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Every first Sunday of October my mother made a fresh apple cake, and the first time I made it alone I called her halfway through to confess that I had ruined it. The batter had gone so thick I could stand the wooden spoon up in the middle of the bowl. She laughed and told me to put it in the oven. She was right. It came out the way it always did, dark gold, heavy with apples, so moist it nearly glistened, and the whole house smelled of cinnamon until bedtime.
This is not an apple cake with a few slices arranged on top. It is more apples than batter. The apples are peeled and chopped into small pieces, three full cups of them, and folded into a batter made with oil instead of butter and no milk at all. That is why it looks wrong in the bowl. The batter is really just enough flour, sugar and egg to hold the apples together. In the oven the fruit softens and releases its juice into the crumb, and the cake ends up more tender than any batter you could pour. Then, while it is still hot, a boiled glaze of butter, brown sugar and milk goes over the top and sinks in.
Why this fresh apple cake works
- Oil, not butter. Oil keeps the crumb soft and moist for days, even straight from a cool kitchen. A butter cake firms up; this one does not.
- No milk in the batter. The apples supply all the liquid. Add milk and the cake turns gummy around the fruit.
- Chopped apples, not sliced. Small pieces spread through every bite and cook through in the time the cake bakes.
- Mixed by hand. A mixer overworks the flour and tears the apples. A wooden spoon and a little effort keep it tender.
- Glaze on a hot cake. Poured over the cake straight from the oven, the brown sugar glaze soaks down instead of sitting on top.
Ingredients
Makes one 9x13 inch cake, about 16 generous squares. The measurements are in US cups with grams in brackets.
For the cake
- 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil (295ml)
- 2 cups granulated sugar (400g)
- 3 large eggs
- 3 cups all-purpose flour (375g)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon fine salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 cups peeled and chopped apples (about 3 large apples, 375g chopped)
- 1 cup chopped pecans (115g)
For the brown sugar glaze
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter (113g)
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar (200g)
- 1/4 cup whole milk (60ml)
Use firm apples that hold their shape and carry some tartness: Granny Smith, Jonathan, Rome or a mix. Chop them into pieces about the size of a pecan half.
How to make fresh apple cake
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees (175°C). Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.
- In a large bowl, stir together the oil, sugar and eggs with a wooden spoon until smooth and well blended.
- In another bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Stir the dry ingredients into the oil mixture along with the vanilla. The batter will be very stiff, almost like cookie dough. That is correct.
- Fold in the chopped apples and pecans. It takes some arm work to get the fruit evenly through such a thick batter. Keep going until there are no dry patches.
- Spread the batter into the pan. Wet your fingers with cold water and press it out into the corners and level the top.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes, until the top is deep golden and a toothpick in the center comes out with moist crumbs but no wet batter.
- While the cake bakes, make the glaze: put the butter, brown sugar and milk in a small saucepan over medium heat, bring it to a boil, and boil for 2 minutes, stirring.
- As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, poke it all over with a fork and pour the hot glaze evenly over the top. Let it cool in the pan at least 30 minutes before cutting.
Tips that make the difference
- Do not thin the batter. The stiffness is what keeps the apples suspended instead of sinking to the bottom.
- Chop the apples last, just before folding them in, so they do not brown or weep in the bowl.
- Toast the pecans for 6 to 8 minutes on a dry sheet pan before chopping for a deeper, nuttier cake.
- Pour the glaze while both the cake and the glaze are hot. Cold cake and hot glaze, or the other way round, leaves a sticky layer on top.
Variations
- Tube cake. Bake it in a greased and floured 10 inch tube pan at 325 degrees for about 1 hour 15 minutes, then turn it out and spoon the glaze over.
- Walnut. Use walnuts in place of the pecans, the way the cake is made further north.
- Raisins. Fold in 1/2 cup raisins with the apples for the old community cookbook version my aunt made, softer and sweeter.
- Spiced. Add 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg and 1/4 teaspoon cloves with the cinnamon for a darker, more autumn-tasting cake.
Storage and make-ahead
Keep the cake in its pan, covered with a clean kitchen towel or loosely with foil, at room temperature for up to 3 days. It is better on the second day, when the glaze has worked all the way down. Plastic wrap traps moisture and turns the top sticky.
For longer keeping, refrigerate covered for up to a week and let squares come to room temperature before serving.
It freezes well: wrap cut squares in plastic and foil and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw on the counter, still wrapped.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my fresh apple cake batter so thick?
Because it is supposed to be. There is no milk in the recipe; the three cups of apples supply the moisture as the cake bakes. If the batter looks like cookie dough, you have done it right.
Do I have to peel the apples?
My mother always did, because the peels turn tough and curl in the crumb. You can leave them on for a more rustic cake, but chop them small.
Can I use a mixer?
Use it only for the oil, sugar and eggs if you like. Stir the flour and the apples in by hand so the cake stays tender and the apple pieces stay whole.
Can I skip the glaze?
Yes. The cake is moist enough to stand alone, and some families dust it with powdered sugar instead. But the glaze is what makes it taste like a Sunday.
If the batter looks wrong, you did it right. Put it in the oven, make the glaze, and let October do the rest.
Fresh Apple Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze (More Apples Than Batter)
The old-fashioned Southern fresh apple cake: three cups of chopped apples and a cup of pecans in a thick oil batter stirred by hand, baked in a 9x13 pan at 350 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes, with a boiled brown sugar glaze poured over the hot cake.
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon fine salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 cups peeled and chopped apples
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup whole milk
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees (175°C). Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.
- In a large bowl, stir together the oil, sugar and eggs with a wooden spoon until smooth and well blended.
- In another bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Stir the dry ingredients into the oil mixture along with the vanilla. The batter will be very stiff, almost like cookie dough. That is correct.
- Fold in the chopped apples and pecans. It takes some arm work to get the fruit evenly through such a thick batter. Keep going until there are no dry patches.
- Spread the batter into the pan. Wet your fingers with cold water and press it out into the corners and level the top.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes, until the top is deep golden and a toothpick in the center comes out with moist crumbs but no wet batter.
- While the cake bakes, make the glaze: put the butter, brown sugar and milk in a small saucepan over medium heat, bring it to a boil, and boil for 2 minutes, stirring.
- As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, poke it all over with a fork and pour the hot glaze evenly over the top. Let it cool in the pan at least 30 minutes before cutting.
