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.
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). 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.
- 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!
I hope you LOVE this!
PrintFresh 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 (180g) 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.
Can I sub in pears for the apples?
Hi Alvina, that should work just fine here.
Would be possible to cut the ingredients in half and bake in a 8×8 square pan? 🙂
Haleigh, 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!
Wonderful results!
I doubled all the spices, magnificent!
Thank you.
So delicious and very easy to make.
I know aluminum is good for baking, but I try to stay away from it for healthy reaons. I wonder if I line the pan with parchment if that is ok and will it affect the baking time. Thanks, I love your recipes.
Hi Susan, you can line the pan with parchment paper and baking time should be about the same. Enjoy!
OMG made this yesterday and my husband and I already ate half! One of the best apple cakes I have ever had. Love, love, the perfect mix of spices.
Can I use a whole wheat flour? My daughter must have used the last bit of AP flour and didn’t bother to tell me:(
Hi Debbie, we don’t recommend whole wheat flour here—the cake will be quite heavy and dense with that swap. Best to wait until you have all-purpose flour on hand!
Hi Sally!
About to try yet another of your cakes! (you are a go to for my family!).
I was wondering if I could divide the batter simply in 2 round 9 inch pans instead of 3? Is there too much batter?
Thanks!
Hi Cat, there is too much batter for only 2 pans, but if you only want 2 layers, fill your pans half way and then use the leftover batter for a few cupcakes on the side. Enjoy!
Really moist and delicious. I think I will copy another commenter next time snd use some cardamom. The best part is the glaze. Wow! It is delicious.
I can’t wait to try this recipe! Every recipe of yours I try is always a hit with everyone I know. My new teammate at work is gluten free and I was wondering if this recipe would lend itself to a gluten free flour of some sort. I’d love to make it for my entire team, but I don’t want to leave him out. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Hi Shannon, 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!
One word….delicious!!! Thank you Sally x
I can’t wait to try this cake
I made a half batch after realizing I only had 2 eggs, and it still turned out delicious! Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe! I’ll definitely be making this again!
Hi Sally. Can I replace the OJ with dark rum or simply add it to the recipe?
If you’d like to add dark rum, which I think will taste wonderful, use it to substitute the OJ.
I loved this recipe. So moist.
I made a Roast today for my friend (of 52 yrs) she’s has to move so I though I’d cook for her well I look and there was your Bread with Apples we had just got Apples from Food Bank so I made your Apple Bread for our Supper. It was wonderful we really had it for our dessert. I made mini loafs so my friend took one home with her. I will make this one again and give them away to other friends Thanks 🙂
Thank you for this wonderful Apple Cake recipie. The cake turned out moist and delicious and so easy to make.I will definitely be making this again!!
Brilliant I love it when you use metric measurements. thank you
Such a great recipe!! So I always get so irritated with posters who say, “Oh this was great BUT I did this, and added that, blah, blah, but here I am. I didn’t have applesauce so I substituted Green yogurt like Sally said you could in her carrot cake recipe (which is AWESOME). And my husband has a thing about raisins in apple things (he LOVES them, unlike most other people LOL!) so I reduced the apples by 1/2 c. and threw in 1/2 c. really good mixed variety raisins. It came out perfectly done in my oven at 45 min., and I covered it as directed at 30 min. I will sprinkle with confectioners sugar, but when I make again for a family crowd I’ll definitely try the icing. Another hit for me, Sally! I’m so glad I found your site, I’ve made so many things on here and all have been great!
This was interesting to read. I will try it out.
Can I make the apple sauce at home or buy it in a mall? In a case were I can get the apple sauce, is there a substitute for it?
You can make homemade applesauce and use it in this cake. I had one reader say that buttermilk worked in its place, but I have not tested it. Applesauce adds a lot of flavor. You can substitute mashed banana but the flavor will obviously change. Or, you can try 90g mashed banana and 90g yogurt/sour cream.
I’m not sure my family will let me bake anything else after trying this cake!
Can I use canola oil instead of vegetable oil?
Hi Linda, that will work. Hope you enjoy the cake!
I wish Sally and staff would provide guidance and clarification about the various types of fats used in baking and why one is preferable over another. For instance, why would vegetable oil be better than canola in this recipe since canola has no taste? Wouldn’t that be better so it doesn’t interfere with the taste of the recipe?
Hi Aly, what a great idea for a post: oils and how they differ in + affect various baked goods. For this, you can use vegetable oil or canola oil. I’ve also made it with avocado oil. Coconut oil works, too, but see recipe Note.
You are a Bakers Blessing. Your recipes are taking over my recipe binders! They are so detailed and clearly written that they are full proof. I’m a late bloomer (81) so you are all over my bucket list!
sally I am battling breast cancer, and have been so weak that I couldn’t do very much of anything – but i can read and drool over your recipes and today I have enough strength to make your apple cake – thank you for being a bring light in my heart – you inspire such sincere happiness
Mary, thank you for taking time to leave such an extremely sincere comment. It’s incredibly touching knowing that my emails, recipes, and photos can add a bright spot to your days. I hope making this cake is an easy process for you and that you enjoy it. Remember, you don’t have to add the glaze; the cake it excellent on its own. Wishing you strength and comfort. Thank you again.
Hi Sally – can I use shredded apple instead of chunks of apple? If so, what would be the measurement for the shredded apple? Thank you!
Hi Lynne, Yes, 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!
Can I use coconut oil instead of vegetable oil?
Hi Sherri, 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.
I swear I followed the recipe to a tee, even weighing the ingredients and it turned into a liquid mess. It didn’t even firm up into a cake and bubbles over the edges! What did I do wrong?
Hi Dana, Did you by any chance use frozen apples?
Nope, fresh ones…
I skipped the applesauce and added an extra little splash of OJ. It’s in the oven so….crossing my fingers. It wasn’t runny for me at all and it sat nicely in the 9×13 baking dish. I will keep you posted
Absolutely delicious!
Would love to make this but our friend is dairy free. Could I sub coconut cream in the glaze? Thanks
Hi Claire, we haven’t tested that exact substitution, but that should work in place of the heavy cream. It may not be quite as thick. Or you can skip the glaze completely and dust the cake with confectioners’ sugar. Hope the cake is a hit!
MY family loves this cake! I made it with duck eggs and it is amazing!!!
Best apple cake ever!!! This was sooo delicious and moist. It will now be my go to recipe for apple cake from now on.
This apple cake was delicious! Thank you!