The finest apple cake you’ve ever had is made with this raw apple cake recipe. Add 1/2 cup of nuts and 1/2 cup of raisins, if preferred.
| Prep Time: | 25 mins |
| Cook Time: | 45 mins |
| Additional Time: | 30 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 40 mins |
| Servings: | 24 |
| Yield: | 1 9×13-inch cake |
Ingredients
- ¾ cup vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
- 3 cups finely chopped Granny Smith apples
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups white sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
- 1 tablespoon milk, or more as needed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 pinch salt
- 2 ½ cups confectioners’ sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F(175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9×13-inch baking pan.
- Make the cake: Whisk oil and eggs together in a bowl. Place apples in a separate bowl, and pour oil-egg mixture over top. Let stand while mixing the dry ingredients.
- Whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a separate bowl. Gradually fold flour mixture into apple mixture; mix until batter is thick but well combined. Pour into the prepared pan.
- Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.
- While the cake is cooling, make the frosting: Beat cream cheese, 1 tablespoon milk, vanilla, and salt in a mixing bowl until well combined. Gradually beat in confectioners’ sugar, then continue to beat until smooth. Beat in additional milk, if needed, 1 tablespoon at a time, until frosting is desired consistency.
- Spread frosting over cooled cake.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 268 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 41 g |
| Cholesterol | 26 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 3 g |
| Saturated Fat | 3 g |
| Sodium | 236 mg |
| Sugars | 31 g |
| Fat | 11 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
batter was really dry, so I added 1/4 cup buttermilk.
This was so easy to make and got rave reviews from about a dozen high-schoolers AND my husband. Definitely a keeper!
Loved it used applesauce in place of oil. Added chopped walnuts to cake & frosting delish
This cake is delicious! Moist and full of flavor. The only change I would make is 1/2 cup less sugar, add some nuts, raisins or dried cranberries, and no frosting. I will definitely make again!
Okay, so I seriously had my doubts about this one because the batter was more like a chunky concoction, but this cake was SO good. I had a few apples I needed to get rid of, so I made it exactly as written except I used more apples (I wanted to use up what I had) and added about a 1/2 tsp of vanilla to the batter. Per other reviewers I upped the cinnamon to 1 tbsp and actually used 1/2 tbsp of pumpkin pie spice because I was out of nutmeg. I left out the icing because of personal preference. It was still amazing. Have faith…it definitely bakes up even though it looks like mostly apples when you pack it in the pan. It actually doesn’t even look like batter, but don’t fear. I had to bake about 55 minutes instead of 45, sprinkled some chopped pecans on top when I first put it in, and it’s delicious. I can’t wait to have another piece with my morning coffee.
I made it with wheat flour and added about 1/2 cup of water because it was so dry. It has a nice crunchy crust, no frosting necessary. I will make it again and add more apples next time
I made it with wheat flour and added about 1/2 cup of water because it was so dry. It has a nice crunchy crust, no frosting necessary. I will make it again and add more apples next time
I made them into muffins for easier freezing. They are delicious. I did add extra cinnamon just because I love it
I make this cake for potlucks and special occasions. LOVE IT! I substitute rum extract in the cream cheese icing. It really bring a out the cake.
I LOVE THIS! I’ve made the cake several times, and I keep making tweaks. I use melted butter instead of the oil; I add in more spices: ground ginger, cloves, allspice… about 1/2 tsp each. I add in 3/4 cups chopped pecans but skip the raisins. I also like to use natural sugars: Coconut sugar is delicious, and so is natural cane sugar. I use 1 cup each instead of white sugar. Like others have mentioned, the batter is ridiculously thick. In fact, it’s tough to get all the dry ingredients wet. But when it comes out of the oven it’s moist, chewy-crisp edges, and harvest-heaven. I’ve never made the frosting; a dollop of whipped cream is all it needs.
Great cake. I used apple sauce, since I usually do and didn’t frost with the cream cheese. Everyone loved it and I am going to make it again today. Thanks
Hi there, Ohhh thankyou for having this on line! My grandmother, then mother, then I have been baking this cake for ever! I like to use Brown sugar and Graventine apples. Truth is, you can change around the sugars, and use just about any apple. I tried it with peaches one year..OMG yummy! Thanks!
This cake is excellent! It has great flavour & a dense texture. Took it to work & it got raves. It definitely doesn’t need the frosting, but whipped cream or vanilla icecream would be a good choice if you’re serving this cake warm. I’ve been baking for over 40 yrs & I’ve never ever had a cake batter that was this thick! I literally had to mix it & press it into the pan with my bare hands! Weird but sooo tasty! I made the following minor changes to it: – used 1 c of whole wheat flour & 1 1/2 of white – used 1 c of brown sugar & 1 c of white – added 2 Tbsp ground flax seed – increased apples to 4 c
I have made this recipe a number of times, and it always disappears very quickly. I use half of the amount of sugar, and find it to be plenty sweet. I also have used various varieties of apples, with good results.
Love it with all the apple flavor and texture! Yum!
Fabulous! The cake was delicious. So good that I am going to make it again, something I rarely do. The frosting is not needed, and I think it would take away from the wonderful cake itself. I expected the cake to last about one week, but my family gobbled it up in a few days! This cake is a must!
This is easy and awesome! Great without frosting and with coffee.
had a distinct baking soda taste, which is not a good thing…
This was absolutely delicious. My family loved it. It was so moist and delicious. The only changes I made were that I substituted half the oil for applesauce, added a couple tablespoons of ground flax seed, and added 1/2 cup each of walnuts and raisins. This is definitely a keeper. Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe.
Holy cow this is delicious! Instead of finely chopping the red delicious apples (was out of Granny Smith), I chopped them coarsely and added them, with grapeseed oil, to a blender and got a coarse puree. Baked in a cast iron baking dish, which reduced the baking time a bit, and the cake came out light (i.e., not dense), incredibly flavorful, and moist. Instead of the icing, we served with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream, but the CC icing recipe reads like a standard. Definitely a keeper!
This is amazing! I usually don’t like apple cake (my mother in law makes some nasty gooey thing), but I loved this. It’s chewy on the top and moist in the middle. I didn’t have any nutmeg, so I added a bit more cinnamon instead. It smelled fantastic while it baked, and tasted fantastic fresh from the oven. I skipped the frosting and didn’t miss it. As everyone else has pointed out, the batter is VERY thick. Mixing it was a good workout for my arms! But, the apples will release so much juice while they bake that it all comes out perfect in the end. I sliced my apples in thin rings, then into chunks. They came out as little soft chunks, which makes for a great consistency. I’ll certainly be making this again many times.