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
Christy, I made the Apple Dapple cake and what a hit it was! Everyone loved it, and it was gone in a blink. I will be making it many times in the future. A quick question: Do you think it would be OK to freeze the Apple Dapple cake? I have a luncheon to go to and would like to make another one ahead of time.
I love your website and your unique way of presenting your delicious recipes. Keep up all your good work and emphasizing how important family is.
Rosemary
Hi! I just ran into your site a couple days ago. Your recipes look FANTASTIC. I just had to try this cake. I have a question for you, maybe you can help, because I did something wrong apparently. My batter looked nothing like yours. Mine was very thick, almost to the point of clumpy. The cake came out a little floury (I can’t think of another word for it, lol). I swear I measured everything exactly right. Any ideas on what I may have done wrong? Note for you – in comparison to my cooking skills, my baking skills are not so great. Did I perhaps pack the flour too tight and it came out to be more than needed? I’m lost ….
I have to say though, that I will still eat the whole thing. It is by far the best cake I’ve ever made from scratch. That topping is TO DIE FOR. I would seriously drink it…. 😉 I want to make it for Christmas, but I want it to be perfect 😉
Hi Vicki. I’ll bet you just solved your problem for yourself (but just didn’t realize it). When you measure flour . . . never never never pack it down. You’ll end up with twice the amount you want. Just stir the flour some to loosen it up and gently spoon the flour in your measuring cup. Level it with the spoon handle or a knife (or a finger if necessary) and add it to your ingredients. To see the difference, measure 1/2 cup packed and then 1/2 cup lightly spooned. Put the two measures side by side on a plate, and you’ll be amazed.
P.S. You can and should pack the brown sugar into the cup.
Hey Vicki. I just made this cake and the same thing happened to me. After I added the flour to the wet ingredients, I thought it looked wrong…more like cookie dough. I ran upstairs and read the recipe online again. I decided to add 1/2 cup of whole milk. Not sure if it will work, but there would have been no way that I could have folded anything into that batter. I will let you know how mine turns out.
Oh my goodness. This looks wonderful. My diet is going to have to wait.
Hello there! Just found your site and love it already!
I want to make this Apple Dapple cake.. It absolutely looks so good I could eat the picture.. LOL.. One problem my family has is we cannot eat nuts (only a bit of peanuts periodically)..
Do I just put in more apples in place of the 1 cup of Pecans? Or do you have any other suggestions? I just didn’t want to put anything in and change the consistancy one bit!
Thanks so much for your help!!
Sheree
Hi Sheree. How about adding raisins? or chopped cranberries? I would just keep the unit proportion the same.
I currently live in the UK. Someone posted a link to another recipe from this site on a board I frequent. I looked at the recipe and saw this one on the page. I knew I had to try it. I’m going to the shops today to pick up the ingredients. I also have to buy a new converter for my Kitchen Aid mixer I brought with us when we moved from the US. I’ve needed a new converter (wattage is different, can’t use a travel converter.) and my hubby has taken his time in picking one up. After I showed him this recipe and he sees all the ingredients on the counter I will have a new one!
I did laugh about a story of you teaching an English man taco soup recipe and the dry ranch dressing. You can’t get it here! I have family send me the dry mix. The ranch they have here is nothing like real Ranch Dressing, they all love our version best.
I am waiting for this cake to cool. You should add to the directions, to make this cake right before you have somewhere to go, so you don’t have to agonize over the cooling time!!!
I liked the look of this one so much that I went out and bought the ingredients.
This afternoon – I bake.