Dutch Apple Cake

This Dutch apple cake has a moist and tender crumb with plump pieces of juicy and crisp apple creating the perfect amount of moisture. Rich brown sugar and cinnamon add deep molasses notes and warm spice. This easy apple cake bakes up easily and beautifully, is not too sweet, and can be enjoyed as dessert or with your morning coffee.

Depending on where you live, you might be knee deep in apples this time of year. It's a great problem to have, and I have just the thing to help you use up those apples.

For this Dutch apple cake recipe, you'll dice half of the apples and fold them into your cake batter. The other half will get thinly sliced and arranged on top of the cake, melting into the batter as it bakes and creating an elegant presentation!

This cake works as a breakfast coffeecake, an afternoon tea cake, or not-overly-sweet dessert, like my strawberry cake, chocolate zucchini loaf and blueberry lemon pound cake.

Jump to:

• ⭐️ Why This Apple Cake is the Best
• 💬 Why Is It Called Dutch Apple Cake?
• 🍎 Ingredient Notes
• 📝 Variations & Substitutions
• 🔪 How To Make Dutch Apple Cake
• 👩🏼‍🍳 Expert Tips for the Perfect Cake
• 🍽️ How to Serve Apple Cake
• 🍏 Cake Presentation
• 💬 Frequently Asked Questions
• 🍰 More Cake Recipes
• Dutch Apple Cake Recipe

⭐️ Why This Apple Cake is the Best

• Tender and moist old-fashioned apple cake
• Juicy and crisp apples
• Quick and easy apple cake recipe
• Can be served as tea cake or coffee cake
• Not too sweet

💬 Why Is It Called Dutch Apple Cake?

It's hard to pin down where this cake originated, but there are variations known as "Polish Apple Cake", "Jewish Apple Cake", and "German Apple Cake", which can involve a crumble topping and oil used in place of butter.

Regardless of origin, this cake is thought to be a combination of apple pie and apple cake, with the apples melting into the cake batter, creating a super moist cake that's not overly sweet.

🍎 Ingredient Notes

• Cinnamon - Adds subtle notes of warm spice. You could also use a large pinch of nutmeg or cloves.
• Unsalted butter - Using unsalted butter helps you control the amount of salt in your cake. It's also very important to make sure your butter is at room temperature. This will ensure a light and creamy texture without lumps of hard butter.
• Brown sugar - Using brown sugar in this recipe adds more complex flavor than just using granulated sugar.
• Apples - I recommend using a sweet-tart-crisp apple like Fuji or Honeycrisp for this recipe. If you're looking for more ways to use up your apples, try my spice cake, apple pie, or apple muffins.

📝 Variations & Substitutions

• Yogurt. Use the same amount of yogurt (½ cup) for sour cream. I also tested this recipe using plant-based yogurt and it worked well.
• Spice. Add a pinch of nutmeg or cloves for more spice.

🔪 How To Make Dutch Apple Cake

*See the recipe card below for the full printable recipe.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly spray a 9-inch spring form pan. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.

Using the paddle attachment on a stand mixer, cream the butter, brown sugar, and sugar for several minutes, stopping once to scrape down sides of bowl.

Add eggs, one at a time, and beat for around one minute after each addition. Add vanilla and mix well.

Alternating, add half of the dry mixture, then the sour cream, and finish with the remaining half of the dry mixture. Mix until just combined.

Gently fold in the diced apples and pour into prepared pan. Use an offset spatula or back of spoon to even out the batter.

Arrange remaining apple slices on top of batter in preferred pattern. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the cake is no longer wiggly in the center.

Let cake cool for 10-15 minutes on wire rack. Run a knife along the rim of cake and unlatch to remove outer ring. Cool completely before slicing.

👩🏼‍🍳 Expert Tips for the Perfect Cake

• Storage: Store apple cake in the refrigerator for up to 4 days in an airtight container.
• How to freeze: Wrap individual cake slices in foil and place in a freezer-safe bag for up to 2 months.
• Use room-temperature eggs. This incorporates air into your batter and makes your cake so much lighter and fluffier. To quickly bring your eggs to room-temperature, place them in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes.
• Mix just until combined. Over-mixing could produce extra gluten, creating a chewier cake, and we are going for a lighter texture. Over-mixing could also cause your cake to sink in the middle. We want to avoid that!
• Use an electric hand mixer if you don't have a stand mixer.
• Use a 9" round cake pan if you don't have a springform pan. Make sure that you spray it (or butter it) well, as it will be more likely to stick to the pan. If you don't care about taking the entire cake out of the pan to display on a platter, don't worry about this aspect.
• Add a pinch of granulated sugar to top of cake before baking for a slightly crunchy topping.

🍽️ How to Serve Apple Cake

You can serve this German apple cake at room temperature, cold, or reheated. It's delicious at any temperature, and should be served at your preferred temperature.

🍏 Cake Presentation

To really maximize the apple taste and texture (and up the "wow" factor), I fold half of the sliced apples directly into the batter and place the other half on top in a circular pattern.

However, you can fold all of the apples right into the batter if you don't care about creating a pretty cake top; it's just as delicious without it!

💬 Frequently Asked Questions

🍰 More Cake Recipes

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