Apple Spice Cake
This isn’t just a warmly spiced dessert, it’s the whole reason fall exists. This Apple Spice Cake is studded with tender fruit and layered with cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Once the cake is finished the slices of cake are served with a drizzle of caramel that turns it from a good cake into a stellar fall dessert.
This is a classic spiced apple cake, dense and moist thanks to sour cream and oil in the batter, packed with diced fresh apples in every slice, and baked in a 9×13 pan so it’s easy to cut and serve a crowd. A finishing drizzle of caramel syrup over each slice adds a little extra richness without turning it into a fussy dessert.
This is the cake to make when you want something that feels like fall without requiring a special occasion. It travels well for potlucks and gatherings, it’s easy to cut into squares for a crowd, and it uses simple pantry spices to get a deeply cozy flavor without any complicated technique.
Best Apples For Baking
I have a whole post on the best apples for baking and you can read the post for more details. But for this cake post I’ll condense it to this: the best apples for baking are apples that are firm and crisp. Honeycrisp and Granny Smith are use in a lot of baking recipes and this cake is no different.
What You Need For This Apple Spice Cake
The apples should be peeled and diced into small, even pieces so they distribute through the batter and cook through evenly rather than leaving big raw chunks. Sour cream is what keeps this cake moist for days, don’t substitute a leaner dairy or the texture will suffer.
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Ground cinnamon
- Ground nutmeg
- Ground cloves
- Salt
- Unsalted butter
- Vegetable oil
- Granulated sugar
- Brown sugar
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Sour cream
- Apples
- Caramel syrup (for serving)
You will also need:
- 9×13 baking pan
- medium bowl
- large mixing bow
- a hand or stand mixer
- toothpick (for testing doneness)
For the caramel syrup pick a nice caramel from the ice cream topping section of the grocery store. You can also use my Salted Caramel Sauce if you want to make your own. Adjust the salt in the sauce to taste best with the cake.
Got Leftovers?
Store covered at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in the refrigerator for up to five days. This cake tastes best at room temperature so let it warm up after storing it in the fridge.
Apple Spice Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar packed
- 3 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup sour cream
- 2 cups apples peeled and diced (Granny Smith or Honeycrisp work well)
- 1 cup caramel syrup for serving
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking pan or line it with parchment paper
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter, oil, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until light and creamy
- Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition, then stir in the vanilla
- Mix in the sour cream until smooth
- Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, stirring just until combined
- Fold in the diced apples evenly
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread it out evenly
- Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean
- Let the cake cool before slicing and serving with the caramel syrup
