This cozy apple spice cake recipe has the perfect blend of warm spices and a gorgeous super-moist texture, thanks to a double dose of apple goodness!
Our Fan-Favorite Apple Spice Cake Recipe Is A Fall Dream Come True
Seriously. This apple cake recipe has been served at Thanksgiving, birthdays, Christmas Eve, ladies’ luncheons, and even made for weddings by professionals with rave reviews! It’s SUPER moist, deliciously spiced, and full of flavor.
🥣 EASE: This easy spiced apple cake is made in a sheet pan, which means it’s about as low-fuss as it gets! The recipe is made from simple ingredients, and the only skills you need are grating, stirring, and mixing.
🍎 FLAVORS: Warm spices and apple are the stars of the show here! Paired with our suggested buttermilk syrup (or some caramel sauce!), the flavors are next-level amazing.
🍰 TOP TIPS: For the best apple cake, I highly recommend weighing the dry ingredients where possible! Also: try the buttermilk syrup!!!
Happy baking! xo, Emily
Gather Your Ingredients
One thing readers LOVE about this easy recipe? The simple ingredients list! Let’s take a look:
The Best Apples For Apple Cake
Not all fresh apples bake the same, and some hold their shape better than others. Our two favorite kinds of apples for apple spice cake are sweet, tart apples, like Honeycrisp apples and Granny Smith apples.
Both have great balanced flavor that works well with the spices, and they won’t get mushy or mealy when baked. (Braeburn & Pink Lady are two other nice choices!)
How To Make Apple Spice Cake, Step By Step
As always, you can find the full recipe with ingredient amounts, detailed instructions, and tips in the recipe card below.
- Preheat & Prep. To start, preheat oven temperature to 375 degrees F. Grease a 9×13″ metal pan with butter or spray or line with parchment paper.
- Combine Dry Ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- Cream Butter & Sugar. In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar with a hand mixer or paddle attachment for 2-3 minutes, until light, fluffy, and well combined.
- Finish Wet Ingredients. Mix in eggs, one at a time till well incorporated, then stir in applesauce.
- Add Dry Ingredients, Then The Apples. Then, add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and gently stir or mix just until the dry ingredients are mixed in. Next, add the grated apples and stir until evenly distributed.
- Bake. Pour cake batter into the prepared pan and smooth into an even layer. Bake in preheated oven 30-40 minutes or till a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. (This cake will bake to a deep brown, but if your cake seems to be getting too dark, feel free to loosely tent the pan with foil for the last few minutes of baking. Cool cake on a wire rack.
- Serve & Store. Cut cake into slices and top individual slices with buttermilk syrup, caramel sauce, or a scoop of vanilla ice cream. (Or, frost with your favorite cream cheese frosting!) Store leftover cake covered in the fridge 2-3 days for best results, or 1-2 days at room temperature.
Serving Suggestions & Toppings To Try
This gluten-free apple cake recipe is packed with flavor, but I do recommend adding at least one little topping for serving. Here are my favorites:
- Buttermilk Syrup or Caramel Sauce. My FAVORITE way to serve this old-fashioned apple spice cake is with a generous drizzle of Buttermilk Syrup or Caramel Sauce.
- Ice Cream. A slice of slightly warm cake with a scoop of cold ice cream (and maybe some caramel sauce!) is one of the best fall desserts around.
- Whipped Cream. A dollop of fluffy whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon on top of the cake is light and lovely!
- Cream Cheese Frosting. A classic cream cheese frosting is DELICIOUS with the spices in this cake! (If you plan to frost the cake, make sure to let cake cool completely before frosting or the frosting will melt!)
- Sautéed Apples. If you want to play up the apple flavors in this cake even MORE, you can top each slice with some cinnamon apples and a little scoop of ice cream or a bit of whipped cream.
FAQ + Tips And Tricks For The Best Apple Spice Cake
Measure Your Flour Carefully! To avoid a dense or gummy cake, take care to measure the flour properly. I recommend weighing the flour when possible, but at least use the scoop and level method if you don’t have a scale!
Can I Make This As An Apple Bundt Cake? If you’d like to make this in a bundt pan, I honestly recommend making this apple bundt cake recipe. If you choose to make a bundt with THIS recipe, make sure you grease the bundt pan properly first, as it’s a very moist cake and is more likely to stick. (I recommend adding sugar to the pan after greasing, which can help the cake come out.) Also follow these guidelines for converting cake recipes to fit different cake pans. It’ll take 50-60 minutes or so in a 10-12 inch bundt pan.
Can I Make This Cake Dairy-Free? Yes! Just use vegan butter (like Earth Balance). Then, top with a vegan caramel sauce or dairy-free vanilla ice cream instead of our buttermilk syrup.
Did You Make This Recipe?
Tell me all about it! Leave a star rating below when you try our Gluten-Free Apple Spice Cake recipe. I can’t wait to hear how it goes!
Apple Spice Cake
Ingredients
For The Wet Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup butter, softened (113 grams/8 Tablespoons)
- 1 3/4 cups sugar (350 grams)
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 cup applesauce (I prefer unsweetened)
- 2 cups peeled & grated or finely diced apples (I like Honeycrisp or granny smith apples)
For The Dry Ingredients:
- 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour or gluten-free flour* (270 grams)
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon cloves
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
To Serve (Choose 1-2)
- Buttermilk Syrup (or Caramel Sauce)
- Whipped Cream
- Vanilla Ice Cream
Instructions
- Preheat & Prep. To start, preheat oven temperature to 375 degrees F. Grease a 9×13" metal pan with butter or spray or line with parchment paper.
- Combine Dry Ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- Cream Butter & Sugar. In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar with a hand mixer or paddle attachment for 2-3 minutes, until light, fluffy, and well combined.
- Finish Wet Ingredients. Mix in eggs, one at a time till well incorporated, then stir in applesauce.
- Add Dry Ingredients, Then The Apples. Then, add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and gently stir or mix just until the dry ingredients are mixed in. Next, add the grated apples and stir until evenly distributed.
- Bake. Pour cake batter into the prepared pan and smooth into an even layer. Bake in preheated oven 35-40 minutes or till a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. (This cake will bake to a deep brown, but if your cake seems to be getting too dark, feel free to loosely tent the pan with foil for the last few minutes of baking. Cool cake on a wire rack.
- Serve & Store. Cut cake into slices and top individual slices with buttermilk syrup, caramel sauce, or a scoop of vanilla ice cream. (Or, frost with your favorite cream cheese frosting!) Store leftover cake covered in the fridge 2-3 days for best results, or 1-2 days at room temperature.
Notes
- Flour. This recipe was developed years before we went gluten-free and works great with regular white flour (all-purpose flour). Now that we’re gluten-free, we use King Arthur Measure-For-Measure Gluten-Free Flour. If you use another gluten-free flour blend, be sure it contains xanthan gum, or the cake will not turn out properly. (Do NOT substitute coconut flour or almond flour in this recipe.)
- Other Toppings. If you prefer, you can frost this cake with Classic Cream Cheese Frosting!
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition facts are an estimate only and will vary based on brands and amounts used.
Find it Online:
https://www.onelovelylife.com/apple-spice-cake/PS. This was one of the first recipes I developed for my site, way back in November 2008 before I’d learned a thing about photography. Here’s our original photos: (We’ve come a long way!😂)
Moist and delicious! A perfect blend of spices. I didn’t add any caramel sauce or ice cream. Everyone agreed that the cake did not need a topping.
Oh, I’m so glad it was a win for you, Vicki! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave such a kind comment. You made my day!
I made this with regular all-purpose flour (not GF) and two diced Gala apples. Delicious! A lovely, moist cake with a great balance of flavours. Highly recommend!
This was amazing. Seriously. I used Honeycrisp apples. The buttermilk syrup and a bit of vanilla ice cream make it unbelievable. Great fall dessert.
I’m so glad to hear it!!! I couldn’t agree more. It’s the BEST this time of year!
I never thought I would make this but I was looking for recipes online since I had a whole bag of apples I knew I wasn’t going to eat all by myself and company coming over the next morning. This cake was the BOMB! All of my guests loved it. A friend said it reminded her of pumpkin bars. I made it in a bundt pan and topped it with buttercream frosting. Definitely adding this to my recipe book! It makes me happy to see others happy by food I prepared!
DELICIOUS! I’m so glad it was a win for you and your guests!
Absolutely a fantastic cake! My family LOVED it!
Very moist and yummy! Made it exactly as stated in the recipe. Great for breakfast with coffee.
Can this be made in a bundt pan?
It’s quite moist, so it may stick to a bundt pan. If it’s a bundt you’re after, we love this recipe!
As promised, it’s as delicious as hoped. The texture and moisture is very good. I didn’t have applesauce or cloves, so added an additional egg and a blend of Asian Five Spice Powder and Pumpkin Pie Spice — and will next time add sliced apples. Oh, I served it with Eggnog Ice Cream. Delicious!
That sounds delicious! So glad it worked out for you! (That eggnog ice cream combo sounds fabulous!)