Easy-as-Pie Apple Cake Recipe (2024)

This recipe appeared in one of my grandmother's community cookbooks (and I'm no youngster, so it's an old recipe). It's about the only cake I make. I make it with apples, pears, rhubarb, plums, blobs of ripe hachiya persimmon; I use different spices and sometimes cocoa; I use olive oil in place of butter; I add up to half of different flours. It's a wonderful recipe.

This is not a pie! Nor is it a cake. But it is delicious. With its crackly top and moist interior, I would describe it as an apple brownie. I used toasted walnuts because I was out of pecans and served it with a dollop of dulce de leche ice cream. Whipped cream or creme fraiche would also be good. I would definitely make this again.

"...a greased and floured 9-inch fluted tart or quiche pan..." is round. That's not the same as a 9" square pan which is 81 sq. in. The area of a 9" round pan is ~63.5 sq. in. An 8X8 pan has almost the same area as a 9" round pan.

A lovely afternoon treat. I used 1/2 cup of sugar and sprinkled a bit of Demerara sugar on top. Also added 1/4 tsp. of cardamom. Since I love cardamom I'll increase that to 1/2 tsp. next time.

In name of all of us from the Old World, I would like to thank the author of this recipe for adding the amounts in grams. All hail universally understandable measurements!

Today I'll deliver star-shaped cakes to my Roman neighbors that I made from this recipe. (I used bottomless star forms placed on a cooking sheet; what little batter seeped out made a crispy cook's reward.) I made a test batch when the recipe was published to see how well it keeps. Left at room temperature for four days, the cake was just as moist and delicious as it was the day it was baked. That's a real plus when offering home baked goodies that might not be eaten right away.

Sweetness of apples varies greatly and changes as the fruit matures. Sugar amounts in recipes should vary accordingly. If using Winesap, Granny Smith, Jonathan or other tart variety in October, use more sugar. Use less with varieties like Golden Delicious or Fuji or later in the season with more mature (and less crisp) fruit. Seldom is Red Delicious a good choice for baking--they are best to look at and should be recommended for centerpiece not culinary use.

But there's really no substitute for butter. Others can use olive oil if they wish but I don't want instructional recipes that substitute taste for political/environmental correctness. I try to be environmentally careful, but I also want to have my cake and eat it, too!

I've recently begun omitting cinnamon and nutmeg from apple recipes and find that people remark that the taste of the apples really comes through (I use different kinds of apples and toss in a tablespoon or so of fresh lemon juice).

This sounded delicious so I gave it a whirl. It seemed to me that it had too much sugar, so I left the butter amount the same and I used only half the sugar, but used brown sugar instead. I used three apples and had about 3 cups of apple. It was delicious!! Also, I baked it in a 9" square pan and it was fine.... yum yum..

I only used 3/4 cup of sugar and it was quite sweet from all the apples. Next time I'll only use 1/2 cup

Used pears and cranberries instead of apples and nuts-just because I could. I added a touch of lemon juice so the pears (or apples) don't turn brown and I too substituted ginger for nutmeg. It was delish!

Terrific light cake great for brunch. Read through comments and so used more apples -- 3 good (envy) apples instead of 2. A little less sugar -- used 3/4 cup sugar. Used dough hook to mix in apples. No nuts. And sprinkled about a teaspoon of turbanado sugar on top. Thanks to all the helpful comments this cake was easy to make & delicious.

I thought this was very good. It came together quickly and easily. I didn't peel the apples, not that the recipe says to anyway and I thought they were fine. I toasted my pecans first before I added them. I bet a couple tablespoons of Calvados would be great in this recipe. I will make this again. It was a hit.

Worked nicely with 1/2 cup brown sugar and half whole wheat flour. Next time I will first macerate the chopped apples in a little sugar plus lemon juice so they go in a little moister.

One of my favorite desserts in the whole world, but I should admit that I usually put some chocolate chips in there too.

Use a scant 1/2 c sugarTurbinado on top for crunch 2 1/2 c fruit (apples and cranberries)Walnuts Light on spices Try pear, cranberries, almonds next time

The cake was coarser and drier than expected, and the apples were somewhat disaggregated from the dough. I served it with whipped cream and bourbon hard sauce for a party. Even so, the texture was not stellar, the flavor not punchy, and the appearance drab.

Many, many times. Love it. My go-to bridge-group cake.Always gets compliments.

made last night for guests in a pyrex pie plate, reduced sugar to 2/3 cup using both white and brown - a keeper!

Read notes & added extra apple and substituted ground cardamom for the nutmeg. I used everything else in the quantities suggested. Apples this time of year don't seem too sweet, and the ones I used were old, so the overall cake wasn't too sweet. I will definitely make again and play around with the fruit combo - I like the suggestion of pears and cranberries.

This is so incredibly delicious! Make it as written.

This is absolutely perfect! I cook for the local shelters in our town and we were given dried fruit and nuts mixes we tripled the recipe, added the dried fruit mix among with the apples and it turned out so good! This is an easy go to recipe

Too many apple desserts this season. I used ripe pears, pecans, half almond flour, half regular flour, a splash of poire, and a teaspoon of grated ginger, 1/2 cup of sugar and a sprinkling of turbinado sugar on top. In a 9 inch springform, it was only an inch high after baking, slightly undercooked (soft at the bottom) at 50 minutes and a bit too ginger forward, overpowering the pears. But very tasty. I’d reduce the ginger for another effort and use an 8” pan to get a little more lift.

Made it today and it was a hit. Will definitely do again. Used less sugar, 100 gr granulated 50 gr brown sugar. No pecans so roasted hazelnuts and almonds. A big yummy apple cookie

I reduced sugar to 150 g, added 1/2 tsp cardamon, used roasted walnuts in lieu of pecans, and replaced 1/3 (by weight) of the wheat flour with buckwheat flour. It made for a fabulous crunchy-chewy texture much like a brownie.

Followed recipe closely, but followed a reviewers comment to use an 8 x 8” square pan, as I didn’t have the fluted tart pan. As described, the dough was very thick, but I managed to spread it and smooth over the top. Before baking it seemed like the 2 Cups of apples were overkill, but after baking, it was perfect, as were the toasted pecans. One reviewer recommended sprinkling with turbinado sugar, which I did and that also gave topping a nice sweet crunch. Another winner from Melissa.

One reviewer asserts she uses butter and doesn't substitute things that she claims are politically or environmentally correct. Fine, but some of us have lactose intolerant family members who can't tolerate butter. Be kind.

I made this Easy-as-Pie Apple Cake twice this week. The first time, I made it EXACTLY as written, but felt it was on the "dry" side, perhaps due to the baking time. I knew the recipe had promise, so I altered a couple of things the second time: weighed, not measured most of the ingredients; substituted half the granulated sugar with brown sugar; and then baked the cake for only 35 minutes. It was perfection! Served it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. A fabulous fall dessert.