EASY & HEALTHY APPLE CAKE RECIPE
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy for more details.
This wholesome apple cake is delicious, moist, and packed with yogurt and fresh crunchy apples.
It’s a real cake, hearty, fruity, not overly sweet, and it doesn’t contain refined ingredients.
Briefly, an apple cake that TASTES LIKE APPLES, not sugar!
And when I say it’s loaded with yogurt and apples, I do mean that: 4 large apples + 1 cup of yogurt.
Freshly baked apple cakes from scratch are a must, I grew up with them: so nourishing, moist, and come together quickly (apart from the slicing : ). Plus – let me state the obvious – they taste a million times better than a box cake mix and sugar-packed cakes.
Equipment? A couple of bowls and a spoon. Ready?
What ingredients you need
- Apples
- All-purpose flour or spelt flour
- Plain yogurt
- Eggs
- Cane sugar
- Vegetable oil
- Lemon
- Cinnamon
- Baking powder + salt
How to make it
Step 1:
- Peel, core, and cut the apples into 1/2 or 1/4 inch slices
- Mix with lemon juice and cinnamon
Step 2:
- make the batter in one bowl (see full recipe at the bottom of the page)
- Scrape the batter into the cake pan
- Arrange the apple slices in concentric circles
- Dust with cinnamon and bake for 35-40 minutes
- Optional: lightly glaze the cake with warm apricot or lemon jam
Brushing this cake with warm apricot or lemon jam adds shine and a golden color.
RECIPE NOTES & TIPS
Not only is this apple cake good, moist, and fruity, but it’s also a budget-friendly treat: approx $ 5.50 for about 8-10 servings of goodness.
Plus, it’s all about healthy and wholesome ingredients:
- Apples are extremely rich in vitamins, fiber, and antioxidants. Plus, eating apples offers great health benefits and lower risk of several chronic diseases.
- Yogurt is highly nutritious, low in calories, and rich in calcium, great for your bones, teeth, hair, skin, nails. Plain yogurt (no added sugar/flavor/fake fruit) is ideal.
- To make this apple cake as wholesome as possible, I love using unrefined cane sugar, and nutritious whole grain such as spelt flour. Light spelt flour tastes delicious, it has a nutty flavor, and doesn’t weigh down baking goods.
JAM GLAZE
It’s totally optional, but I love that shiny warm color.
BATTER
First things first, do not overmix the batter and mix only until the ingredients are combined, seeing little specks of flour is ok. This is a general rule, since working flour too much can produce gluten, which creates dense cakes.
Plus, the ingredients should be at room temperature and not cold, when possible. When eggs and yogurt are at room temperature, the wet ingredients are better emulsified, the sugar is dissolved into them and the batter does not curdle. The result is a light textured cake.
HOW LONG DOES THIS APPLE CAKE KEEP?
It keeps well and moist for up 4 days at room temperature, stored in an airtight container. It’s also freezable: wrap the cake, or slices of cake, in plastic wrap (clingfilm), store in an airtight container, and freeze for up to 1 month.
If you are looking for more delicious, wholesome and healthy cakes, have a look at these recipes:
Healthy yogurt cake
Carrot cake
Beetroot cake
Zucchini bread
Healthy and wholesome cake recipes (a collection of delicious healthy cake recipes)
Let me know if you make this delicious apple cake! Leave a comment, rate it or tag a photo #theclevermeal on Instagram. I would love to hear from you!
Healthy apple cake
Ingredients
- 4 (1 1/2 lb) medium-sized apples (Gala and Fuji are fine) (600-650 grams)
- 1 cup plain yogurt (250 grams)
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups spelt flour (or all-purpose flour) (250 grams)
- 1/2 cup unrefined cane sugar (or white sugar) (100 grams)
- 1/3 cup I used expeller-pressed canola oil (but any canola oil works fine) (80 grams)
- 2 tsp baking powder (8 grams)
- 1/2 Tbsp cinnamon, divided
- 1 large lemon, zest and juice
- 1 pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 360 F° (180 C°) degrees and place the rack in the middle position.
- Peel, core, and cut the apples into 1/2 inch slices. Squeeze the lemon juice over them, add 1/4 tsp of cinnamon and mix well.
- Grease a cake pan (mine is a 9-inch round pan) with butter, cooking spray or simply line the pan with parchment paper (in this case there's no need to grease the pan).
- In a large bowl, mix eggs and sugar very well, you want to dissolve the sugar properly. Then add oil, lemon zest, and yogurt. Mix into a smooth consistency.
- In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon (but save 1/4 tsp of cinnamon for the top), and a pinch of salt until thoroughly combined.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined (do not overmix).
- Fold in a handful of apple slices (about 8-10 pieces), then scrape the batter into the prepared cake pan, and smooth the top.
- Arrange the apple slices nicely on top, gently press them into the batter and dust with about 1/4 tsp of ground cinnamon.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
- When the cake is done, remove it from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool.
- You can serve it plain or brushed with some quick and easy jam glaze which adds a lovely shine (see notes).
Notes
- Jam glaze (optional): put 3 generous tablespoons of lemon or apricot jam into a small saucepan. Heat gently over low heat until they melt. If the jam looks too thick adjust the consistency with a tiny bit of warm water (however, you don't need to add water if you use honey). When the glaze is the consistency of runny honey, brush the cake straight away.
- Adding lemon juice to the apple slices prevents them from browning. I think you can skip it if you prefer, however, lemon juice and cinnamon add extra flavor to the apple slices.
- This apple cake keeps well and moist for up 4 days at room temperature, in an airtight container.
It’s also freezable: wrap the cake, or slices of cake, in plastic wrap (clingfilm), store in an airtight container and freeze for up to 1 month. - If possible, use yogurt and eggs at room temperature and do not overmix the batter (mix only until the ingredients are combined, seeing little specks of flour is ok).
I just made this cake yesterday and it turned out wonderful, although I didn’t quite follow directions. I placed the cut apples in a bowl of water with a Tbsp of lemon juice (no cinnamon). I fine diced the 8 apples that I was going to add to the batter (because I wanted bits of apple throughout) and I added them to the flour mixture before adding the liquid ingredients. I used 1/2 tsp of apple pie spice in the batter instead of cinnamon because I didn’t have any. I use 3/4 cup sugar instead of 1/2 by mistake (and it was a good sweetness). I also used full fat Greek yogurt because that is what I had. I topped the cake with cinnamon sugar (again, no plain cinnamon). I used Macoun apples and they seemed perfect. I used a 9-inch springform pan to make serving easier. The biggest change was I baked it for 70-80 minutes (I lost track after checking it every 5-10 minutes). I got rave reviews and it seems healthy enough to eat at breakfast today!
That sounds fabulous and I’m craving a slice for my breakfast too! : ) thanks so much for taking the time to share your feedback! X
I absolutely LOVED this cake. Turned out amazing, I followed the recipe exactly. Thank you for sharing. Are the nutritional values per 100g, or for the whole cake, or for a slice?
Thanks so much for your lovely comment, Maria!
The nutritional values are per serving, but if you cut the cake into 8 generous slices (I would say pretty large), feel free to cut it into 10 if you wish.
Cheers : )
Hi. I followed the recipe exactly and it was a great success… a light, moist and healthy cake. But I agree with others that the flavour here is very subtle. I would not want more cinnamon but next time I would more grated lemon.
I’m so pleased, Vicky! Thanks so much for sharing your lovely feedback.
I love the lemon zest! x
I used King Arthur gluten-free 1 to 1 flour and added nutmeg and cloves. I substituted melted butter for oil. But I think the quantities are off. First, FOUR apples? I used three, organic so they weren’t that big, and I still had lots left over. The batter was so dry and sticky I added in a splash of milk and then cooked it for about an hour. It barely rose, and since the top is covered in apples I don’t see how it could be expected to do more. Possibly layering apples and alternating with dough might be better although almost impossible with this sticky texture. It’s ok, rather like eating a big gluey pancake, although my husband, who is easily pleased, loves it.
Hi! In the recipe I don’t mention substitutions like butter instead of vegetable oil or gluten-free flour instead of all-purpose flour.
I’m sorry, but if you’ve made your own changes and adjustments, you can’t complain about the actual recipe.
Have a nice weekend x
Good lord Janet, why so nasty? Based on your bitter personality though I do agree that your husband is easily pleased.
I thought I had left out some fluid in the recipe as the “batter” was thick like bread dough. The recipe was easy to follow. I would prefer a bit more flavor in the cake, loved the apple topping. Even my picky 4 y.o. Grandson liked it. I did cook for an additional 10 minutes, as my testing at 35 minutes showed very underdone. Took it out at 45 and then 50 minutes, as the apples were getting overdone / crisp. Used Costco nonfat plain Greek yogurt. Will try the Chobani full fat yogurt next time. New stove/oven, temp is spot on.
Thank you for your feedback, I’m very pleased to hear it turned out well! : )
Looks lovely, but still raw after extending the bake time. Bottom and sides cooked, top half still raw. What is cooked is very blah. Went back over the ingredients, thought maybe I missed something. Very dense!! Only thing I can think of is maybe I over mixed?
Hi! I’m sorry to hear it was partially raw, I’m trying to understand why. Apple cakes can be tricky sometimes, especially if they’re thick and packed with apples.
I don’t think we should blame the fact that you over mixed the batter, but a few other things can affect the result instead: 1) If the size of the pan is small, the batter is too dense and takes longer to cook in the middle. 2) If the measurement of the ingredients is not precise (that happens with cups), we end up with more or less flour than the recipe calls for. 3) If the we open the oven door often, the temperature drops and never gets right.
But thanks so much for your feedback, I’m going to test the recipe soon to share more tips for a perfect result. x
I had the same problem, the cake came out extremely dense and was more like the texture of a heavy bread than cake. I also had problems with the cooking time, after almost 1 hour the centre was still slightly undercooked. I used honey instead of granulated sugar so perhaps that caused the dense texture and cooking difficulties? The yoghurt I used was a full fat greek yoghurt so less liquid like. I was thinking that could have resulted in the dough being so dense and sticky too? I was excited to try a cake with yoghurt so I was quite disappointed at the result – could be my own baking techniques though!
Hi Lexi, the recipe calls for sugar and plain yogurt.
I don’t recommend swapping sugar for honey in a cake recipe, especially if the recipe calls for apples or other fruit that add moisture to the batter. I know that many people do it, but I’m never happy with the final texture. If you’d like to try a simple yogurt cake, you might give a go at my popular yogurt cake on the website, very easy to make and foolproof (but pls, use the ingredients listed in the recipe card ; ). Cheers x
Thanks for posting the measurements in grams, (even if they don’t scale up when you scale up the rest of the recipe). It makes it accessible for Europe too.
You’re very welcome! : )
I just made this cake for the second time with some adjustments. My fussy son liked it and I appreciate the orientation toward “healthier”. The first time I followed the recipe pretty closely. It took at least 10 minutes more than the 35-40 minutes to be fully baked. The apples on top were pretty crunchy. The cinnamon adds up to 3/4 teaspoon per my calculation: 1/4 on apples, 1/4 in cake, 1/4 on top (?). The second time I microwaved the apples for a minute to give them a jump on the cooking. I put a bit more of the apples into the actual cake. I sprinkled the top with sugar and cinnamon. I haven’t tried it yet but it seems to have cooked better and I’m sure will be tasty. Thanks for the recipe.
Thanks for taking the time to share your feedback, Mary! I’m pleased to hear you’re making this cake for the second time, I’m sure it will turn out great with your adjustments.
Cheers x
Do I really need yogurt? What’s an alternative?
Hi Lauren, sour cream works just fine if you don’t have yogurt.
Have a lovely weekend. x
It was so tasty! Everyone at home just loved it. There was a very thin layer right below the apples which din bake well I guess it’s because I did not press the apples well. But we still loved it and within a few min the entire cake was over : )
I’m so pleased to hear that, thank you for sharing your feedback! I think the thin layer was just wet, and I’m glad everyone loved it.
Have a lovely weekend. x
Beautiful, wonderful, delicious!! Just got done making this, used white spelt as all we had. Had no jam so sprinkled some brown sugar on the top.
It was delicious and looks beautiful too, I almost didn’t want to cut it! Everyone loves it, 3 year old, even my hard to please MIL went back for seconds.
Thank you for the recipe! Will be printing it out for safe keeping : )
HI Sarah, I’m so pleased to hear it turned out delicious and everyone loved it! Thanks a million for sharing your lovely feedback. x
Just made this cake for myself and some friends. It was amazing although did take a while to cook ( think i made it a bit too dense). Didn’t want the apple to burn so i covered it with foil for a bit at the end which helped cook the inside. topped it with ginger and feijoa jam and it was delicious. Also added a full teaspoon of cinnamon which was really yum. Definitely making this again.
I’m so pleased to hear it turned out delicious, Teagan! Thanks for sharing your lovely feedback.
Cheers, K.
Hi. I made this cake the first time per the recipe but added a few blueberries. It was wonderful! My mom, husband ,
, sister and brother in law loved it. The only real difference was that I used Monk fruit sweetener in place of sugar. I just made it again for a friend that had surgery and I used more blueberries this time. I also added the glaze with sugar free apricot preserves and made an extra cake fir us! I have not tried it yet but o expect it to be even better with the glaze! Thanks for sharing
I’m so pleased to hear that, Karen! Thanks for taking the time to share your lovely feedback, apples and blueberries sound delicious.
Cheers x
I’ll be honest. I am sure this is healthier than most cakes, but man it did not taste good. The whole wheat flour was a bit overpowering. I am a huge apple junky and I am not sure I can eat this one. It looked unbelievable but just didn’t deliver..
I’m sorry to hear you didn’t like, Sean. The whole wheat flour is definitely tastier than all-purpose flour, and it’s not for everyone. Thanks for your feedback. x
Hi. I made this recently and it came out perfectly. Mine was more rustic looking but it was delicious.I’ll definitely make this again.
Thanks for taking the time to share your lovely feedback, Arlene! I’m so pleased it came out perfectly. x
I used coconut instead of all purpose flour and it was a big mistake. If you’re reading this note you can’t substitute coconut flour on a 1:1 ratio for all-purpose flour.
Thanks for taking the time to leave your feedback and tips for other readers, hope you can give the recipe another try! 💛
As a none baker !!! I NEED all measurements as i have no clue how much to use, am i missing seeing measurements somewhere !?
Lorraine, the measurements are in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.x