Old-Fashioned Apple Cake

4.93 from 53 ratings

Old-Fashioned Apple Cake

This old-fashioned apple cake is made with loads of fresh apples, crunchy walnuts, and frosted with a cream cheese frosting! It’s a tried-and-true family recipe that you’re sure to love!!

Prep Time15

Cook Time1

Additional Time20

Total Time1 35

Course: Cakes

Cuisine: American

Servings: 16

Calories: 515kcal

Author: Chelsey White

Ingredients

Apple Cake Recipe

2 cups granulated sugar 400g
1 cup vegetable or canola oil 225g
3 large eggs, room temperature 168g
2 cups all-purpose flour 250g
2 tsp ground cinnamon 8g
1 tsp baking soda 6g
1/2 tsp fine salt 2g
1 cup chopped walnuts 125g
4-5 granny smith or honeycrisp apples, peeled and cut into 1 cm cubes 585g

Cream Cheese Frosting

1/2 cup cream cheese, room temperature 113g
1/2 cup salted butter, room temperature 113g
1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste 4g
2 cups powdered sugar 250g

Instructions

Apple Cake:

Preheat oven to 350 F/175 C, and line and grease 3, 6-inch or 2 8-inch cake pans.
Add 2 cups of granulated sugar and 1 cup vegetable oil into a large bowl. Whisk together until incorporated.
Next, mix in 3 eggs until combined.
In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together 2 cups all-purpose flour, 2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 tsp baking soda, and 1/2 tsp salt.
Add half of the dry ingredients and 1 cup of chopped walnuts into the wet ingredients. Mix together with a rubber spatula.
Mix in the remaining half of the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
Fold in the cubed apples into the batter with a rubber spatula.
Pour into the prepared cake pans and bake for 55-60 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs.
Place the pans on a wire rack to cool fully.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

Beat together 1/2 cup of room temperature cream cheese and 1/2 cup of butter with a hand mixer or whisk attachment of a stand mixer.
Add in 1 tsp vanilla extract and mix on a low speed.
Mix in 2 cups powdered sugar on a low speed until combined. Cover and set aside.

Assembling This Old-Fashioned Apple Cake:

Once the cake layers are fully cooled, assemble this old-fashioned apple cake by frosting and stacking the cake layers with the cream cheese frosting.
Cover the outside of the cake with the remaining cream cheese frosting.
If desired, use a spoon to make some swooshes around the cake.

Video

Notes

My Tips for Making the Best Old-Fashioned Apple Cake:

Note from the family: you can add an additional egg if you want! They sometimes do to make the texture a bit lighter.
Be sure to peel and cut your apples into uniformly sized pieces so that they bake evenly in the oven. Aim for 1 cm cubes.
Use tart apples like a granny smith or honeycrisp that bake up well.
Make this cake in advance! The recipe card says it’s best the 2nd day.
I added a touch of salt to this recipe (based on my preference), but the original recipe doesn't call for any.

Nutrition