This apple cake is a tender spice cake that is packed with small chunks of apples. This is the perfect dessert for anyone that loves apples. While it is good by itself it is wonderful with a nice cup of apple cider and huge scoop of ice cream.
This apple cake is a take on my grandmother’s apple cake that she used to make my brother and me. He absolutely loves apple desserts, and this was one of his favorites. This one is crammed full of apples in a wonderful spice cake. It is a very tender and moist cake that is just sweet enough to be eaten by itself but makes a great morning treat with coffee or warm apple cider. Surprise your apple loving friends and family with this tasty treat and watch it disappear.
In this recipe
The star of this recipe is the apples, but you need to make sure you have a great cake to make the perfect dessert.
Apples: you want to use a nice crisp baking apple that has some natural sugar. Granny Smith might be a little too tart for this recipe, however, feel free to use them.
Buttermilk: this will help keep the cake nice and tender. Make sure it is at room temperature.
Sour cream: will help keep the cake nice and moist without adding a lot of extra liquid.
Preparing the apples
It is important to make sure you use a good baking apple like Honeycrisp or Braeburn. This will not only help the cake keep its shape but also give you nice chunks of apple to bite into when it is baked. Some apples when cooked will turn to mush and this may lead to a soggy cake. Another thing you will want to do is make sure that you cut the apples into smaller pieces than you think. The reason for this is to allow them to fit more uniformly in the pan and not all sink immediately to the bottom while baking.
You want to sift the flour.
One of my favorite baking tips when it comes to flour sifting is this. When you sift flour and the rest of the dry ingredients you can use a bowl or two, however I prefer two sheets of parchment paper. That way once everything is sifted into a nice mound you can use the parchment to easily pour the flour back into the sifter.Â
You will want to sift the flour at least three times before you incorporate it into the batter. Now if you don’t have a sifter, you can use a whisk and mix in a bowl for at least a minute to evenly distribute everything.
Baking the apple cake
You want to bake this cake at a lower temperature to make sure it cooks all the way through. One of the problems that can arise with a Bundt cake is that the center does not cook thoroughly. This can lead to a sunken cake in the end. If the bottom of the cake starts to get too dark but a toothpick is still not coming out clean, then cover it with foil.Â
Lastly you want to wait at least 20 minutes for the cake to cool in the Bundt pan set on top of a cooling rack. This will help the cake maintain its shape and also keep it from falling. Allow to come to room temperature before slicing.
Looking for other apple recipes?
The Best Apple Cake
Equipment
- Stand mixer with paddle attachment
- 12 cup bundt pan
- Flour sifter
- Spatula
- Mixing Bowl
Ingredients
- 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour spooned, leveled and sifted
- 1 pound apples peeled, cored, and cut into 1 cm pieces
- 1 cup buttermilk room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 3 eggs room temperature
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- ½ cup sour cream room temperature
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- ½ tablespoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ginger
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F, 165°C, or gas mark 3. Grease and flour the Bundt pan and set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, on medium speed, combine oil and the sugars, and mix until blended. Then add the eggs one at a time waiting a minute between each egg. Add the sour cream and vanilla. Scrape down the sides with a spatula if necessary.
- Reduce the speed to low and alternate adding the flour mixture and buttermilk. Starting with the flour add â…“ of the mixture and then half of the buttermilk. Repeat until all has been incorporated. Mix only until just combined before the next addition.
- Add the apples and mix until they are evenly spread throughout the batter. You can do this with a spoon or spatula.
- Pour the batter into the Bundt pan and bake on the middle rack for 65-75 minutes or until a toothpick or knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. If the cake is browning too quickly cover the top with foil.
- Once the cake has been removed from the oven allow to cool on a cooling rack in the pan for at least 20 minutes. Then place the cooling rack on top of the cake and invert to continue to cool for another 40 minutes or until it comes to room temperature.
- Dust with powdered sugar if desired.
Nutrition
This is such a great-looking apple cake! Indeed the best apple cake, it looks amazingly delicious and very tasty! I just love the apple bits on this!
Thank you. The apple bits are my favorite part.
That looks so amazing! The taste is also amazing! Love the design of the cake!