Apple Spice Cake
This Apple Spice Cake is a sweet, fall delight packed with apples, raisins, and spices. It’s loaded with warm flavors and topped with a delicious orange glaze that keeps the cake incredibly moist. Trust me when I say that you’ll be hooked after one bite!
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge fan of pumpkin spice. But I often think that people forget about apples during this time of year. So, this melt-in-your-mouth cake is the divine dessert that’s been waiting to dial up your holiday table!
Every single bite is packed with grated apple and spices, and the contrast from the orange glaze is just heavenly. Oh, and did I mention that it’s incredibly easy to make? You’ll just need a couple of bowls, a hand mixer, and your oven to make the magic happen! And hey, you can even work things by hand if you need to – anything goes.
Now, let’s get baking!
Why You’ll Love This Apple Spice Cake
- It has an incredible texture. Seriously, this cake is ridiculously moist and tender thanks to the baked apples and butter!
- There’s a lot of spice in this recipe, but it blends together to create the most divine, fall-inspired dessert.
- The grated apple blends seamlessly into the cake batter to give it extra moisture and flavor.
Ingredients
The full printable recipe card with measurements and instructions is found at the bottom of the post.
For the cake
- Butter: Gives the cake a rich and irresistible taste that makes this dessert melt in your mouth. You’ll want to use unsalted for this recipe.
- Sugar: For sweetness that complements the slightly tart apples. Make sure your apples are peeled and grated!
- Apples: I recommend using Honeycrisp apples for baking. They’re slightly more expensive, but they cook up well and I can’t resist their sweet taste!
- Flour: All-purpose flour is the key here, but you can switch it out for self-raising and remove the baking soda if you need to.
- Baking soda: For a decent rise.
- Cinnamon and allspice: To give your cake a delicious, fall flavor.
- Salt: To balance the sweetness of the rest of the ingredients.
- Walnuts: For a hint of crunch and texture!
- Raisins: Gives each pie a hint of chewy sweetness.
For the glaze:
- Butter: For indulgent richness.
- Sugar: Any kind of sugar works, but I recommend a fine sugar like caster.
- Peel and juice of an orange: The most important ingredients for the hot orange glaze! It brings out the sweetness and tartness of the apples beautifully.
How to Make Apple Spice Cake
The cake
- Step One: Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Step Two: Grease and flour a 9 x 13-inch baking pan and set it aside.
- Step Three: Create the apple mixture by creaming together butter and sugar with a mixture. You can then stir in the apples and set the bowl aside.
- Step Four: In another large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, and salt.
- Step Five: Stir in the apple mixture.
- Step Six: Stir in the walnuts and raisins and spread the batter into a baking pan.
- Step Seven: Bake for around 40 minutes.
The glaze
- Step One: In a small saucepan, stir together the butter, orange peel, juice, and sugar.
- Step Two: Bring it to a boil over medium heat.
- Step Three: Reduce the heat and simmer until the sugar is dissolved.
- Step Four: Finish off your apple spice cake by pouring the hot orange topping over the cake. Serve the cake hot and enjoy!
Equipment Needed
These kitchen tools will help you make this recipe.
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What to Serve with Apple Spice Cake
Although I love eating this apple spice cake on its own, you can easily jazz it up by adding these tasty toppings!
Recipe Tips and Tricks
- I’ll say that not all apples are made equal when it comes to baking. You can technically use any apples you like for this recipe, but Honeycrisp and Granny Smith have the best, balanced taste. Make sure you choose one of these apples to balance the spices!
- Don’t be lax when measuring the flour. Unless you want a super dense cake, you’ll want to get the flour measurements right. I recommend carefully leveling off your cups for best results here.
- Don’t skimp on the greasing! There’s nothing worse than an apple spice cake falling apart at the seams. So, grease the pan properly to make sure this uber-moist cake doesn’t stick!
- As baking times vary from oven to oven, I suggest carefully checking your cake before and after the 40 minutes. This should prevent it from under or overbaking!
Variations and Substitutions
- If you don’t like walnuts, you can switch them out for pecans or almonds. These nuts should give the cake a similar texture and taste.
- Although I don’t include a caramel sauce in this recipe, it’s a great addition to the orange glaze if you’d prefer it!
Storage Instructions
This apple spice cake stores for up to 3 days in the fridge if it’s covered and in an airtight container.
I wouldn’t recommend storing it on the side for more than half a day or so.
Can I Freeze?
You can totally freeze this apple spice cake!
Simply wrap the cake in plastic wrap (in portions!) or put the cake into a freezer safe container. Make sure you eat it within 3 months.
To keep track of those months, I recommend putting the baking date on the container with a sticky label.
Best Apples for Baking
I like to use Honeycrisp apples in my baking recipes. The only issue with them is that they are more expensive. I can’t resist their sweet taste though. They work really well in baking recipes.
Other apples that would also be good to use are Granny Smith, Cortland, Red Delicious, Fuji or Braeburn.
Apples are plentiful right now so keep an eye out for sales and pick up a bunch to use in your recipes this season.
Apple Dessert Recipes
Check out my other apple desserts!
- Apple Cake with Butterscotch Sauce
- Apple Crisp Bars
- Deep Dish Apple Pie with Crumb Topping
- Apple Raisin Cake
- Apple Magic Dessert
- Apple Butterscotch Buns
- Caramel Apple Cookies
- Apple Upside Down Cake
- Nobby Apple Cake
- Apple Crisp
- Maple Apple Pudding
- Cracker Barrel Fried Apples
- Instant Pot Apple Butter
- Apple Slab Pie
- Air Fryer Apples
- Apple Compote
- Apple Pie Egg Rolls
- Caramel Apple Dump Cake
You’ll also like this Snickerdoodle Cake, Fruit Cocktail Cake or Pineapple Cake.
Follow me on Instagram @simplystacieblog, Facebook at Simply Stacie, TikTok @simplystacierecipes or Pinterest at @simplystacie and let me know how you liked this recipe and my other recipes.
Apple Spice Cake
SAVE THIS RECIPE!
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 ½ cup Honeycrisp apples peeled and grated
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp allspice
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup walnuts chopped
- 1 cup raisins
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 grated peel and juice of orange
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9×13 inch baking pan.
- In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar with a mixer. Stir in apples.
- In another bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice and salt. Stir into apple mixture.
- Stir in walnuts and raisins. Spread batter into baking pan. Bake for 40 minutes.
- In small saucepan, stir together 1 tbsp butter, orange peel and juice and sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat and simmer until the sugar is dissolved.
- Pour hot orange topping over cake and serve.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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This looks so yummy! I have a bag of apples from the orchard waiting for a recipe like this. Thanks for sharing!