Best Apple Cake Ever (2024)

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This Best Apple Cake Ever is super moist and delicious with the perfect amount of sweetness and spice!

If you’re still looking for an easy – and really delicious – dessert to serve over the holidays, have we got the recipe for you! My sister-in-law Pam shared this recipe with us over email with the subject line: “Best Apple Cake Ever!”

Pam celebrated her birthday last month, and a friend of hers showed up with this cake – the best apple cake ever. In fact – the cake was so good, the three of them ate the entire cake in about 24 hours.

Pam then made this apple cake for us for Thanksgiving – and it was so good, Jack and I immediately looked at each other and said, “We’re making this for our blog!”

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This apple cake is moist and delicious with the perfect amount of sweetness and spice – plus large chunks of apple and chopped walnuts add great flavor and texture to the cake too. Once this apple cake comes out of the oven, a wonderful sweet buttery vanilla glaze is poured over the top which soaks in to make the cake even more delicious.

Not only is this apple cake really delicious – but it’s also very easy to prepare.

Can I make this cake in a 9×13-inch pan?

Yes – and this easy apple cake comes out just as moist and delicious. Click here to see the instructions for baking this apple cake in a 9×13-inch pan.

Best Apple Cake Ever

This Best Apple Cake Ever is super moist and delicious with the perfect amount of sweetness and spice!

Yield: 10–12 servings 1x

Prep: 15 minsCook: 1 hour 15 minsTotal: 1 hour 30 minutes

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Ingredients

Baking spray with flour, or shortening and flour to grease the pan

For the Cake

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 large apples, peeled and cut into large pieced (Note: The original recipe calls for tart green apples, but we used some red Cortland apples we had on hand and it was delicious!)
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

For the Glaze

3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

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Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 12-cup Bundt pan and set aside.
In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Sift two additional times and set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine oil and both sugars, and mix until well blended.
Add eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Add vanilla and mix again.
Add the sifted dry ingredients to the batter and mix thoroughly. By hand, fold in apples and walnuts and mix until evenly combined.
Spoon the batter into the prepared bundt pan. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
Remove cake from the oven and allow to cool in the bundt pan for 20 minutes.
While the cake is cooling, prepare the glaze. In a saucepan, over medium heat, combine all of the glaze ingredients. Bring to a boil and allow the mixture to boil for 1 minute.
Remove the cake from the pan, onto a serving plate. Spoon the glaze over the warm cake.
Cool for a little longer before serving.

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Cuisine:AmericanMethod:baking

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Martha

Martha is part of the husband-wife team that creates A Family Feast. She loves to cook and entertain for family and friends, and she believes that serving a great meal is one of the best ways to show someone that you care. Martha is a self-taught home cook, who loves to read cookbooks and try new recipes. After a decades-long career in business and online marketing, she now runs A Family Feast full-time. Her specialties are baking, desserts, vegetables and pasta dishes.

Reader Interactions

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rose vilichka says
Posted on 9/3/15 at 4:43 am

love your recipes wish you would come out with cookbook
See Also
Easy Pennsylvania Dutch Apple Dumplings | Hymns and Verses Old Fashioned Apple Dumplings | A Sweet Baked Apple Treat!The BEST Apple Crisp Shortbread Bars Recipe | Julie Elsdon-Height 5 Ingredient Apple and White Cheddar Tart
Reply
- Martha says
  Posted on 9/3/15 at 6:38 am
  
  Thanks Rose! (We hope to someday…) 🙂
  Reply
- Patty says
  Posted on 10/5/22 at 11:48 pm
  
  I made best apple cake recipe for Daughter visit plus 8 family members. It was a huge hit. I used a 9x 13 pan and added a 4th apple. I tripled the sauce and heated it to pour over individual pieces. It was all but gone after next day’s lunch.
  Reply
  - Martha says
    Posted on 10/6/22 at 7:29 am
    
    Thanks Patty!
    Reply
  - Madzz says
    Posted on 4/2/24 at 5:54 pm
    
    Love this recipe.
    Reply
    - Martha says
      Posted on 4/2/24 at 10:17 pm
      
      Thanks!
      Reply
Vicki Holkins says
Posted on 9/2/15 at 3:14 pm

I am sooo enjoying your recipes! The ‘Best Ever Apple Cake’ truly is that! De-licious!
Reply
- Martha says
  Posted on 9/2/15 at 4:27 pm
  
  Thank you Vicki! We’re so glad you found us!
  Reply
Nita says
Posted on 12/22/14 at 10:22 am

This was a huge success. Everyone loved this cake. I used two large apples, Gala, I think. Then I added just a little orange zest, sprinkled a bit of lemon juice on the apples and also added a couple of spoons apple sauce. It was delicious. I do like to experiment a bit by adding or modifying just a bit.
Reply
- Martha says
  Posted on 12/22/14 at 1:10 pm
  
  Sounds like a great adaptation Nita! So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
  Reply
Dolores Menzella says
Posted on 11/29/14 at 10:30 am

Hi Karen: Did you butter the bundt pan well and then flour it? You have to butter every groove well. I just made it and that seemed to make it very easy to remove from pan. I served the cake facing up because it has a wonderful crusty top to it. Give it another try.
Reply
See Also
Moist Pear Cake Recipe
Dolores Menzella says
Posted on 11/29/14 at 10:27 am

Hi Martha: I just made this cake for Thanksgiving and it is a delicious, moist cake with a wonderful crusty top. I had trouble slicing it but suggest using a cerated knife which worked great. Definitely in my recipe book, thank you.
Reply
- Martha says
  Posted on 11/29/14 at 10:41 am
  
  Thanks Dolores – Great suggestion!
  Reply
Pam says
Posted on 11/10/14 at 8:31 pm

Karen.
That was the best apple cake ever!!!! My husband loved it…
Thanks!
Reply
Margi in Ky says
Posted on 11/2/14 at 3:11 pm

Read and made this the same day. Had everything in the house and was going to a party that night. After I really greased and floured the pan it came out minus most of the top. Pieced it back together and took it to the party anyway where it was the rave of the night. Not a crumb to take home. Maybe next time in the angel food pan or just a 9×13. Regardless of looks the cake was wonderful.
Reply
- Martha says
  Posted on 11/2/14 at 5:46 pm
  
  Hi Margi – I’m sorry that the cake didn’t come out cleanly from the bundt pan, but I’m glad you were still able to enjoy it anyway! It should work fine in the other pans – you might just need to adjust the cooking time a bit.
  Reply
  - Bird says
    Posted on 10/8/22 at 9:17 am
    
    Always use Crisco to grease a Bundt pan then dust with flour. Vegetable spray never works for me.
    Reply
    - Martha says
      Posted on 10/8/22 at 7:46 pm
      
      Agree Bird – Crisco and flour works the best.
      Reply
    - Julie says
      Posted on 4/7/23 at 2:57 pm
      
      I like to ‘flour’the pan with powdered sugar. It always comes out cleanly and make a thin crispy outer edge
      Reply
      - Martha says
        Posted on 4/7/23 at 4:58 pm
        
        Thanks for the suggestion!
Karin says
Posted on 10/25/14 at 2:17 pm

I have made this cake 3 times in the past 3 days (lots of group functions going on!) YUM YUM YUM! I could not find my bundt pan so I used my angel food pan instead, came out great! I also made this in a 9 x 13 pan, baking time was reduced to just one hour. I also poured the glazed over the warm cake and let it soak in for a few hours before serving. I think the trick to clean slices is this cake needs to be completly cooled.
Reply
- Martha says
  Posted on 10/25/14 at 2:42 pm
  
  Thanks for sharing Karin!
  Reply
  - Karin says
    Posted on 10/30/14 at 7:53 pm
    
    I am seriously making it again for the 4th time! I am using probably 4 generous cups of apples (grannys, pink ladies), cut in small pieces not large, still baking in my angel food pan because the bundt pan remains MIA. The baking time is closer to 90 minutes for me with this amount of apples and the pan. I glaze right away and then let cool for at least 4 hours (or overnight) I get nice clean slices that stay together. This recipe is simple and SO delicious
    Reply
    - Martha says
      Posted on 10/30/14 at 7:56 pm
      
      We’re so glad you’re enjoying the recipe Karin! (We love it too!) Thanks for writing to us tonight!
      Reply
- LP says
  Posted on 8/7/22 at 5:49 pm
  
  Use unflavored floss to cut cake. It works well!
  Reply
  - Martha says
    Posted on 8/8/22 at 7:59 am
    
    Thanks for the suggestion!
    Reply
Debbie says
Posted on 10/15/14 at 4:11 pm

OMG! I made the cake today and served it to a group of ladies visiting our new beach house. I froze what was left over because if I didn’t, I would pick away at it until it was gone. It was fantastic and I will make it again and again. The only thing I did different from the recipe (other than use the organic gala apples I had on hand) was use demerara sugar instead of brown as that is what I had in my pantry. Thanks for the awesome recipe.
Reply
- Martha says
  Posted on 10/15/14 at 6:57 pm
  
  Thanks Deb! Great idea freezing the leftovers for another meal! (I wouldn’t have so much will power against this apple cake!) 🙂
  Reply
Susan says
Posted on 10/10/14 at 10:59 am

Hi there! Do you think I could use dark brown sugar in this recipe?
I can hardly wait to try it!!
Reply
- Martha says
  Posted on 10/10/14 at 11:40 am
  
  Hi Susan – Yes – either light or dark brown sugar will work. We used light – so if you use dark, the color of the baked cake will likely be darker but still very delicious!
  Reply
  - PEGGY H SMITH says
    Posted on 8/1/22 at 6:30 pm
    
    How is the cake without the glaze?
    Reply
    - Martha says
      Posted on 8/1/22 at 7:14 pm
      
      Hi Peggy – We’ve had a number of readers over the years, comment to tell us that they skipped the icing and they still loved the cake.
      Reply

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