A deliciously moist, easy to make Cinnamon Apple Cake. Packed with chunks of fresh apples and topped with a dusting of cinnamon and a water icing drizzle, this cake is perfect for snacking.
Autumn is here, there is a chill in the air, and apple season is upon us. What better way to celebrate than with an apple cake spiced with cinnamon? This cake is filling in the best possible way and is sure to warm you up on a chilly day.
Why this snack cake recipe works.
Using dark soft brown sugar gives a slight toffee taste and darker colour to the cake. Apples and toffee go really well together. They are the flavours of Autumn and bonfire night. Dark brown sugar also has the highest amount of treacle, leaving you with a deliciously moist cake.
Adding a little golden syrup to the cake batter and as a glaze on top, helps to make this cake nice and moist.
Cinnamon helps to bring out the sweet tart flavours of the apples without overpowering them. You can adjust the amount of ground cinnamon to suit your state, or substitute with another spice. Please read the FAQ section below for ideas.
This recipe is so versatile! You can serve it as a pudding with lashing of custard or a dash of single cream, or serve it plain as a snack with your favorite cuppa.
Frequently Asked Questions About Apple Cake
What spices can I use instead of cinnamon?
Cinnamon is often the chosen spice when making an apple cake recipe. Add a pinch next time you make an Apple Crumble or an Apple Crumble Cake to see how beautifully the flavours work together.
As an alternative to cinnamon, you can use: Allspice, Mixed Spice, Nutmeg or Speculaas.
Add spices to suit your state. You can liberally dust the top of the cake with spices or leave off altogether for a milder flavour.
TIP: You can also spice up your water icing by adding a pinch of your favorite spice mix.
What variety of apple should I use?
I've used a dessert variety called Braeburn, but you can use any sweet variety. You could also use a sharper variety such as Bramley, but you may find it requires extra sugar.
TIP: Be sure to pat your apples dry with a tea towel before adding to your batter. This will help eliminate some excess moisture, ensuring that your apple cake isn't too dense and stodgy.
Can I use white sugar instead of brown sugar?
You can replace the dark brown sugar with white or caster sugar for this Cinnamon Apple Cake recipe. But you won't have the slight toffee flavour that you get when you use brown sugar, and you will lose a bit of moisture from the naturally occurring treacle in the brown sugar.
TIP: If you decide to use granulated sugar, you will need to beat the butter and sugar a little longer as the sugar grains are larger than other white and brown sugars.
Can I make my own brown sugar?
Yes! If you have treacle and caster sugar on hand, you can make your own brown sugar substitute rather easily. Simply add a tablespoon of treacle to 200g of caster sugar and stir thoroughly.
KEEN TO BAKE MORE? TRY THESE OTHER APPLE RECIPES:
- Apple Sponge Eve's Pudding
- Sultana and Orange Drizzle cake
- Apple Cinnamon Muffins
- Easy Apple Cake
- 15 of the Best Apple Recipes
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Cinnamon Apple Cake
INGREDIENTS
- 1 medium dessert apple
- 180 g butter softened
- 180 g soft dark brown sugar
- 3 medium eggs
- 200 g self raising flour
- 1 level teaspoons of ground cinnamon
- 3 tablespoons golden syrup
Topping
- ground cinnamon for dusting
- 3 tablespoons golden syrup
- 4 tablespoons icing sugar sieved
- 1 teaspoon preboiled water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 c/ 160 fan assisted. Grease and line a 20cm/8inch deep sided cake tin with baking parchment.
- Peel and core the apple. Chop into small chunks. No bigger than ½ inch. Place in a bowl of cold water to help prevent oxidation. Or the apples will turn an unsightly brown colour. Leave to one side until required. (You will need to drain and pat dry the apple chunks before using).
- Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Using an electric mixer will speed things up.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add a tablespoon of the flour between each one. This will help prevent curdling.
- Drain and pat dry the chopped apple.
- Fold in the remaining flour and ground cinnamon, to the sugar-butter mixture. Mix until thoroughly combined.
- Add the golden syrup and the chopped apple. Mix until well combined.
- Pour the mixture into the tin, spreading it evenly across the top.
- Bake for 30 - 35 mins or until baked. Testing the centre of the cake with a skewer until it comes out clean.
- Leave in the tin to cool for about 10 mins.
- While the cake is cooling in the tin. Gently warm the golden syrup in a medium pan. Make a few holes in the top of the cake with a cake skewer. Then spread the syrup over the slightly still warm cake with a pastry brush.
- Turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely
- Dust with ground cinnamon.
- Make the water icing by mixing the icing sugar and preboiled water together until you have a thick runny consistency. Drizzle over the cake.
Notes
- Dessert apples are best for this cake as they already have a natural sweetness to them.
- Using dark soft brown sugar gives a slight toffee taste and darker colour to the cake. Apples and toffee go really well together. They are the flavours of Autumn and bonfire night.
- Adding a little golden syrup to the cake batter and as a glaze on top, helps to make this cake nice and moist.
- Cinnamon helps to bring out the flavours of the apples, without being overpowering. You can adjust the amount of ground cinnamon to suit your state.
- This recipe is so versatile, you can serve it as a pudding with lashing of custard. Or a dash of single cream.
Sandra Amos
Lynn - I am wondering re this cake and also the sultana orange drizzle whether you think it would work if I replaced the flour with Dove's gluten free all purpose along with their baking powder? I have seen some recipes suggest this swap if necessary and to check first if the flour has added xanthan gum and if not then add a small amount? It doesn't seem that this one does have the added gum?
Lynn Hill
Hi Sandra
I've heard many people suggesting to simply replace the flour in many general recipes with gluten free. I've never done this myself. So I cannot confirm whether it would work or not on any of my recipes.
Marion Symons
I love your cakes they are always so successful
I look forward to the next recipes and my family also do !!!!
Do you have a special coffee cake recipe please
Lynn Hill
Thank you for your kind words. I don't have a traditional coffee cake as such. But would these Date and Coffee loaves made in 1lb loaf tins be of interest to you? Quick and Easy Date and Coffee Loaves.
Caroline Clifford
I made this cake in a 7.5 inch round tin and served it with custard as a dessert. It took 55 minutes to cook for some reason - I was very worried but it was very light and everyone loved it. The apple didn’t sink either but I was very careful drying it! I’ll definitely be making it again! Thank you for the recipe! ?
Lynn Hill
Glad you like the recipe. Good to hear it worked well in a smaller round cake tin. There will always be a difference in baking times when using a different sized tin and the same volume of cake batter. It sounds like you got it spot on.