Cinnamon Apple Cake (with a Cinnamon Roll Filling)

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This delicious Cinnamon apple cake is always a huge hit! It’s easy to make and your home will smell amazing.

A golden-baked Cinnamon Apple Cake on a white platter.

What makes this cake irresistible is the cinnamon roll filling, which, for the most part, sinks and caramelizes the base in the best possible way. It’s the perfect dessert to make ahead if you have friends coming over, since it’s even more flavorful the next day.

A slice of Cinnamon Apple Cake on a small white plate with a kitchen towel and a tealight in the background.

Serve it warm out of the oven, and top it with powdered sugar, vanilla ice cream, sour cream, or fruit compote.

❤️ Why You’ll Love Cinnamon Apple Cake

Easy recipe.
Extra moist and velvety.
Delicious cinnamon roll filling.
Start to finish in under 1 hour.

A golden-brown Cinnamon Apple Cake with a piece cut out of it.

Cinnamon Apple Cake Ingredients

Please be sure to scroll down to the recipe card below for the complete details!

Ingredients for Cinnamon Apple Cake, featuring bowls or cane sugar, vanilla paste, eggs, butter, plain flour, baking powder, and apples.

Eggs: Medium or large eggs.
Butter: I use salted butter, but unsalted butter is fine, too.
Plain flour: All-purpose flour. No need to sieve.
Apples: Choose fresh apples that are firm and crisp such as Pink Lady, Braeburn, Fuji, Honeycrisp, or Granny Smith apples.
Cane sugar: To sweeten. We aren’t going overboard here as we’ve got the filling, too.
Vanilla paste: Or vanilla extract.
Baking powder: To give a slight rise.

Three labeled bowls with brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter are arranged on a gray surface.

Ingredients for the filling: Dark brown sugar, cinnamon and butter.

How to Make a Cinnamon Apple Cake

A hand holds a metal bowl while an electric mixer blends a creamy Cinnamon Apple Cake batter inside.

Whisk egg, sugar, and vanilla for two minutes until light and fluffy.

A person pours melted butter and flour into a bowl of Cinnamon Apple Cake batter on a countertop.

Mix in half the melted butter and half the flour to the batter.

A hand uses a whisk to mix flour into a yellow batter for Cinnamon Apple Cake in a white bowl, with a kitchen towel partially visible in the corner.

Whisk in the remaining butter and flour until just incorporated.

Unbaked Cinnamon Apple Cake batter with visible apple chunks in a round baking pan lined with parchment paper.

Add the diced apples. Pour the batter into a lined or greased baking tin.

A round baking dish lined with parchment paper contains pale yellow batter with uneven chunks of brown sugar filling scattered on top, ready to become a delicious Cinnamon Apple Cake.

Mix soft butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar and dollop the filling onto the top of the cake. Bake at 170°C (338°F) fan for around 43-45 minutes until golden.

Tips for Success

Test the cake for doneness with a toothpick around the 40 minute mark.
Dollop the filling onto the top. Most of it will sink and caramelize the bottom. Yum.
Do not overmix the flour (only until there are no visible streaks).
The cake is even better the next day, so you can definitely make it ahead.

Possible Variations

Apples: Double the amount of apples for even more apple flavor or try shredding it for a different consistency. Swap for pear, nectarine, plum, figs, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, or plums.
Filling: Try a dusting of cinnamon sugar after the cake has baked.
Add-ins: Walnuts, almonds, chocolate chips, or a pinch of sea salt.
Presentation: Arrange apple slices on top of the cake and filling.
Top with a glaze: For extra cinnamon roll taste, mix a few tablespoons of powdered sugar with a bit of milk (add a tiny bit at a time till you have the consistency you like). Spoon it on top when the cake is cool.

Best Served with

Ice cream.
Whipped cream.
Mascarpone cream.
Sour cream.
Powdered sugar.
Caramel sauce.

Recipe Tip

Top the cake with a cinnamon roll glaze. Simply mix three heaped tablespoons powdered sugar with a tablespoon of milk. Spoon it over the cooled cake.

How to Store Leftovers

Wrap up the cake or transfer it to a container, and keep it at room temperature for 1-2 days, or the fridge for 3-4 days.

FAQs

My oven doesn’t have a fan setting. What temperature should I use?

190°C (374°F) in a regular conventional oven.

How will I know the cake is done?

It will be golden with no wobble, and a toothpick will come out clean.

Why add the filling on top?

This gives that delicious cinnamon roll flavor and will mostly sink to the bottom and caramelize the base.

More Baking

Desserts

Recipe at a Glance

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes
Servings: 8 people

Cinnamon Apple Cake