Quick Apple Cake
Quick Apple Cake is a version of the Apple Dump Cake where the dry ingredients are layered with shredded apples before being baked together into a layer apple cake. This is the perfect fall coffee cake that’s quick, easy and tastes perfect with a cup of hot tea after on busy weeknight.
This Apple Cake is so easy to make that even someone with no baking experience whatsoever can pull it off. It might not win an award at a baking competition, but for the amount of effort it takes to make it, it’s perfect! It’s pretty simple, but sometimes that is all you need, something simple but good!
How’s the Quick Apple Cake Made
The baking method for this cake is pretty unique as the dry ingredients are just sprinkled between the layers of the shredded apples, then once in the oven the dry portion of the cake is combined with the juice from the apples, which creates “cake batter”. This created cake batter bakes into an actual soft cake layer within the Apple Dump Cake and you would never tell that the mixture in between the apples was just dry.
The shredded butter on top though melts and seeps through all layers of the cake as it hits the oven heat. This gives the top layer of the cake a good, slightly crispy, butter crust that also adds a nice nuttiness to the overall cake flavor.
Can the Apple Dump Cake be made in a rectangular form
The Apple Cake can be made in any baking form or dish, as long as you line it with parchment paper so the cake does not stick, or you can butter it for the same purpose.
The final height of the cake as written in the recipe (in an 8-inch round cake pan) is about 3 inches.
If you were to bake it in a 9″x12″ baking pan, the apple cake would be lower in height (more like apple cake bars). I wouldn’t make the cake with more than 3 dry layers and 2 apple layers for the 9″x12″.
Apple Dump Cake baking time for 9″x12″ baking pan
The baking time would need to be adjusted as it would not take more than about 35-40 minutes for it to cook through. When checking for doneness, you want the top to be uniform gold in color and puffed up in the middle.
Quick Apple Cake
Ingredients for the Apple Cake
It only takes couple of ingredients most of which you probably have at home. The only thing that you might not, is semolina (coarsely ground wheat flour). You can get it in most bulk sections of grocery stores.
It’s also good to mention that if you are allergic to eggs, this Apple Cake is for you as it contains no eggs.
How to make the Quick Apple Cake
There’s only several steps.
- Combine all dry ingredients.
- Shred the apples. Shred the frozen butter.
- Layer the dry ingredients with the shredded apples, starting and finishing with the dry layer. Sprinkle the shredded butter on top of the last dry layer.
- Bake at 350F for 50-60 minutes.
- Mix the powdered sugar and lemon juice and drizzle over the cooled cake.
Enjoy and check out these OTHER Apple Desserts!
Quick Apple Cake
Ingredients
Dry Apple Cake Ingredients
- 1 cup sugar, granulated
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup semolina (манная крупа)
- 1 tbsp baking powder
Topping for the Apple Dump Cake
- 4 oz butter, unsalted
Apple Cake Filling
- 9 apples, peeled
- 1 tsp cinnamon (optional)
- 1/4 cup caramel topping (optional)
Instructions
Prep for the Apple Dump Cake
-
Turn oven to 350F, with the baking rack in the middle.
Line the bottom and the sides of an 8-inch springform with parchment paper or foil. If lining with foil, spray with non-stick spray. Set aside. -
Whisk all ingredients for the Dry Cake mixture until well combined.
Layer the Apple Cake
-
Sprinkle 2/3 cup of the dry cake mixture on the bottom of the springform and spread it into an even layer.
On a large box-grater shred 3 apples on top of the dry mixture and press them into an even layer. Sprinkle with 1/3 tsp of cinnamon and a drizzle of caramel, if using (I did not use either).
Repeat this 2 more times, then finish with the remainder of the dry mixture on top.
-
Shred 4 oz of cold butter all over the top of the dry mixture.
-
Place in the oven and bake for about 1 hour. The top should be well browned and slightly puffed up in the middle.
If the top starts to brown before the cake is baked, tent the top with foil. -
Remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature, before cutting.
Make the Lemon Sugar Glaze
-
Mix 1 cup of powdered sugar with 2-3 tablespoons of lemon juice until smooth. Drizzle the cake with the lemon sugar glaze.
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I halved the recipe and put it into 3-4″ springform pans. It was amazing, and everyone loved it. Thanks for the recipe!
Thank you for sharing your feedback Jean! So glad you liked it!
Would you recommend making this the day of? Or is it just as good the next day?
I’m so intrigued! Hopefully I’ll have some time to bake this soon!
This was delicious! I was wary when I was layering because there was no actual batter, but it works out so well! Everything was moist and delicious and it tasted like a cool twist on an apple pie. My family was blown aware that there was manna in it!
really great and simple recipe! i did a mix of flours–1 c AP + 1 c cornmeal and it was delicious. i really love how the layers really show too! i think a gluten free mix would work equally well…
Thank you for sharing your feedback with us! Glad you enjoyed it!
I am now making this cake and will let us know how did it turn up to be…will also upload the finished work
The Cake turned up Fantastic and tastes even better…Instead of caramel sauce ( which I am not fond of), I put Marple Syrup just on the last apple layer. YUMMY and so easy to make recipe. Will be definitely sharing it with my friends.
I love anything with butter, but my granddaughter is a vegan. Can you suggest anything I could use in place of the butter?
I guess coconut oil would do the trick as long as she doesn’t mind the coconut flavor.
This cake is so easy to make and taste amazing… like a buttery apple pie. We ate it warm with vanilla ice cream….Everyone loves it, definitely making it again (today). Thank you for the beautiful recipe.
This is outrageously good! And ridiculously simple! A game changer, truly. I used up some “meh” homemade apple sauce along with fresh shredded apples. Yum!
That’s awesome feedback, Julie! Thank you!
I just made it and it turned up fantastic…The only thing different I have done is not drizzle the cake with Lemon Sugar Glaze because I personally don’t like it. We will have it with vanilla ice cream and custard or whipped cream. Cheers
Yum! Custard or whipped cream sounds good! Thank you for your comment and the star rating!
Marina this looks delicious!!! Cant wait to try it. Is there anything I can substitute for somolina? Im too lazy at the moment to hit the grocery store. is it the same thing as corn meal?
Thank you Marina!
I have not experimented with replacement to recommend anything 🙁
I do know that semolina is a wheat product, whereas cornmeal is made from corn, so they are pretty different.
Semolina is there to absorb the juice, and I think back in the day they would use either semolina or cookie/breadcrumbs but I am not sure if they’re interchangeable on this particular recipe.