Apple Dapple Cake
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This old-fashioned apple dapple cake recipe is the darling of fall baking. Every moist bite is positively infused with chunks of juicy apple, toasted pecans, and an amazingly sweet and buttery brown sugar glaze.
Mama has been making this old-fashioned apple dapple cake for as long as I can remember. It’s always signaled the arrival of apple season for us! So this apple season, pick some fresh apples and bake this easy apple cake recipe. All you need is typical baking ingredients (flour, salt, baking soda, sugar, oil, vanilla, eggs, milk, and butter), plus some chopped pecans for extra crunch.
The wonderful thing about Mama’s vintage apple dapple cake recipe (and I do mean WONDERFUL) is that the resulting flavor is a perfect blend of fresh apples and buttery brown sugar. With the special caramel-like brown sugar soaking sauce poured over the cake and allowed to soak in before removing the cake from the pan, it is by far the moistest and densest cake I’ve ever baked.
As if the flavor (and smell) were not enough, the slices are gorgeous too. Thick slices showcase bits of apple and the slightly granular texture around the edges of the tender crust is brought on by the brown sugar. Don’t you just love the taste of brown sugar? I mean, all on its own, I just love brown sugar. Whenever I am baking with it, I can’t help but get a pinch out for myself. Lucky is the day when I find a few precious lumps within the bag!
If you’ve ever wanted to win someone over through their stomach, THIS cake is a home run. All of our cake recipes are to die for so make sure you check out some of them like Apple Crumble Cake, Chocolate Sundae Cake, Coca-Cola Cake, Red Velvet Bundt Cake, and Sams Club Strawberry Cake (Homemade Recipe).
Recipe Ingredients
- Apples
- All-purpose flour
- Salt
- Baking soda
- Granulated sugar
- Vegetable oil
- Vanilla extract
- Eggs
- Pecans
- Brown sugar
- Milk
- Unsalted butter
Helpful Kitchen Tools
How to Make Apple Dapple Cake
In your mixing bowl, place oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Mix until blended.
You can do this by hand or using an electric mixer. Go with your mood.
In a separate mixing bowl, sift together the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, and salt.
Add this to your wet ingredients and mix until blended again.
Like this.
It’s a nice thick dough at this point.
Peel and chop apples into little chunks.
Add chopped apples and pecans to the cake batter.
Stir those together until they are fully incorporated.
Prepare your pan either by greasing with shortening and flouring or by using one of those handy, dandy cooking sprays.
Spoon your apple dapple cake batter into your pan.
My mother uses a tube pan but whenever I bake this I just use a bundt pan. Either one is fine.
Bake this in the oven at 350 for one hour.
Making the Brown Sugar Sauce
About 10 minutes before your cake is done, you need to make this AMAZING sauce to pour over the cake while it is still hot in the pan.
Place milk, butter, and brown sugar in a saucepot.
Stir this together on the stove eye at medium to medium-high heat, bringing to a gentle boil.
Once it starts boiling gently, keep stirring and cook for about 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
Remove hot delicious cake from the oven.
Look at that beauty!
While the apple dapple cake is still piping hot in the pan, pour the sauce over it and let it all sit until it soaks it up.
OH MERCY!
I mean, LOOK AT THAT CAKE!
The sauce will soak up, just be patient.
Leave the cake in the pan until it has cooled completely.
Have you ever seen a more beautiful apple cake?
I hope you get to make it soon!
Might oughta make two 😉.
Storage
- Store leftover cake in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- You can also freeze leftovers for up to 3 months. Double wrap them in plastic wrap and then aluminum foil to avoid freezer burn and thaw in the fridge or at room temperature before serving.
Recipe Notes
- For extra flavor, add 2 teaspoons of your favorite seasoning. That might be 1.5 teaspoons of cinnamon and half a teaspoon of nutmeg, apple pie spice, or pumpkin pie spice. All work well with this apple cake recipe.
- If you want to add more texture, some apple dapple cake recipes include 1 cup of flaked coconut and 1 cup of raisins as well. Fold them in when you add the chopped apple and pecans.
- Speaking of, feel free to substitute the chopped pecans for chopped walnuts instead. If you like, toast them for about 5 minutes in the oven beforehand for extra crunch and texture.
- Another substitution you can make is to swap the milk in the glaze for heavy cream.
Recipe FAQs
What kind of apples should I use?
As pictured, I always use Granny Smith apples due to how the tart flavor combines well with the sweetness of this dish. You can also use Honeycrisp, Braeburn, Jonathan, Jonagold, or even Golden Delicious works.
Where does apple dapple cake originate?
The origin of apple dapple cake is unknown, as Amish, Southern, and Jewish cultures all make their own version that are very similar to this recipe.
You might also enjoy these appetizing apple recipes:
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 3 eggs
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups fresh apples, peeled and finely chopped
Sauce
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/4 cup milk
- 3/4 cup butter (1.5 sticks)
Instructions
- Spray a bundt cake pan or a tube pan liberally with cooking spray and set aside.
- Mix together oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl.1 cup vegetable oil, 2 cups granulated sugar, 3 eggs, 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- In a separate bowl, sift together the dry ingredients: flour, salt, and baking soda. Then add this to the wet ingredients before folding in the pecans and diced apples.3 cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 cup chopped pecans, 3 cups fresh apples, peeled and finely chopped
- Bake at 350 for 1 hour.
- Place sauce ingredients into a small saucepot over medium-high heat. Stir constantly and bring it to a gentle boil. After it begins gently boiling, continue to stir and allow to cook for about 3 minutes.1 cup packed brown sugar, 1/4 cup milk, 3/4 cup butter
- Pour the sauce over the hot cake while it's still in the pan. Allow the cake to cool completely before removing it from the pan.
Nutrition
I used a tube pan, but was unsure on which side to put up. I ended flipping the cake so the caramel sauce was on top and it looked pretty that way, but it was kind of tricky to flip it after removing the center of the tube pan. Did I do it right? It tasted divine, by the way!
I would love to make this but I need all of the nutrient values as I am a diabetic. While it sounds like something that I probably should not eat, I believe it is all about portion control. I have also looked at your carb recipes and have a few that I am going to try.
There are a lot of places online where you can enter recipes and get nutrition information. I use MyFitnessPal.com when I need to 🙂
If you are going to freeze this cake, do you put the sauce on before you freeze it. I thought maybe you thaw it and heat it in the oven and put the sauce on then?
Any particular type of apple?
Crab apples
I used Gala apples. The cake was delicious.
read the recipe..
Recipe says any kind of apple will do, but I like to use a tart, crisp apple, like Granny Smith for any kind of cakes.
Christy I would like to use blueberries instead of apples. Any hints? My husband only likes cooked blueberries not apples.
I substituted almond oil for the vegetable oil. It added another soft layer of flavor. The second time I made it, I halved the recipe and used a 9×9 pan. Just as wonderful. Cooked in 50 minutes. For sauce, I used heavy cream and dark brown sugar with a touch of vanilla.
I made this for my spouse as he got very sick in March, and since then, his sense of taste has been SO off that he doesn’t even enjoy what used to be his favorites. Yesterday I decided to make this in an attempt to make him happy (and being Fall, it would make the house smell SO good). The smell had him going crazy and it was all I could do to keep him out of the kitchen. He LOVED your cake so much, he couldn’t stop eating it. He even got up in the middle of the night and had a piece!!! Thank you Cristy!
I made this cake for new neighbors and my family twice,,,,I used pears instead of apples ( due to not having apples and our pear tree was producing at this time) ,,,we all loved it and waiting till i get apples to try it that way also,,,,thanks for the receipe
Barbara
I substitute Pears whenever a recipe calls for Apples. I love the flavor they bring.
Sonny
Hello Christy <3 I tried this Apple Dapple Cake last week and it went well .
I use a round pan , and i put some dried fruits , hazelnuts and cashew nuts too. They all love it especially my mother and sister in-law <3 Thanks for your wonderful recipe 😉 Its so easy to make , i even made 2 of this in one day 😛
I just made this last night to take to a Bible Study. The cake was moist, and and with the caramel topping, tasted much like a candied apple. I felt like when I popped it out of the bundt pan, that it was just a little dry on the top, so I made a cinnamon sauce that was described as a topper for apple dumplings. I used that to glaze the top of the cake, and then served with a small scoop of whipped cream. Big WOWS! SO GREAT! This will become a regular fall dessert for sure!
I can’t wait to try this recipe. About how long does it take to completely cool before being ready to serve? I want to make sure I leave myself plenty of time before guests arrive. Planning to serve with some vanilla ice cream.
It takes about an hour for all of the sauce to soak in. It may still be a little warm then but you can go ahead and turn it out of the pan and serve it. 🙂 If you want to be on the safe side I’d give myself an hour and a half. Excellent choice for company!!!
It is a delicious cake! The only problem I had is that my cake rose to the top of the pan, so when I tried to pour the sauce over it, it overflowed out of the pan. I ended up pouring the rest over it once I had inverted the cake onto the platter.
hi can u please kindly give the measurements in grams?
what is baking soda? is it baking powder or bicarbonate of soda?
please do reply as i really want to try out the recipe. thank u very much.
Baking soda is bicarbonate of soda. I am afraid I can’t convert the measurements into grams for you, I always use traditional US measurements. I bet there is a great convertor somewhere online that you could find though.
hi
yes as thought, it is oh so very good with the peaches and just beautiful too.
vicki
( I had to have a taste before it cooled down)
hi
i just put this cake in the oven. i used peaches after draining off as much juice as i could. if the cake is as good as the batter is, i will be in heaven.
thank you
vicki