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.
Recipe by Sylvia Fountaine | Feasting at Home on October 15, 2024
Prep time: PT15M
Cook time: PT50M
Total time: PT1H5M
Rating
5 stars ( reviews)
Keywords
apple cake, easy apple cake, cardamom apple cake, apple cake recipe, moist apple cake recipe, the best apple cake, best apple cake recipe, apple cake, simple apple cake, one bowl apple cake. recipe easy,
Ingredients
½ cup butter, softened to room temperature
¼ cup olive oil
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 ¾ cups of all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ teaspoons ground cardamom (or sub cinnamon)
3 honey crisp apples, cored and thinly sliced (¼-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.
Categories
cake
Cuisine
American
Steps
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.
Nutitrion
Serving Size: 1/10th of the cake
Calories: 354 calories
Carbohydrates: 48.4 g
Protein: 4.4 g
Fat: 16.6 g
Saturated Fat: 7.1 g
Trans Fat: 0 g
Cholesterol: 80.2 mg
Sodium: 142.1 mg
Sugar: 28.7 g
Reviews
Leslie on 2024-12-13 (5 stars): Fabulous recipe! I’m wondering if Olive amount could be increased and butter decreased. I love the flavor of EVOO in cakes. I have a recipe for a Lemon EVOO cake that uses no butter, just EVOO. It is awesome!
Ingrid on 2025-02-16 (5 stars): This is an easy and elegant dessert perfect for a dinner party! Despite having used long-since expired ground cardamon and an assortment of apples that needed to be used soon, the cake turned out beautifully and one of my dinner guests, an incredibly skillful baker, asked to take some home with her!
Success!
Many thanks for yet another foolproof recipe!
Pam B on 2025-09-29 (5 stars): Not quite possibly, Sylvia... it IS the best apple cake on the planet. Apples and cardomom are a match made in heaven and the apple-to-cake ratio is perfection! So easy to make and absolutely beautiful. Thank you!
Lucy on 2025-09-20 (5 stars): I haven’t used cardamom much in my baking but this recipe intrigued me so I decided to try it. The cake was delicious and my family have been going on and on about how unique it is. I will definitely keep this recipe in my fall baking rotation. Thanks for sharing it!
Debbie Turner on 2025-09-30 (5 stars): Love this cake and so did my family. The cardamom has such a unique and fragrant flavour, will definitely be making again and again!
Bosha on 2025-10-02 (5 stars): It's in the oven, I'm waiting, but the smell that has spread through the house is driving me crazy with desire!!! It's the first time I've used cardamom in sweet, it's going to be a discovery... In any case, it's rising well, another 10 minutes and it'll come out of the oven... Patience, patience, it makes me want to throw myself on it...
Korina Mills on 2026-01-02 (5 stars): I have made this cardamom apple cake more times than I can count. It is now becoming my signature baked good for the fall and winter seasons, especially for special events. It is amazing, and I highly recommend everyone try it. It's also super easy to make! I love to use honeycrisp apples. One thing I learned is it's best to refrigerate it after one day on the counter. It tends to spoil pretty quickly in warmer or more humid temps because of all the moisture from the apples.
Aimee Carlson on 2026-01-25 (5 stars): I've made this cake twice. The first time I did not have the springform pan locked in and so when I went to pull it out of the oven, it came apart and cake went everywhere! My dog really enjoyed licking the outside oven door for the next week! Fast forward to last weekend and I made it again - it was wonderful! I'm not in love with cardamom but it really works in this cake!
Vero on 2026-03-16 (5 stars): Love this with the cardamom. If I wanted to use cinnamon, is it a 1:1 swap? What if I wanted to use both spices? What ratio would you recommend? Thank you!
Megan on 2026-03-30 (5 stars): My partner’s childhood birthday tradition is apple pie, and I asked my sister to make this for him as a new iteration of some familiar flavors. It was so good! The cardamom was a delicious twist.
