This delicious, one bowl cinnamon apple cake is the 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.
Here’s how to make this cake
First, prepare the apples.
Peel and slice the apples so they’re no more than 1/4″ thick at their thickest. The amount of apple you’ll need will depend on how closely together you plan to place them; For the pattern you see above, I used about 2 1/2 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 this one. Properly creamed butter is light, fluffy and doesn’t cling to the sides of the bowl. If you’re new to baking and want to learn more, check out this article on creaming butter and sugar by King Arthur.
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 a 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 1/2 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: This cake can be kept in an air tight container in the refrigerator and is best when eaten within 2-3 days.
Frequently asked questions
The best apples for apple cakes are ones that are firm and will withstand baking. Sweetness can vary depending on the amount of other sweeteners being added to the cake; Because this cake is on the less sweet side, I used a sweeter apple (Honeycrisp). Good apple options include Pink Lady and Braeburn.
While best when eaten within 2-3 days, apple cake can often keep up to 5 days in the refrigerator.
Did you make this recipe? I’d love to hear how it went in the comments below. Better still, snap a photo and tag it on Instagram with #thesimplesweetlife. I love seeing your creations!
PrintEasy Norwegian Apple Cake (Eplekake)
This delicious, one bowl cinnamon apple cake is the 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.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Norwegian
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 eggs, at room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
For the topping:
- 2–3 large apples
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup almonds, coarsely chopped
Instructions
- Peel and thinly slice apples.
- In a bowl, beat the butter until smooth.
- Cream the butter with the sugar.
- With the mixer on low, add the eggs one at a time, beating until just combined.
- Add the remaining ingredients, mixing on low until combined.
- Spoon the batter into a greased and parchment paper lined 9″ round cake pan.
- Arrange apples on top of the batter.
- In a small bowl, stir together the cinnamon and sugar.
- Sprinkle over the cake and top with almonds.
- Bake at 350F for one hour to one hour 10 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Allow to cool before removing the cake from the pan.
Notes
- Softening refrigerated butter: If you didn’t have time to bring your butter to room temperature, you can cut it into 1/2 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: This cake can be kept in an air tight container in the refrigerator and is best when eaten within 2-3 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 285
- Sugar: 22.8g
- Sodium: 195mg
- Fat: 14.2g
- Saturated Fat: 7.8g
- Carbohydrates: 37.6g
- Fiber: 2.3g
- Protein: 3.8g
- Cholesterol: 71mg
Keywords: norwegian apple cake, apple cake recipe, spiced apple cake
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I really need to try this!
★★★★★
I just made this and it turned out beautifully! I did make a few changes, using a square pan and dicing the apples instead of arranging the sliced ones. It turned out great and is the perfect companion to a cup of coffee after dinner.
★★★★★