I realize how confusing this must sound. Is it a pie? Is it a cake? Make up your mind, RecipeGirl! It was tough for me to decide, really. In this recipe, a cake batter is poured in and around the apples to hold it all together in the consistency of a cake, but there are so many apples involved that it can officially pass for a pie too. So here you go: Cinnamon Apple Pie Cake
The recipe is one that I spotted while reading through one of the cookbooks I have on my shelf: Monday Morning Cooking Club. I’ve now been making it for many years!
Here’s a description from Amazon:
In 2006, a group of Jewish women began meeting every Monday morning. They cooked, ate, drank endless cups of tea and – often heatedly – discussed the merits of different recipes. After just a few weekly meetings, the Monday Morning Cooking Club was born. Five years and hundreds of dishes later, six members of the sisterhood handpicked their favourite recipes to go into their book – the result is a generous, rich and inspiring cookbook featuring the best, most treasured recipes from a culturally diverse community. Each recipe begins with a short story of the cook and their history of the dish, and these stories, interwoven with amazing recipes, take the reader on a heartwarming and delicious journey through a community who finds a deep connection through food and the memory of generations that have gone before.
It’s a rather interesting cookbook indeed. The authors are from Australia, so it’s fascinating to read the stories that go along with the recipes. Some of the recipes have some out-of-the-ordinary ingredients, so it’s not one that I’d cook from every day… but it’s a great one to buy if you’re a cookbook collector. Other recipes I’m eager to try: (there are actually a LOT): Plumb Cake, Souffle Pancakes, Chocolate Bread and Butter Pudding, Custard Chiffon Cake, Israeli Couscous Soup, South African Cheesecake, Morroccan Fish, Chicken and Barley Soup, Chicken Paprikash, and Challah From Heaven. There are a lot of neat things included in the book that you don’t typically see here in America. It’s a great way to get exposed to some new food.
How to make an Apple Pie Cake:
You need a springform pan (like the kind you make cheesecake with). Apple slices are scattered around the bottom.
They’re piled and piled until you almost reach the top.
The apples get a sprinkling of cinnamon-sugar.
A cake batter is poured on top of the cinnamon apples.
Let the cake batter drizzle down and around the apples, and give the pan a few taps on the counter to settle it all in there.
The batter gets a generous sprinkling of cinnamon- sugar too.
Take a quick peek into the inside of the pie- cake and you can see my dilemma. It sure looks like a cake, but it’s so full of apples that it can pass for a pie too! I love this recipe. It’s really different than any apple pies or apple cakes I have made before, and it’s always a hit to serve to guests. Interestingly enough, the author of this recipe refers to this as her husband’s “favorite cake” in the introduction to the recipe, but she named the recipe “Cinnamon and Apple Pie.” Clearly, everyone is confused!
Here are a few more apple cake recipes you might enjoy:
- Chopped Apple Cake with Sticky Toffee Topping
- Caramel Apple Upside Down Cake
- Cinnamon Apple Cake
- Apple Topped Cream Cheese Coffee Cake
- Apple Cinnamon Upside Down Cake
Cinnamon Apple Pie Cake
Ingredients
PIE- CAKE:
- 6 to 8 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled and thinly sliced
- 1¼ tablespoons granulated white sugar
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3 large eggs
- 1½ cups superfine white sugar (see NOTES below)
- ¾ cup vegetable or canola oil
- ¾ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1½ cups all purpose flour
TOPPING:
- 1¼ tablespoons granulated white sugar
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350℉. Spray a 9½ to 10-inch springform pan with nonstick spray. Line the bottom with a round of parchment paper and then spray again.
- Layer the apple slices in the pan until they come about ⅔ of the way up the side. (I went a little higher than that and it worked out fine). Sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar over the apples.
- Prepare the batter by beating the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the oil, applesauce and vanilla and beat well, then stir in the flour. Pour the batter on top of the apples, and sprinkle with additional cinnamon-sugar on top. Tap the pan on the counter a few times to allow the batter to sink down and around the apples.
- Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool *completely* in the pan. If you try to remove the cake from the pan while it is still warm, it will tend to break apart. I refrigerated my cake before slicing, and that worked out well. Serve slices with ice cream (warm individual slices in the microwave, if desired).
Notes
- You want “caster sugar” for this recipe: It is a finer grind than table sugar, but not as fine as powdered. Look for “Baker’s Sugar” at the store, or simply put regular white sugar in your food processor and give it a few whirls to create superfine sugar.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Do I HAVE to use a springform pan??
It’s easiest to use a springform pan because it’s a very heavy, dense cake. But if you read through the comments, you may find suggestions from others who tried baking it in alternate pans.
I am not the best of cooks, but I made this & not only did it turn out, it is heavenly. I made it, had some slightly warm with coffee for breakfast, then mid morning as a snack, some with lunch & some after dinner with ice cream. Biggest mistake will be, I do not think any of it will live to see the morning sun………..do I dare make another one tomorrow? :>)
I’m so happy you enjoyed it!
wow this looks so god that if it wasn’t so late I’d make it right now
Looks great! I was wondering what you thought about using butter instead of oil and/or a combination of butter and yogurt or applesauce to cut some of the fat and calories. Thanks!
If you read through some of the comments, someone mentioned using some applesauce in there.
Thank you so much for this recipe! My family loved it! It looks just like the photo, and is so much easier than making an applie pie. Delicious and easy!
Am trying this recipe today and also added some apple juice to the cake batter to moisten abit more…hope that additional ingredient doesn’t affect your already yummy recipe!!!
Thank you for sharing!!! It’s a great dessert on a cool day!!
🙂
Made this yesterday and it was absolutely delicious. I used 2 Fuji apples and 4 Golden Delicious because I don’t like to cook with tart apples. Also used a tube pan. I didn’t let it cool all the way but was very careful taking out each serving. It was so good warm. Thank you.
HI LORI-I Just wanted to let you know that everyone who tried this recipe RAVED ABOUT FOR DAYS AFTER and couldnt believe there was NO CRUST on this PIE OR CAKE. They want me to make another one soon but I said I have other recipes to try. They said when do they get to try more? I told them I dont know them long enough to share more of your recipes. LOL LOL Ill surprise them if any leftovers from TKSGV. I do want to try the caramel apple pie. Tks
I substituted 1/2 of the oil with applesauce. I also cut back on the sugar to 1 cup. This was excellent. I will be taking this to my cooking club this month. Thanks for this great recipe!
Been eying this recipe for a month. No spring form pan on hand dang! Going to try it now with a regular cake pan. Can’t be that bad right? Also this super fine sugar. Looked in 5 different stores for it and found nothing. Does it really matter? Thanks.
I didn’t have it either- just gave the regular sugar a few whirls in my blender/food processor to make it a little finer.