Easiest Ever MOIST Apple Cake

This Apple Cake recipe is from a reader and is a gem of a find! The cake is really moist, perfectly spiced, and studded with tender pieces of fresh apple. The batter is incredibly fast to make with just a wooden spoon – no electric mixer required!

Dozer got in so much trouble over this Apple Cake.

This is how the usual routine goes down. He’s technically not allowed into the kitchen – albeit my house is open plan so strictly speaking, it’s hard to have a clear boundary that he needs to stay out of. But when I shoo him away, he is generally pretty good about taking himself off into the yard to chase rabbits, bark at birds or whatever other important contribution he’s making to make this world a better place.

But the minute whatever I’m making is ready and I take it to the area where I shoot my photos, he comes dashing inside.

“Dashing” is honestly the word. He doesn’t walk or lope. He dashes at a very fast paced trot, his heavy footed paws thudding through the house making the wooden floor shake (really, he does).

And that’s when he becomes a real nuisance. Because I’m concentrating on taking photos, I don’t always manage to catch him in the act of photo-bombing.

Case in point: Dozer photobombed EVERY SINGLE photo of this cake being dusted with icing sugar. ?

THAT CHEEKY BUGGER!!!

See look. Here he is AGAIN. And again. And again. GRRRRR!!!!!

So I apologise profusely to all those who find it a real turn off to see a DOG in food photos, but my bottom can’t afford for me to make this ridiculously delicious Apple Cake yet again just so I can get one single shot (I just wanted ONE!) of me dusting the Apple Cake without Dozer in the background.

OK, now I’m done stomping my foot over Dozer ruining my photos, a quick word on this Apple Cake recipe: It’s crazy easy and fast to make the batter, it’s made with FRESH apples (won’t work with canned, cake is not as moist), and it really is beautifully moist.

This easy Apple Cake recipe was given to me by the lovely Dorothy in Tennessee in the US. It was meant to be, because I had just shared an Apple Cake disaster on Instagram then a couple of days later, she shared this recipe with me (without having seen my epic failure!). I tried it once, twice, three times, then I decided I had to share it here because it is that good and that easy!

– Nagi x

More afternoon tea favourites

• Classic Scones
• Cinnamon Swirl Bread – easy, no yeast!
• Cheese, Herb and Garlic Loaf or Zucchini Cheese Loaf– quick bread, no yeast
• Apple Muffins
• Raspberry Bars or Strawberry Bars
• Blueberry Lemon Loaf with Lemon Glaze or Blueberry Lemon Yoghurt Cake
• Savoury Cheese Muffins or Cornbread Muffins (personal fave😇)

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Easiest Ever MOIST Apple Cake

Author: Nagi | RecipeTin Eats

Prep: 15 mins

Cook: 50 mins

Total: 1 hr 5 mins

Cake

4.92 from 57 votes

Servings12

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A very moist, perfectly spiced Apple Cake! This is incredibly easy to make - no mixer required. This must be made with fresh apples, not canned. See note 5 for information about different measures in different countries & different oven types. Also, I do not recommend substituting butter for all or part of the oil - it does not come out as moist and you can't taste buttery flavour anyway because of the spice flavourings! FREEZES great!

Ingredients

• 2 cups / 300g plain white flour, sifted
• 3/4 tsp baking soda (bi-carb soda)
• 3/4 tsp EACH salt, cinnamon and ground cloves
• 1/4 fresh ground nutmeg or 1/2 tsp pre-ground nutmeg
• 1 1/4 cups / 275g white sugar (Note 1)
• 1 cup / 250ml vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups apple, peeled, cored and cut into 8mm/ 1/3" cubes (~2 large, 3 small) (Note 2)

Optional Extra

• 1/2 cup flaked raw almonds
• Icing sugar . confectioners sugar, for dusting

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 180C/350F (all oven types).
• Grease and line a 21 cm / 9" springform cake pan. (Note 3)
• Place flour, baking soda, salt and spices in a large bowl and whisk to combine.
• Whisk oil and sugar in a bowl, then whisk in eggs and vanilla.
• Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix with a wooden spoon until JUST combined. Stir through apple (optional: add 3/4 cup chopped walnuts or other nuts).
• Pour into cake pan. Sprinkle over almonds.
• Bake for 50 minutes - 1 hr. Check at 50 minutes - it is cooked when a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
• Cool for 10 minutes before turning out onto a rack to cool. Dust with icing sugar if using, then serve. This cake doesn't need cream or ice cream because it is so moist, but I wouldn't turn it down!

Recipe Notes:

1. Use white or loosely packed brown or light brown sugar. Not dark brown sugar and not raw sugar.

2. Use Granny Smith or tart red apples, but not extremely sweet apples. Also, do not use canned apples for this because the juice in the can makes this cake less moist. Also do not be tempted to grate the apple instead of chopping it - I tried that and again, that too made the cake less moist.

3. My easy way of lining cake pans - see beginning of the Easy Chocolate Fudge Cake video.

4. This is a reader recipe, from the lovely Dorothy in Tennessee, US. By popular demand, here is the original recipe! It is made for a bundt pan. Follow the directions of the recipe but use these quantities and make it in a bundt pan.

1 1/2 cups. vegetable oil
2 1/2 cups sugar (I reduced to 2 cups)
3 eggs, beaten
2 tsp vanilla
3 cups sifted flour
1 tsp EACH baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ground cloves
3 cups peeled and chopped fresh apples
1 cups chopped nuts (I use walnuts)

5. Cups and teaspoons are slightly different in size between some countries. For most recipes on RecipeTin Eats, the difference is not large enough to matter or is relative throughout the recipe. For recipes where the difference does matter, different measures are provided for different countries, like in this Soft Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies.

For this Apple Cake, the measures per the recipe can be used no matter which country you are in except Japan. If you are in Japan, please do not use cups, use the weight measures provided.

OVENS: I have a fan forced / convection oven but have made this in a standard / conventional oven too. I found that this recipe works better using the same temperature no matter which oven type you have. The only difference is the cook time - fan forced is ready at 50 minutes, standard oven is ready at 60 minutes. But no matter which oven you have, check your cake at 50 minutes. If your oven is weak, it may take over 1 hour for the skewer to come out clean.

6. Nutrition per serving, assuming 12 servings. 

Nutrition Information:

Serving: 113gCalories: 403kcalCarbohydrates: 49.9g (17%)Protein: 5.1g (10%)Fat: 21.2g (33%)Saturated Fat: 4g (20%)Polyunsaturated Fat: 17.2gCholesterol: 27mg (9%)Sodium: 238mg (10%)Fiber: 2.1g (8%)Sugar: 24.4g

Did you make this recipe?I love hearing how you went with my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @RecipeTinEats.

LIFE OF DOZER

Well! After telling you how naughty he was while I photographed this Apple Cake, I’m not sure he deserves to be featured in his own section on this post…..

But who am I kidding. I can never stay mad at him.

Here he is “minding” the Apple Cake as it cooled. Just minding it. No cheeky thoughts running through that furry head, I’m sure….