’ll love this easy sheet cake recipe for tender and moist fresh apple cake. The pictures above include a few photos of the cake with a dusting of 2 Tablespoons (15g) confectioners’ sugar and some include a buttery brown sugar glaze. The glaze recipe is included below.
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 and 1/2 cups (313g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon EACH ground ginger & allspice
- 1 cup (240ml) vegetable oil
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 cup (240g) unsweetened applesauce
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) orange juice
- 3 cups (360g) peeled chopped apples (1/2-inch chunks, about 2–3 large apples)
Optional: Brown Sugar Glaze
- 1/4 cup (4 Tbsp; 56g) unsalted butter
- 1 cup (200g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (120ml) heavy cream
- small pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup (60g) confectioner’s sugar, sifted
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and grease a 9×13-inch baking pan.
- Make the cake: Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and allspice together in a large bowl. Set aside.
- Whisk the oil, granulated sugar, brown sugar, applesauce, eggs, vanilla extract, and orange juice together in a medium bowl. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk until combined. Fold in the chopped apples until combined. It will seem like a lot of apples and that’s ok!
- Pour and spread batter evenly into the prepared pan. Bake for 45–50 minutes. Baking times vary, so keep an eye on it. Around the 30-minute mark, loosely tent with aluminum foil to prevent over-browning. The cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove the cake from the oven and set the pan on a wire rack. Allow to cool for at least 30 minutes before topping or serving.
- Right before serving, you can top the slightly warm cake with a dusting of 2 Tablespoons (15g) confectioners’ sugar or make the brown sugar glaze in the next step.
- Make the glaze: As the cake cools, prepare the brown sugar glaze. Combine the butter, brown sugar, heavy cream, and pinch of salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly until the butter has melted, and then stop stirring and let the mixture come to a rapid boil. Boil for 1 minute. Turn the heat down to low, give it a quick stir, and let simmer for 1 minute. Remove from heat and whisk in the sifted confectioners’ sugar. Allow glaze to cool and slightly thicken for at least 20 minutes. Spoon glaze over the cake right before serving. (Cake can still be warm when glazing.) If your glaze thickened up too much as it cooled, warm in the microwave for 15 seconds and stir until smooth.
- The cake (glazed, dusted, or plain) can be served warm or at room temperature. Cover leftovers and store at room temperature for 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. If you topped with a dusting of confectioners’ sugar, note that the sugar will melt and disappear into the cake after a few hours.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Prepare cake through step 5. Cover the cake tightly and refrigerate for up to 2 days or freeze up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, and bring to room temperature before serving. Continue with step 6.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass 9×13-inch Pan or Metal 9×13-inch Pan | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Rubber Spatula | Cooling Rack | Fine Mesh Sieve (for confectioners’ sugar topping) | Medium Saucepan (for glaze topping)
- Can I replace or reduce the oil? Vegetable oil is the best option for this cake. You can replace with a neutral-flavored oil such as avocado oil or canola oil. Feel free to use melted refined coconut oil (refined doesn’t have much of a coconut flavor) and make sure every other ingredient in the cake batter is room temperature, so the oil doesn’t solidify. Do not replace with melted butter because the cake will taste dry. You can replace a small amount of the oil with applesauce if needed, but keep in mind that the cake will begin to taste dry/rubbery the more oil you replace.
- Orange Juice: If you don’t have orange juice, you can substitute apple juice, apple cider, or any type of milk. I don’t recommend using lemon juice in this recipe.
- Apples: For depth of flavor, it’s best to bake with a mix of sweet and tart apples. For this fresh apple cake, I usually use about 1 and 1/2 Honeycrisp apples and 1 Granny Smith apple.
- Layer Cake: Grease 3 8-inch or 9-inch round cake pans, line with parchment paper rounds, then grease the parchment paper. Parchment paper helps the cakes seamlessly release from the pans. Divide batter between the 3 round cake pans. Bake for around 26–32 minutes, depending on which size pan you used. The cakes are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The brown butter cream cheese frosting used on this banana layer cake would be very tasty on this cake.
- Bundt Cake: Try my recipe for glazed apple Bundt cake.
- Cupcakes: Try my recipe for apple cupcakes.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Hi! Would I be able to sub the applesauce for pumpkin puree?:)
Hi Olivia! Here’s our pumpkin cake recipe 🙂
This cake is delicious and very easy to make. It got raves from my family.
I made a double batch with my toddler for her birthday (after she specifically requested apple cake). This was absolutely delicious and turned out perfect. Thanks again.
First time trying this recipe; followed it precisely, and may I say I fell in love! The cake is so moist, with such warm flavours and lots of beautiful chunks of apple! I used old-fashioned (dark) brown sugar for the glaze, which gave it a nice deep colour and excellent flavour! This will be one of my go-to cakes for any kind of reason at all! Thanks, Sally, for another WIN!
Delicious. Made the cake exactly as listed, halved the glaze, and it was enough to cover the cake. My son has already bought more granny smith apples so I can make it again.
I am so excited to try this recipe! I would love to make it but as muffins instead of one whole cake. Do you think this recipe would work for apple muffins if I shortened the baking time?
Hi Emma, here is our recipe for apple cupcakes instead!
In case anyone was wanting a GF option, I made this with Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 GF flour and followed the rest of the recipe as normal and it worked perfectly!! New favorite fall cake 🙂
This sounds lovely but I’m allergic to eggs. Usually I sub with applesauce, but that would be a TON of applesauce ha! Does anyone have any tips that worked for them?
Halved this recipe and baked in an 8×8 pan and it still came out perfect!!!
The perfect apple spice cake I was looking for. Thanks.
I made this with pears and it was excellent!!
Made this cake yesterday and it is so delicious. I didn’t put on the glaze and ate it plain. It is so moist and my aunts loved it too 🙂
Can i bake this in a bundt pan? And then drizzle the glaze over?
Hi Barb, We would use our Apple Bundt Cake recipe instead. Enjoy!
I had the same question, because this one is easily dairy free. Would love it if I could bundt it….
I loved this recipe. I remade it with 2 small additions. I added a couple tablespoons of boiled apple cider that I get from a small cider producer in the finger lakes region of New York state and a cup of toasted walnuts. The cider upped the apple flavor and the walnuts give it a crunch that I feel makes it the love child of a apple crisp, apple cake. I did the brown sugar glaze and it was perfect. Only wish I would have had vanilla ice cream to go with it. Thank you for the recipe.
OMG… Thank you so much for your comments… I will make this tomorrow with Fresh Apple Cider from the orchard next door to us and will use walnuts and walnut oil (instead of generic oil)! I will let you know how it pans out!
I plan on making this delicious-looking Fresh Apple Cake to take for my food bank volunteers next Tuesday. I will make the cake on Monday; I notice in the directions, it says “Spoon glaze over the cake right before serving. (Cake can still be warm when glazing.)” Am I able to spoon the glaze over the cake the day that I bake it or is it important to wait until just before serving?
Hi Lori, you can certainly top it with the glaze the day you make it, the day before you plan to serve it. Enjoy!
Thank you so much, Beth. That makes my decision to make this cake easier! Happy baking!
Looks fab! Haven’t made it yet but can’t wait to put it together.
I’m making your Easy Apple Cake. How do I adjust for high altitude? Thanks
Hi Rita, I wish we could help, but have no experience baking at high altitude. Some readers have found this chart helpful: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html
This apple cake recipe is excellent. The only thing I did different was add toasted walnuts to the cake batter.
I can’t have refined sugar. Could I replace the white sugar with monk fruit sweetener, and the brown sugar with date sugar or paste?
Hi Leslie, We’d love to help but we are not trained in baking with sugar substitutes. For best taste and texture (and so you don’t waste your time trying to adapt this recipe since it may not work properly), it may be more useful to find a recipe that is specifically formulated for sugar substitutes. Thank you!
I realized last second I didn’t have white sugar so I used date sugar and it turned out fine!
Would it be okay to use 1/4c half and half with 1/4c heavy cream in the frosting instead of only heavy cream?
Hi Katelyn, that should work in a pinch. The glaze will be just a bit thinner that way. Enjoy!
Will this recipe work with GF flour?
We haven’t tested it, but you might have success experimenting with a gluten-free all-purpose flour like Bob’s Red Mill or Cup4Cup. If you give anything a try, we’d love to know how it goes for you!
I baked this for my parents over the weekend. My dad had fallen last week and hit his head and had a lot of staples and just did not feel well. He is 91. So I was taking food every day and thought they would enjoy this as desert and then breakfast with tea the next morning. I followed the recipe and glazed with the brown sugar caramel. Because I was taking this as a gift I baked in little individual Bundt pans then when I glazed the hole filled with the wonderful deliciousness. The cakes were amazing. Moist and flavorful. I used locally grown September Wonder apples, which are a Fuji variety. With the shortened cooking time due to the individual Bundt pans, the apples were perfectly cooked. Thanks for the recipe. I will be making this often.
Can I use loaf pans instead?p
Hi Patty, We recommend using our apple bread (cakey!) recipe instead, as a thick layer of this apple cake in a loaf pan may not bake through properly.
My daughter doesn’t like mixed texture cakes. Do you think I could double the amount of applesauce and leave out the chopped apples? Or perhaps grate them? Any advice?
Hi Susanna, you can use shredded apple, but you’ll need to considerably reduce the amount down because they will act more like a wet ingredient than an add-in (see our spice cake recipe as an example). Chopped is best in this recipe so you can really taste the flavor!
I am unhappy with the glaze on this cake. It came out gritty. It was also stiff rather than runny like the texture I was hoping for. Maybe I cooked it too long?
Hi, I just made the cake and my glaze was also grainy. I timed each step per her instructions, so I’m so confused!
Question for you. Because I don’t have unsweetened applesauce would you just omit the brown sugar or reduce the white? My applesauce isn’t really sweet, but I’m not sure how to make the adjustment. I so can’t wait to try this!!
Thanks,
Kp
Hi Kp! If the applesauce isn’t very sweet, you can use it in the recipe without any other changes. Hope you love this cake!
Thanks for getting back to me on this! I accidentally cut the granulated sugar and I think it was just fine. I like the glaze but it’s a bit sweet on my palate. My husband thought it was just fine.
It’s a keeper!!
Thanks,
Kp
This cake is soooo good! It’s moist and flavorful. It’s like an apple fritter and cake had a baby. The crusty crunchy edges are the best part. Next time I’m leaving it in a little longer. Yum!
What can you replace the applesauce with? I don’t have any!
Hi Renee, we usually recommend mashed banana or pumpkin puree as a substitute for applesauce, but keep in mind that it may slightly change the flavor of this apple cake.
This cake was absolutely delicious! Moist with just the right amount of spice and apples. The cake would have been great alone but the brown sugar glaze was amazing!
Definitely one of the best apple cakes I have ever made! We grow apples and I have a box full of apple cake recipes—this is absolutely one of the best and easiest to make! My Granddaughter can make it! Tasty and everybody loves it!
Can I halve the recipe and bake in an 8 x 8 inch pan?
Hi Christine, this recipe halved should work well in a 9-inch or 8-inch square pan. We’re unsure of the bake time, but it will be a bit shorter. Keep a close eye on it and use a toothpick to test for doneness. Enjoy!
Is it possible to reduce the white sugar in recipe?
Thx!
Hi Beverly, you can try reducing some of the sugar, but keep in mind that the taste may also change!