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!
- 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. 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.
Keywords: apple cake
I’m not a great cook but this recipe was easy to follow and the cake turned out amazing! So, so yummy. I have to say, I love your website. The search feature is so neat, I love that you can check off the ingredients on the recipes as well. Also appreciate your test kitchen notes. Can’t wait to try more of your recipes.
★★★★★
This is the best apple cake I’ve ever made! I didn’t have any brown sugar so instead I used white sugar and maple syrup. I also didn’t have ginger or allspice so in just did a little extra cinnamon and nutmeg. Overall it came out amazing! Nice and fluffy and moist and the flavor is amazing . I used apples straight from our tree too
Thank you! O your recipes are always great and easy to make
★★★★★
Recipe was so easy to make!
Came out beautifully.
This will now be my go to apple cake recipe!
No plans on making the frosting. Perfect on its own.
Another winner Sally.
Thank you!
★★★★★
Hi Sally I came across your Apple Cake recipe and I was wondering if I could bake this in a bundt pan? Or would it be too much batter for it? If I could bake it in the pan how long would you suggest that it bake for? I am excited to try this, it will be a birthday cake!
Hi Michelle, we’d recommend this apple Bundt cake instead—all the same great flavors and plenty of apples!
Hi would the recipe be okay to make with shredded apples? Asking because it’s my preference from a texture perspective? Thanks!
Hi Fidelia, 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!
This cake is so moist and flavorful! Served it with vanilla and cinnamon ice cream. Our guests loved it! Thank you for this wonderful recipe!
Can you add in raisins?
I have seen other apple cake recipes that contain raisins and walnuts.
Hi Samuel, you can add up to 1 cup of raisins and/or walnuts to this batter. Enjoy!
Hi! I’m hoping to bake this right now but don’t have any applesauce, can you suggest a substitute? Thanks!
Hi Nadine, we haven’t tested the recipe with a substitute, so can’t guarantee how it will turn out, but my suggestions for you would be sour cream or Greek yogurt. Let us know how it goes!
So, so delicious. The suggested combo offresh apples were perfectly done in the cake.
The glaze is the right amount and tops it off beautifully.
I ran into a slight issue with the glaze in that the sugar was still granular in texture.
Can you suggest how I can prevent that next time? Also, I still have some left over – is there a way to fix that at this point?
With thanks, I am new to your sight this summer. Everything I have made such as your fabulous Simple Sandwich Bread and English Muffins are amazing — your mac/cheese with squash up next!!
★★★★★
Hi Sally, Thank you for trying this recipe. We’re thrilled you enjoyed it! Sometimes a grainy glaze is from being cooked too long or at too high of heat. All stove tops are a bit different so if you decide to try it again, it may help also help to turn down your burner a little next time.
thank you – this is excellent advice which I wasn’t expecting – I thought it could be due to not cooking it enough. I will use your suggestion the next time
I was searching the messages to see if anyone else had a problem with the icing & this answered my question. I had the same problem and mine was super grainy even though I followed the directions exactly. But my glass top burner does tend to run hotter and I should have put it on med low. Even on the lowest setting it was still rapidly boiling. If your stove top runs too hot is there a way around this? Double boiler instead?
This cake was delicious. Baked exactly as written. Served simply with powdered sugar. My new go-to Autumn apple cake recipe. Thank you!
★★★★★
AAaah, this is so good I’ve made it twice in 2 weeks and we’ve eaten it throughout the day. I actually have to bring the sweet breakfast option for a Mom’s group meeting this weekend and want to bring it, but I might stick with just the powdered sugar topping or try an oatmeal streusel kind of topping so it feels more breakfasty to everyone else but it’s so good I’m sure there will be no complaints about eating cake for breakfast haha.
★★★★★
Perfectly delicious and so very quick and easy. Just for fun, I infused the cream with a couple teaspoons of mulling spices (brought almost to the boil and then let steep 15 minutes). Knocked the already delicious glaze into next Thursday! Thanks for yet another lovely dessert, Sally!
★★★★★
If I want to use apple pie spice, can I omit all the other spices except for the cinnamon? I would use 2 tsp cinnamon and 1 tsp apple pie spice. Will this work? Because I don’t have allspice but I have all the other spices in the reicpe. Maybe you have something better to suggest? Or maybe I could just omit the allspice?
H Liza! Either of those options will work just fine. Hope you love the cake!
If making this for a birthday the next day, when would you do the brown sugar glaze? Can you do it in advance of should you make the glaze and poir it over immediately before serving? I made it last night and am serving tonight and wasn’t sure!
Hi Megan! We would add the glaze just before serving for best results.
Thank you for the quick response! Can I make the glaze earlier and then warm it back up just before putting it on? Or does should it be made right before?
You can re-heat it!
I made the cake with the glaze and it was a hit
So easy and delicious! I used the brown sugar glaze sparingly, as my family doesn’t go in for glazes and frostings much. Just perfect. I will definitely make this again.
★★★★★
Perfect in every way! I have celiac (allergic to gluten), so I used a 1:1 GF flour. I didn’t have allspice on hand, so I didn’t use it. I also substituted a 20oz can of apple pie filling, while cutting the granulated sugar in your recipe to 3/4c. This cake rises beautifully, is light, with a soft and moist crumb. A new staple in my baking rotation! Sensational! Thank you, Sally!
★★★★★
I halved the cake recipe because there are just 2 of us, but forgot and made the full brown sugar glaze. I thought “Oh well”, and dumped the full glaze amount on the cake. OMG!! This was delicious! Definitely a keeper! Love your recipes!
★★★★★
★★★★
This is one of Sally’s recipes that I wasn’t too crazy about. I usually love everything she makes, but this tasted more like a spice cake than anything. I couldn’t taste hardly any apple flavor, even with apples in the cake.
★★★
Hi Katherine, thank you so much for your feedback. I’m glad you’ve found other favorites on the site.
This is the most delicious thing I’ve ever baked! I made it for a friend’s birthday party and everyone said it was the best cake they’ve ever had. I added cardamom, and made it into a layer cake with a brown butter cream cheese frosting. This will be my go to fall bake from now on!
★★★★★
I made this a couple of days ago. It was delicious and really moist! I used fresh squeezed orange juice, light brown sugar, and safflower oil instead of vegetable oil. I topped it with a cream cheese glaze (cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk). So good!
★★★★★
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. Moist enough to stand alone without the caramel glaze (so so moist!), but if you add the glaze, it is a decadent treat!
★★★★★
I’m excited to try this. Does it matter if the orange juice comes from a bottle or if it is squeezed from an orange?
Either is fine here!
I love walnuts. Will a cup of walnuts make it too dry
You can add about 1 cup chopped nuts, about 130g. Enjoy!
Delicious! I used all gala apples but next will try a combination of apples. I didn’t have any OJ on hand, so I used the same weight of apple butter. I also added 1/2tsp of cardamom and only 1tsp of cinnamon in the batter and used the other 1tsp to coat the chopped apples. Baked in a springform pan, it baked @ 350F for about 1hr 15-20min.
My fiancé approves!
★★★★★
I bake as instructed but took it out of the oven after 42 minutes. I used a glass pan so maybe the time should be much less or should I have cut the temperature to 325?
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. I love to bake, and I frequently check online to review recipes I have not tried before. If I see one of yours, I know that it will be outstanding.
★★★★★
This was great! The brown sugar glaze is my favorite part! I used all Honeycrisp apples because that’s what I had, but I look forward to trying a mix of sweet and tart as suggested.
★★★★★
Hi. Can I double the recipe to make 2 cakes, and is it alright to use apples that are pre-sliced and frozen? I’m concerned once defrosted the apples will have too much water in them and the cake will be soggy!
Hi Deb! It’s best to make two batches instead of doubling the recipe. We haven’t tested this recipe with frozen apples, but also fear they may release too much liquid. We would stick with fresh if at all possible for best results!
Hi! Can you make this in a smaller pan? Or even a loaf pan?
Hi Ashley, if you halve the recipe, you could bake it in an 8-inch square baking pan, or a 9-inch round baking pan, or a loaf pan, but I’m not sure what the bake time would be. I recommend keeping an eye on it and using a toothpick to check for doneness. Or you might enjoy this apple cinnamon quick bread, or apple cupcakes instead.
That’s my plan! Half recipe for the two of us!
This is cooling on my counter right now! Made it for a lunch for tomorrow, and can’t wait to taste it. Am I reading it right, that if you’re using the glaze you should do it right before serving? Or is that just for the powdered sugar because of the disappearing factor? Thanks!
Hi Amanda, you can glaze it right before serving, but it’s fine to do it earlier. The glaze will set up a bit as it sits (which is a good thing!), as the melted butter in it re-solidifies. It’s really just the powdered sugar, which disappears/melts into the cake after a while. Hope you love the cake!
Can this apple cake be made with almond flour?
Hi Pat! We don’t recommend almond flour as it has very different baking properties and is not usually a 1:1 swap. 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!
Gluten free baker here – I use President’s Choice Gluten Free All-Purpose Flour as a 1:1 substitute in all the cake/cookie recipes on the blog and they’re honestly indistinguishable from the non-GF versions. Just make sure you’re using room temperature ingredients when directed and whisk everything for a little longer until it’s really smooth.
So easy and so good! I followed the recipe exactly and wouldn’t change a thing. It is moist and flavorful. I skipped the glaze for a less sweet option. It’s perfect, even for breakfast!
★★★★★