Easy 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.

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

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!

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If you liked this recipe, you might also like…

• Suksessterte (Norwegian Success Cake)
• Bourbon Butterscotch Apple Pie
• Bløtkake (Norwegian Cream Cake)