Apple Cake

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Apple Cake is delicious, moist, and packed with apples- the perfect Thanksgiving dessert! It only gets better with our sweet, caramel glaze.

Glazed Apple Cake on a white plate with apples in the background.

Apple Cake

Few things in the kitchen feel as fulfilling as making a cake from scratch! It’s easy to just run to the store and let the boxed mix do the job for you, but it doesn’t take much extra effort to just make it yourself! Besides, I doubt you could get an apple cake that’s as moist and delicious as the one we’ve made here today with the boxed stuff.

Slice of apple bundt cake on a pie server.

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If you’re willing to make our apple cake from scratch, you’ll get one of the tastiest, moistest cakes you’ll ever try. It’s all thanks to the fact that our homemade batter is filled with apples! All those apples keep the moisture content high, giving you a decadent dessert.

Slice of apple cake on a white plate.

The fresh apples are great, but we still haven’t even talked about this rich, caramel glaze we poured over top! This glaze is simple and easy to make- cook it up while your cake’s baking in the oven. It’s the perfect topping for the best apple cake you’ve ever had!

Overhead of baked apple cake with caramel glaze.

We have plenty of other apple desserts here on the site you might want to take a peek at!
  • If our apple cake here seems a little daunting, we have an incredibly easy 3 Ingredient Apple Cake. We take a few shortcuts- using spice cake mix, and apple pie filling- that make this cake easy to make but still totally delicious!
  • If you’ve got a craving for caramel apples, our Slow Cooker Caramel Apple Dump Cake is going to be perfect for you! Warm, delicious cake made simply in the slow cooker- don’t forget a scoop of ice cream!
  • Serving a crowd or just need your apple desserts by-the-batch? Apple Pie Cupcakes are just what you’re looking for! Pie-filled cupcakes topped with a delicious brown sugar cinnamon frosting- what’s not to love?!

Piece of fresh apple cake from scratch on a fork.

Get that oven warming up- the sooner it’s warm, the sooner you can make this amazing dessert! Whether you’re making this cake for your family, for friends, or for a party we know you’ll love it! This cake is certain to be your favorite dessert recipe this fall season!

Apple cake on a plate with text on image Apple Cake with Delicious Caramel Glaze.

Ingredients for Fall Dessert Cake

For the cake, you’re going to need…
  • Apples – We used Granny Smiths in our cake, but feel free to try this recipe with your favorite apples instead.
  • Softened Butter
  • Granulated Sugar
  • Eggs
  • Vanilla Extract
  • Flour
  • Baking Soda
  • Cinnamon – Consider using some Apple Pie Spice for extra fall flavor!
  • Salt
The caramel glaze, meanwhile, needs…
  • Butter
  • Brown Sugar
  • Milk
  • Vanilla Extract
  • Powdered Sugar

Ingredients for apple cake.

How to prepare our Apple Bundt Cake

While you have your oven preheating to 350 degrees, get your cake pan greased up in whichever way you prefer. Once it’s ready, we can properly start making this cake! First, toss your some butter and sugar into a mixing bowl. Using a hand or stand mixer, whip them together on medium speed until they’re creamy.

Butter and sugar added to clear mixing bowl with beaters.

Next comes the eggs. For the best cake, add in beat in each egg one-at-a-time. Don’t worry, it won’t take too long!

Eggs added to mixture with beaters.

From here, you can add most of your other ingredients. Toss in your vanilla, flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt to the bowl and mix it all together. The only thing left to add is our apples!

Vanilla and dry ingredients added to cake mixture.

Grab your favorite cutting board and your apples of choice. Dice them to your preference- if you mind big chunks of apple in your cake, it’ll be worth it to dice them real fine.

Diced apples on cutting board for cake.

However you slice your apples, once they’re cut you’ll want to toss them into your cake batter. Fold them in until they’re consistently spread throughout your batter.

Diced apples with cake batter in large bowl.

That’s your batter! Now transfer that over to your cake pan and toss it into the oven. That’ll need around 45 minutes to fully bake… which gives us enough time to make our delicious caramel glaze! For that, you’ll want to add some brown sugar, butter, and some milk to a small saucepot. Get that warming up over medium heat and mix constantly until it all starts boiling.

Saucepan with caramel glaze ingredients.

Once it starts boiling, pull it from the heat and allow it to cool for a little bit. Once cooled down a bit, we can add some vanilla extract and some powdered sugar to it to make our caramel glaze.

Glaze poured on baked apple cake.

Getting back to our cake, it’s probably done baking by now! To check if it’s done cooking, do the toothpick test- poke a toothpick into the center of the cake. If it pulls out clean, the cake’s done! If not, let it bake a little while longer. When it’s done, you’ll want to pull it from the oven and allow to cool for a bit before removing it from the pan.

Glazed apple cake on a white plate.

After removing it from the pan, you can hit it with your glaze. From there, all that’s left is to cut yourself off a slice and enjoy!

Slice of from scratch apple cake on a plate.

Tips for making your Cake

  • We used a bundt cake pan when we made our cake, but you could- and, in some cases, should- use different pans for different occasions. Making this cake for a party? You should probably reach for a 9×13 baking dish or a sheet pan instead.
  • In addition to trying this recipe with different apples, try cutting your apples in different ways. Instead of dicing, try shredding, roughly chopping, or maybe even grating your apples. See how different methods affect the end product- keep us updated in the comments!
5 from 2 votes

Apple Cake

Apple Cake is delicious, moist, and packed with apples- the perfect Thanksgiving dessert! It only gets better with our sweet, caramel glaze.
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 45 minutes
Servings: 8 Servings

Ingredients 

Cake

  • 1 cup Butter, softened
  • 2 cup Sugar
  • 4 Eggs
  • 1/2 tsp Vanilla
  • 2 1/2 cup Flour
  • 2 tsp Baking Soda
  • 2 tsp Cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp Salt
  • 2 medium Apples, peeled cored and diced

Glaze

  • 1/4 cup Butter
  • 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
  • 3 tbsp Milk
  • 1 cup Powdered Sugar
  • 1 tsp Vanilla

Instructions 

  • Preheat oven to 350.
  • Heavily grease a bundt pan.
  • In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar.
  • Beat in eggs, one at a time.
  • Add vanilla, flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
  • Beat until blended
  • Stir in apples.
  • Pour batter into prepared pan.
  • Bake 45-50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
  • Cool in pan for about 10 minutes before turning out onto plate.
  • In a small saucepan combine butter, brown sugar and milk.
  • Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until mixture boils.
  • Immediately remove from heat and allow to cool for about 10 minutes.
  • Add vanilla and powdered sugar and whisk until blended.
  • Pour over cake, allowing it to run down the sides.

Nutrition

Calories: 763kcal, Carbohydrates: 116g, Protein: 7g, Fat: 32g, Saturated Fat: 19g, Cholesterol: 159mg, Sodium: 753mg, Potassium: 153mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 83g, Vitamin A: 1039IU, Vitamin C: 2mg, Calcium: 54mg, Iron: 2mg
Like this recipe? Rate and comment below!

Long pin collage with red banner text Apple Cake with Delicious Caramel Glaze.

Long pin collage with red banner text Apple Cake with Delicious Caramel Glaze.

About Jen Lunsford

A lover of food and frugal living. A wife to a wonderful hubby, momma to 5 fun kiddos. Welcome to my blog. You will find REAL TASTY RECIPES. Be sure to subscribe to my email list and follow me on social media, to never miss a recipe.

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5 from 2 votes

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7 Comments

  1. What I’d do for a slice of this delicious cake on this Friday afternoon. Thank you for sharing your recipe with us at the Snickerdoodle party, it is being featured this weekend!

    1. HI JJNA! I did not flour. I typically grease all of my pans with Shortening (AKA Crisco). I hope that helps. Have a wonderful holiday.