This apple cinnamon cake recipe with gooey chocolate is perfect for sharing over coffee. It's easy, deliciously spiced with juicy chopped apple throughout and a layer of slices, chocolate spread and almonds.

Serving a slice of apple and cinnamon cake with gooey chocolate

It's amazing how to same ingredients, mixed with fruit, can turn a recipe into a totally different texture. Basically, we're inundated with apples from our tree at the moment. They seem to have grown really quickly, where we haven't even got through our store-bought ones.

Plus, I hate waste, so I've started to panic and slip more apples into my recipes. Well, last Friday, my husband wanted an apple blondie. Something a bit more than an old fashioned fresh apple cake recipe.

So, I delved into my favourite strawberry blondies recipe with milk chocolate chips and swapped for apples. Among a few other tweaks my husband, (and later I), insisted. And to our lovely surprise, it came out as a cinnamon apple cake recipe and we nearly ate it all between us that night.

Why We Love This Apple Cinnamon Cake Recipe

It's a super easy apple cake recipe
It's one of the best apple cake recipes with fresh apples
Great for making with children
It makes a GREAT apple coffee cake or apple cinnamon tea cake!
You can instantly swap the apples for a pear and cinnamon cake
If you love a moist carrot cake, you'll love this moist apple cake recipe
It has a traybake twist from a classic old fashioned fresh apple cake recipe
You can use eating apples
It's the best apple cake in my opinion!

apple coffee cake in a baking dish before going in the oven

Equipment I Used for My Apple Cinnamon Cake

kitchen aid - a mixing bowl and electric whisk is fine
Weighing scales
baking paper
Measuring spoons
Spatula
20cm square baking tin*
apple corer
potato peeler
Chopping board
Chopping knife

Or try a bundt cake pan for a large donut cake

How to Make Cinnamon Cake With Apples

As always, you'll find a printable list of ingredients for my apple cake with cinnamon towards the bottom of this page.

But to give you a feel of whether this whether this apple & cinnamon cake is for you, here's my steps:

First, preheat your oven at 170 degrees celsius fan/gas mark 3
Mix the chopped apples with the tablespoon of flour and the caster sugar in a separate bowl and set aside. *The flour prevents apples from sinking
Butter and line a 20cm squared baking dish
Then whisk together the melted butter and sugar for about 30 seconds
Mix in the egg until smooth
Add all the dry ingredients except the almonds and mix for another 30 seconds until combined
Fold in the apples, then spread into the lined dish
Add the dollops of chocolate spread, then top with apples, sprinkle the caster sugar and sliced almonds.
Bake for 40 minutes, until slightly firm with no wobble.

Slice of moist apple cake with chocolate and cinnamon on a white Denby plate

Don't Want Gooey Chocolate In Your Apple and Cinnamon Cake?

If you don't want a gooey chocolate texture, then add chocolate spread last for it to firm in the oven.

OR, you could fold in mixed chocolate chips at the same time as the apples.

Biting a slice of apple chocolate cake with cinnamon

Other Combinations

If you wanted to, you could adapt it as follows:

If you solely want something like a standalone cinnamon cake recipe, it will be a bit firmer, like my strawberry blondies.
Try an apple and raisin cake with using frozen, then defrosted apples.
To make it a more healthy apple cinnamon cake recipe, you could opt for low fat spread, try blended oats for more fibre if you're in a Slimming club and choose a natural sweetener.
Why not swap apples for coarsely grated carrots and make carrot cinnamon cake? It would be great with added raisins too.
Another idea would be to use my Easy Shortbread Cookies recipe and once creating crumbs with the dough, sprinkle on top of the cake for an apple and cinnamon crumb cake.
Make a more traditional cinnamon pound cake with apples. This is easily done by increasing the butter and eggs to 120g each so everything is equal. Note, you'll probably need a deeper dish though as it will rise!
Grate the apples and stir in this apple sponge eve's pudding recipe

Freshly baked recipe with apple, chocolate and cinnamon in a square dish

Is This a Vegan Cinnamon Cake?

Unfortunately, as we use eggs and butter in this recipe, it is not vegan. You can easily replace the butter for a vegan one. But you should also ensure your sugar is vegan. And as for an egg substitute, then I recommend you checking out some option here.

Is This a Gluten Free Apple and Cinnamon Cake?

As we're using cake flour, unfortunately not. However, I am confident gluten free flour will work perfectly as I've used it before with my similar raspberry and chocolate traybake.

I will no doubt update you as I have lots of Doves gluten free plain flour in my cupboard and a bushel of apples to eat!

Apple Cinnamon Cake Recipe With Gooey Chocolate