Super Moist Apple Cake

I have finally found my “go-to” apple cake. I have long searched for just the right apple cake. It has to have enough apples that it has a great apple taste, it has to be moist, it has to be substantial, and it has to be sweet enough to be a dessert but not too sweet so it can serve as a breakfast pastry. This cake fulfills all of that. I know that this is a cake I will make many more times.

This cake is fast to make, easy to put together, and couldn’t taste better. The preparation took about 25 minutes from the time I started until I popped it in the oven. My favorite apple is Honeycrisp, so that is the apple I chose. It was a good choice with plenty of flavors and it stood up well to the cooking.

The first time I served the cake, it was as a dessert. After that, we had it for breakfast or an afternoon snack. We ate the cake for over 6 days and enjoyed it each day. I found little change in taste or texture over that time. This is a substantial cake and would easily feed 8 to 10 people.

This super moist apple cake was a great way to use the abundance of apples in the fall. Delicious warm, room temperature, and cool, this cake was a perfect breakfast, dessert, and snack. The tempting cinnamon-y goodness made it difficult to resist at any time of the day.

I recommend overlapping the concentric circles of apples by quite a bit to make sure that the entire surface of the cake will be covered as it bakes and shifts for optimal apple coverage. I used a combination of Stayman and Mutsu apples, as these were the baking apples available at my farm market, and I liked having the combination of 2 different apple flavors on my cake. I will definitely mix and match next time I make this as well.

Sometimes a recipe title doesn’t really tell you everything, but in the case of the super moist apple cake, it sure does. The cake was super moist and topped with layers of delicious apples. It’s one of those cakes that’s pretty dense, which often equals dry. But again, as the name implies, this cake is super moist.

The “moisture” held pretty well through the several days it took us to finish it, which was nice. Of course, to get that super moistness requires a lot of rich ingredients, so it’s also super-rich. Not super sweet, but definitely super-rich.

The cake was really good. It was very moist and had a wonderful flavor. This was a fairly easy recipe to make.

I started with 3 Granny Smith apples but I only could fit a little more than 2 of the apples in concentric circles on the cake. I wished I had used all the apples because tasters really wanted more of the apple topping. Maybe pressing the apples a bit into the cake and then adding another layer of them before adding the cinnamon sugar topping would be a good idea.

I refrigerated it overnight and had to have a piece for breakfast! The cake was a tiny bit denser but not in a bad way. It was still delicious. I am going to freeze the rest and see how that works.

Although the cake was tasty on its own, the addition of whipped cream on the side would really take it to the next level.

I made this super moist apple cake late Saturday evening. We served it at a friends’ house for Sunday afternoon dessert and I had the last delicious slice of it on Wednesday morning with coffee. So, yes, this is definitely a cake that is delicious, tender but dense (love that!), and keeps very well for several days at room temperature covered on my cake stand. For a guy like me who loves these types of cakes (dense rather than fluffy, unadorned rather than frosted, rich, and with some fruit inclusions), this recipe is a keeper.

I was very curious about the cream poured on top pre-baking and it’s a lovely new trick. It works with the sugar and apples to cook the apples before most of the liquid evaporates, leaving a lovely layer of caramelized apple cream topping.

I used Gala apples. I opted for about 1/4 inch thick slices. The problem is sliced that thin you will need to layer the apples in 2 or more layers to use them all up. I ended up with 2 layers of apples. It worked well but I think I might slice them a little bit thicker next time, maybe 1/3 inch or so.

I ended up baking it close to 1 1/2 hours to get it sufficiently cooked in the middle, the apples soft, and the cream and sugar topping set. The cooking time made for a perfectly baked cake, great color that looks like the picture, and edges that are deep golden brown and not burnt. So go for at least 1 hour before checking on it.

I noticed very little texture difference between the first slice and the last one 3 days later. I kept it covered on my cake stand at room temperature and that worked very well.

Super moist is an apt descriptor for this lovely apple cake. The vanilla flavor and moist crumb make an excellent base for a fantastic apple and cinnamon top!

I did not have a 10-inch springform pan but was able to use my 9-inch with an additional 20 minutes of baking time. Next time, my 10 inch-cast iron will do the job. We enjoyed this over 3 days, with the cake maintaining its perfection. I made a bit of cinnamon sugar whipped cream to top it with. Magnificent!