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My Grandma's Fresh Apple Cake is the most delicious spiced cake loaded with grated apples and finished with a simple caramel sauce poured over the top. It's the fall dessert my family requests on repeat every single year.
Grandma's Special Apple Cake
This Apple Cake is one of my most treasured family recipes on this site. I love how food can link us with loved ones who have passed on.
You will love how easy this is to make–like no peeling the apples– just grate them skin-on, right into the batter. You can also use whatever apples are in your fridge, allowing you to make it practically anytime. Also, the caramel sauce is a non-negotiable! I can't wait for you to try this delicious apple cake recipe.
Take advantage of my recipes for apple season and try my Apple Crisp, Applesauce, Apple Pie, Baked Apples, Apple Crisp, Caramel Apples, and Apple Coffee Cake!
How to make Fresh Apple Cake:
Caramel Sauce (make ahead): You can use your favorite high quality store-bought sauce, but I recommend saving the money and making your own. It tastes better and is so easy and affordable. Just combine all caramel sauce ingredients in a glass bowl. Bring a couple inches of water to a boil in a small saucepan and place the glass bowl on top (or use a double broiler). Let the sauce simmer, stirring occasionally for one hour – that's it! Keeps in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Make Batter: Cream the butter and sugar, mix in the eggs, then stir in the grated apple. In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients, then fold into the wet ingredients until just combined.
Bake: Pour the batter into a greased 9×13 inch pan and bake at 350 degrees F for 45 to 60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Serve: Let the cake cool for at least 10 minutes, then serve warm with the caramel sauce and whipped cream.
Apple Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup butter, , room temperature
- 2 large eggs
- 6 small/medium apples*, , grated with peel on (discard the core)
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
- 1 cup chopped walnuts, , optional
Caramel Sauce:
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
Instructions
- Easy Caramel Sauce (can be made ahead): Place all caramel sauce ingredients in a large glass bowl and stir to combine. Fill a saucepan with about 2 inches of water and bring it to a boil. Turn it to a low simmer. Set glass bowl over the saucepan (or use a double boiler) and simmer the sauce, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour. Pour into a jar and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.1 cup heavy whipping cream, ½ cup light brown sugar, ½ cup granulated sugar
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Wet ingredients: In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until well blended. Add the eggs and mix well. Stir in the big pile of freshly grated apple.2 cups granulated sugar, 1 cup butter, 2 large eggs, 6 small/medium apples*
- Dry ingredients: In a separate bowl, mix together the dry ingredients.2 teaspoons baking soda, 2 cups all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, 1 ½ teaspoons ground cloves
- Combine: Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix, just until incorporated. Stir in walnuts, if using.1 cup chopped walnuts
- Bake in a greased 9×13 inch pan for 45-60 min, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.
- Serve warm with caramel sauce and whipped cream or ice cream.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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*I originally shared this recipe November 2014. Updated November 2020, October 2022, September 2024 and August 2026.
Can this cake be make in a bundt or tube pan rather than a 9×13? I’m looking for an apple cake that is close to one my aunt used to make when I was a child. Most recipes I’ve found have a light colored batter but this has a deeper color, which I assume come from the cinnamon. I don’t do sheet cakes much and prefer this cake to be baked in a tube pan. Reduce the baking temp and bake a little longer?
Thanks for any help. I would really like to try this recipe!
It’s a very moist cake and I fear the it might struggle cooking through in such a deep pan (like a bundt pan). You could certainly try it and cook it low and slower for sure.
I had bookmarked your recipe for a while and today was the day i decided I had to do something with the umpteen apples sitting around doing nothing. This cake is like a dream, in silk. The texture was so soft and moist and although we had it without the sauce, it was to die for. One thing that is noteworthy is that the sweetness was right for us.
Can’t wait to keep making this amazing recipe! Just wondering if I can bake a bunch and then freeze some baked cake?!
Thanks, xx
Tried it and it was heavenly. Definitely a keeper.
We had so many Apples giving to me so I tried to find a good dish that used apples and this recipe was DELICIOUS well done with this recipe thank you for the posting this your friend Mary from Michigan
I made this cake today. My husband and kids loved it! It’s so moist ,and not to sweet .I change to 1 cup of sugar instead of 2 cups .
The Apple Cake is a sure keeper!! Easy easy! The Carmel Sauce can be made with 1 cup brown sugar, 2 tab of milk, 3 tab light corn syrup, pat of creamery butter, whisk all together in a sauce pan on med, stirring till soft ball, take off & wa la yummy Carm sauce
Today is my birthday and I made this cake for the family. Haha. (I know, they should be baking for me, but who cares – as long as there is good cake in the house!!).
The cake turned out super nice and moist. Loved the texture. Instead of making the caramel sauce, I just mixed some heavy cream with milk (to get a flowing consistency) and added powdered sugar to it and drizzled the cake with it before serving.
The flavours of cinnamon and clove were so wonderful. I love this cake and am gonna bake it again.
I think we need to specify how many cups of grated apples we need since apple size varies a lot, after grating the apples they had a lot of juice and nothing mentioned on recipe about this. I continued recipe , taste is good, not dry, just worried people may not like thinking that it may be raw. I baked as long as I could without it looking like it was burned, toothpick came out clean but still taste like too moist as if juice is in there like applesauce, not sure if consistency is correct but I guess will find out, made another same day, same result, too much juice in recipe, maybe I should’ve drained it, not sure will make again depends if people like.
The consistency of this apple cake is much like the old fashion “steamed puddings”. It is very moist.
Served with the caramel sauce, people have always loved it.
Thank y’all. My Toomama’s receipe whips the egg whites and folds into the wet mixture. Her receipe card is so illegable, i found this one that is that close to hers. Than you again.