This easy apple cake recipe is so delicious! Infused with cardamom, it’s super moist and tender, with a delightful crackly top! Make it in one bowl with only 20 minutes of hands-on time before baking. Video.
Tears have a purpose. They are what we carry of the ocean, and perhaps we must become the sea, give ourselves to it, if we are to be transformed.
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Our reader Lisa says: Amazing and brilliant cake recipe. This is so easy to put together and really well thought out in terms of ingredients and prep. I used both cardamom (whole seeds toasted and ground) and cinnamon. The demura sugar on top is perfection. Many thanks! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Why You’ll Love This Fresh Apple Cake
After years and years of making apple cake, I finally decided that this is quite possibly the best apple cake recipe on the planet. Try it and prove me wrong! Haha. 🙂
I love the flavor of this apple cake recipe. Cardamom infuses it with such warmth and goodness; it’s alluring and slightly exotic, just like my favorite people. It’s super moist with a crackly top, and the cake-to-apple ratio is perfection! Don’t alter a thing, and I promise you’ll be very happy with yourself.
Serve it as a dessert or as a morning bread- it is not overly sweet, just sweet enough! It’s delicious served warm for a delicious fall breakfast, with warmed maple syrup drizzled over top.
Apple Cardamom Cake Ingredients
- Apples: Use baking apples, such as honeycrisp (my favorite!), gala, honey-gold, golden delicious, pink lady, granny smith, braeburn, fuji, or red delicious.
- Butter: For rich flavor and tender texture.
- Olive oil: For wonderfully moist texture.
- Sugar: To make this cake just sweet enough!
- Large eggs: For leavening, moisture, and richness.
- Vanilla: Enhances the overall flavor of the cake.
- All-purpose flour: Builds a perfectly moist cake with the perfect cake to apple ratio!
- Baking powder: Contributes to the cake’s fluffy texture.
- Salt: Brings out the flavor of all of the other ingredients in the cake.
- Ground cardamom: Or you can use ground cinnamon– though we love cardamom in this!
- Coarse sugar: Or use brown sugar or regular sugar for the crispy topping.
How to Make Apple Cake
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Step one: Line the bottom of an 8-9 inch spring form pan with parchment paper. With slightly melted butter, grease the bottom and sides of the pan.
Step two: Cut the apples into 1/4-inch thick slices.
Step three: Add butter, olive oil, and sugar to a large bowl with an electric mixer or to a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Whip until light and creamy.
Step four: Whisk in eggs and vanilla. Now for the dry ingredients! Add baking powder, salt, and cardamom and mix, then add the flour and mix until well combined. Fold in 2/3 of the apples. The batter will be very “apple-y” – don’t worry, the apples will reduce while baking!
Step five: Use a rubber spatula to spoon the batter into the prepared pan, gently smoothing out the top. Spread the remaining apples over the top, leaving generous spaces of bare batter in between. Sprinkle the top with sugar to create a crackly top.
Step six: Bake on the middle rack for 50-60 minutes. When done, the cake will be puffed and deeply golden, and a toothpick should come out clean. It shouldn’t jiggle in the center. The internal temp should be at least 208F.
Step seven: Cool completely on a wire rack before slicing. Run a knife around the edges before removing the sides of the pan.
Variations
- Make it a loaf instead! Halve the recipe and bake in a parchment-lined loaf pan.
- Try this with pears! You could substitute pears for the apples if you wish. Or try this with peaches in the summer.
- Add nuts. Fold pecans or walnuts into the cake batter and press some of them into the top layer.
- Try other spices. Instead of cardamom or cinnamon, you could experiment with your own mix of spices, like nutmeg or clove.
- Dice the apples instead. For chunks of apple in the cake versus slices, chop or dice the apples.
- Add frosting. An apple cider glaze could be a nice addition.
Chef’s Tips
- Reserve the prettiest apples for the top! When adding 2/3 of the apples to the cake, reserve a pile of the reddest apples for the top layer.
- Check the cake after 45 minutes. If the top is getting too dark, you can lightly tent the cake with aluminum foil.
- Sprinkle the top with freshly grated nutmeg before baking. Adds a bit of extra cozy flavor!
- If you don’t have a springform pan, use a 9-inch cake pan lined with parchment. You could also try this in a bundt pan for a bundt cake.
How to Store Apple Cake
In milder climates, you can store the Apple Cake at room temperature on the counter, covered, for up to 3 days. You can also store apple cake it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. To freeze, wrap the cake tightly with plastic wrap. It can stay in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Can you freeze apple cake?
Apple Cake can be frozen whole or in portions in the freezer in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
How to Serve Fresh Apple Cake
Serve apple cake for dessert or breakfast in the morning!
- As a fall breakfast cake: Serve warm with warmed maple syrup drizzled over top.
- Serve with ice cream: Serve with vanilla ice cream, cardamom ice cream, or dairy free ice cream.
- Serve with whipped cream.
Apple Cardamom Cake FAQs
It’s possible that the batter was over-mixed. When adding the flour, go a little at a time, mixing until just combined. And gently fold the apples in.
The cake should not jiggle in the center when it is done. If it does, consider lowering the temperature on the oven by about 20 degrees, then continue baking for 7-10 minutes.
The easiest way to tell is to insert a toothpick- it should come out clean. The top should be deeply golden and puffed, the center shouldn’t be jiggly, and the internal temp should be at least 208F.
There are a lot of factors that contribute to moisture, particularly when it comes to your wet ingredients. For this Apple Cake, we use both butter and oil. Butter is 18% water, meaning some of this can evaporate from the cake. By adding olive oil, we lock in moisture, creating an irresistible texture!
Use baking apples, such as honeycrisp (my favorite!), gala, honey-gold, golden delicious, pink lady, granny smith, braeburn, fuji, or red delicious.
Hope you are enjoying this beautiful fall weather. It has been extraordinary here in the Pacific Northwest! Please let me know how this Apple Cake recipe works for you – leave me a note in the comments!
xoxo
More Favorite Baking Recipes
Watch How to make Apple CAke
Cardamom Cake Recipe with Fresh Apples
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 50
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 10
- Category: cake, dessert, apple recipes, fall baking
- Method: baked
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
This easy apple cake recipe is super moist and delicious, with a crispy crackly top and the best apple flavor. Make it in one bowl with only 20 minutes of hands-on time before baking.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter, softened to room temperature
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 1 3/4 cups of all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cardamom (or sub cinnamon)
- 3 honey crisp apples, cored and thinly sliced (1/4-inch thick), no need to peel, but feel free to. Use baking apples: Honeycrisp apples (my favorite), gala, honey-gold apples, golden delicious, pink lady, and red delicious. I used apples that were 4 inches in diameter.
- 2 tablespoons demerara sugar, or regular sugar for the crackly top.
- Optional: sprinkle the top with fresh grated nutmeg before baking.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F
- Prepare an 8-9-inch spring form pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Butter the bottom and all sides of the pan.
- Cut the apples thinly (1/4-inch thick) and set aside.
- In a large bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment) whip butter, olive oil and sugar until it’s a light and creamy mixture.
- Whisk in the eggs one at a time, and the vanilla. Sprinkle in the baking powder, salt, and cardamom and whisk well, then mix in the flour until well combined. Fold in ⅔ of the sliced apples (saving the last third for the top). Tip: save the reddest apple slices for the top. You will have a thick, “apple-y” cake batter – don’t worry the apples will reduce while baking.
- With a rubber spatula, spoon batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top. Arrange the remaining apple slices overtop, leaving generous spaces of bare batter. Sprinkle batter and apples with 2 tablespoons of sugar, to get a delicious crust.
- Bake on the middle rack for 50-60 minutes, until puffed, deeply golden, and a toothpick comes out clean. Check at 45 minutes and lightly tent with foil if getting too dark. When done, it should not jiggle in the center, and the internal temp should be at least 208F
- Let it cool completely on a wire rack. Run a knife around the edges before removing the sides of the pan.
Notes
Store the cake on the counter (covered) for up to 3 days (in milder climates), or keep it for up to a week in the refrigerator in a sealed container, or wrap it tightly and freeze it in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Serve with a drizzle of warm maple syrup, scoop of vanilla ice cream, cardamom ice cream, or whipped cream.
Halve the recipe and baked in a parchment-lined loaf pan, or bake it in a 9-inch cake pan lined with parchment.
Sugar: I have reduced the sugar in the cake recipe, so the sugar on top is pretty crucial. 🙂
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/10th of the cake
- Calories: 354
- Sugar: 28.7 g
- Sodium: 142.1 mg
- Fat: 16.6 g
- Saturated Fat: 7.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 48.4 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 4.4 g
- Cholesterol: 80.2 mg
Can I use 6 inch spring form that is 3 inch tall? Do I need to adjust the measurement?
Hi Judith- that seems a little small- it gets really high in the 8-inch springform pan.
I have made this probably a total of 4 times in the last month. Everyone who has tried it has absolutely loved it!
Really appreciate hearing this Korina! So glad all are enjoying.
I don’t usually bake desserts, but when this cake caught my eye, I knew I had to make it. It is so good! My husband was simply over the moon. Next time, I’ll use freshly ground cardamom and double the quantity. Thank you for sharing this recipe. I love your site, btw.
So glad you gave it a try Cécilia! Thanks so much for taking time to review.
Amazing and brilliant cake recipe. This is so easy to put together and really well thought out in terms of ingredients and prep. I used both cardamom (whole seeds toasted and ground) and cinnamon. The demara sugar on top is perfection. Many thanks!
Thanks Lisa, really appreciate the review!
Came out really flavourful, the cardamom was a great touch for this cake. Sprinkled a bit of cinnamon and cardamon on the top before baking. A good use of the apples I picked in September that are starting to get soft. I used honeycrisp inside the cake and cortland on the top.
So glad to hear this Shawna!
Excellent cake! Thank you for sharing. Easy to prepare. Made as is with no modifications. The crust becomes a bit “crispy” but it’s not hard and is delicious. The sugars seem to have caramelized along the edges giving it a wonderful texture that complements the softer inner cake. I did not use the maple syrup as a serving suggestion. I think it’s quite sweet as is.
My husband keeps stealing slices so this one doesn’t last long.
Awesome, glad you both are enjoying. 🙂
wonderful cake, whole family enjoyed it so much! Moist, great flavor, easy to make. Highly recommend this recipe!
Awesome Michele, so happy to hear this!
Looks amazing! Any ideas on how to make it vegan?
You might take a look at our vegan cranberry cake recipe and substitute with apples and add cardamom.
Hey Andy: I subbed with plant-based butter (Becel), and Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer. I used Turbinado sugar for the topping.
Worked like a charm, and came out great.
Awesome, thanks for this Stephen!
I forgot to click the stars… 5 of them😅
Thanks!
I just baked this apple cake and it’s very moist… beautiful structure and the after taste of cardamom and nutmeg is so elegant. Highly recommended🤩
So happy you enjoyed this!
Do you have suggestions on how to veganize this? We love the rhubarb muffins (can’t tell they’re vegan!!)
We haven’t tried this Aliya, the eggs are pretty important to the texture here. If you do give it a go let us know how it turns out.
This is delicious…elegant enough for dinner guests and ofcourse, perfect with coffee in the morning or afternoon. The crumb is not like a coffee cake from my experience, more soft and velvety. I love the cardamom too.
Thanks so Melissa, this is so helpful. 🙂
I made it with skin on honeycrisp apples and it was fantastic! Thanks for another wonderful recipe!
So glad to hear this Geralynn!
Made this last night, terrific as is. (I think I will try 2/3-3/4 c sugar, 6 tbsp butter next time to see if I miss it). I used a 9” Pyrex, wasn’t looking for beauty so just greased the pan and skipped the parchment. Turned out beautiful anyhow! Was easy to scoop a serving out with a spatula. I used some apples from the local park. They weren’t pretty but I was able to save enough perfect slices for the top. I love this website, most everything comes out delicious. Thank you for your time sharing your expertise with the world.
Thanks so much for your kind words Deb! So happy this turned out for you, totally love the resourceful use of park apples!
This made for a beautiful cake, although by flavor and texture this is more of a coffee cake than a dessert cake. It would be helpful to specify the weight of apple slices in the recipe rather than just “apples” – I felt that my final product didn’t have enough apples in the batter itself.
Hi Mary, thanks for the feedback- I will get the weight for the apples the next time I get some!
I have the same comment. There are so many sizes of apples it’d be nice to have a total weight!!
I still havent had a chance to get some and weight them but I will. 🙂
Beautiful cake. Lovely, moist texture and love the cardamom flavor. Rocco (my dog) was a big fan of the smell, although he also loves butter 😂 I gave some to the neighbors who watched him while I was outta town this weekend! ❤️
So happy you enjoyed this Angeli!
Should I double the ingredients if I use a 9 x 12 pan in place of the spring form pan?
Hi Evelyn, great question, and honestly I am not sure. It may depend on the height? In a 8 ½ inch springform pan, the cake is about 3 inches high if that helps. It may be a really tight fit to double the recipe.
Baked it this weekend and it tastes lovely. I’m a big cardamom fan and it was a nice change in flavor profile from all the cinnamon apple cakes. It was easy and non fussy to make.
Perfect, thanks so much for the great review Mie!
Devine flavor; made with GF flour and sugar sub. Served with Vegan ice cream. A keeper! 💝
Great to hear it worked with GF flour!
Would this work with GF flour?
Hi Protima! I haven’t tested this with GF flour yet… so not sure. Please let us know if you try it.
Wonderful cake! (Can you put the apple amount in a volume as apple sizes vary greatly). I used some recently picked apples which are smaller than store-bought.
Glad you enjoyed! Yes, I’ll do that next time I make it. I used 3 medium apples, roughly 4-5 cups?
Maybe by weight too? Thanks 🙏🙏
Ok, I will have to wait until I get more apples. 🙂
I am on a gluten free diet. Can I substitute Bob’s RM gluten free flour for this cake? It sounds so delicious, I want to make it soon!
Thank you!
We haven’t tested it, but it may work fine with gf flour blend.
Hello.
Is it possible to make a gluten free version of this?
Thank you.
We have not tested this but a GF flour 1 to 1 flour blend should work. Let us know if you try it!
The recipe uses the same size pan, 8-9 inch spring form for 1/2, 1, 2 times the ingredients. Is that correct or should we use a larger pan as ingredients amts double?
No, sorry Stephanie, that is not correct! It fills an 8 inch spring form pan, pretty full. Use a loaf pan for half!
Stephanie may be using the 1X 2X feature to increase or decrease ingredients, I’ve noticed it doesn’t change size of cooking vessels.
Absolutely delicious! And very easy to make. I did not peel the apples (Honeycrisp) and it turned out just fine. This will become a family favorite.
Great to hear Jeanene!