Eplekake (Norwegian Apple Cake)

Eplekake is a delicious, one-bowl cinnamon apple cake that is the kind of thing fall dreams are made of! Impossibly moist cake, deliciously spiced apples and a crisp almond crunch - This Norwegian classic is sure to be a new favorite.

We're nearing fall in Norway's fjords and that always meant one thing: Apples. All of the apples.

And, just to be clear, I'm not saying that's a bad thing. In fact, I'm pretty sure it's one of life's best kinds of problems.

Like the year a co-worker gifted me 20lbs of apples and I made ALL the apple sauce.

But today, we're celebrating fall in classic Norwegian style with this spiced cinnamon apple cake.

Ingredients

This is a relatively easy recipe to make that calls for just a handful of pantry staples.

I've included a few pointers on a handful of ingredients below. You can find the full list of ingredients and their corresponding measurements in the recipe card.

• Apples: The best apples for an eplekake are ones that are firm and will withstand baking. For this cake, I prefer Honeycrisp for the added sweetness.
• Almonds: I like to coarsely chop slivered almonds for this cake, but sliced also works well.
• Unsalted butter: Since we'll be adding our own salt to the batter, we don't need extra salt in the butter.
• Baking powder: Because this batter contains little to no acids, we're using baking powder instead of baking soda.

All cold ingredients should be brought to room temperature to ensure even distribution in the batter.

How to make eplekake

First, prepare the apples.

Peel and slice the apples so they're no more than ¼" thick at their thickest. The number of apples you'll need will depend on how close together you plan to place them; For the pattern you see above, I used about 2 ½ apples.

Second, make the cake batter.

In a bowl, beat the room-temperature butter until smooth. Add the granulated sugar and beat on medium to cream (about 2-3 minutes).

Why do we cream the butter and sugar, and how do we know when it’s ready? Creaming these two ingredients together allows the sugar to aerate the butter, which is important for an otherwise dense cake like eplekake. Properly creamed butter is light, fluffy, and doesn’t cling to the sides of the bowl.

With your mixer on low, add the eggs one at a time, beating between each new addition until just combined. It's important that the eggs are at room temperature for this recipe so the butter doesn't cool and seize.

Add the remaining ingredients and mix on low until combined.

Note: Don't worry, there's no typo in the ingredient list - This cake is, in fact, traditionally made without milk. And I promise you won't miss it, either!

Spoon the batter into a greased and parchment paper lined round 9" cake pan.

Finally, finish assembling the cake and bake it.

Arrange the apples on top of the cake in whatever pattern you'd like.

In a small bowl, combine the cinnamon and sugar for the topping. Sprinkle over the cake and top with the coarsely chopped almonds.

Bake at 350F for one hour to one hour and 10 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool before removing the cake from the pan.

Expert tips

• Softening refrigerated butter: If you didn't have time to bring your butter to room temperature, you can cut it into ½ tablespoon squares, place the squares on a plate and microwave it using 5-second increments until it’s softened.
• Creaming the butter and sugar: To make sure the butter is properly creamed but not overworked, beat the butter and sugar on a medium speed for 2-3 minutes, or until light and fluffy.
• Bringing cold eggs to room temperature quickly: If you need to bring your eggs to room temperature quickly for this recipe, fill a bowl with hot water from your tap and place the eggs in it for about 5 minutes.
• Square cake alternative: If you'd prefer to make this as a square cake, you can use an 8"x8" square pan and bake it for roughly the same amount of time.

Storage

Eplekake can be kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator and is best when eaten within 2-3 days.

Frequently asked questions

More fall cakes

Did you make this recipe? Please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below! I regularly update these posts and feedback from wonderful readers like you help me make them better.