Apple Dapple Cake
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.
Recipe Ingredients
- Apples
- All-purpose flour
- Salt
- Baking soda
- Granulated sugar
- Vegetable oil
- Vanilla extract
- Eggs
- Pecans
- Brown sugar
- Milk
- Unsalted butter
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
Can I use light brown sugar instead of dark. I don’t have dark brown sugar in my pantry.
sure can!
hi, can I use stevia instead of sugar and if yes how much can I use? thanks
You can but I don’t use Stevia so I’m afraid I can’t tell you how it would need to be converted. I believe you would use less than the amount of sugar called for but you’ll just have to experiment. Let us know how it turns out!
you can make your own brown sugar by adding molasses or dark karo syrup to granulated sugar, which is how it is made by the manufacturers.
Add a few TBL. Spoons of Molasses to light brown sugar to make it darker
Love your recipes! They remind me of my mother and grandmother’s cooking.
I have to make this cake looks good.
Hi Christy I have not commented for awhile but I just had to say I am really looking forward to trying out this cake. I have really enjoyed being a part of the Southern Plate family and love your practical no-nonsense recipes, especially as the recipes have great flavour without needing an entire supermarket added to them! best wishes to you and your family, who are growing up very fast, into fine young people, well done from Judi
Thank you so much Judi, that means the world to me!!! I hope you enjoy this family favorite!
Can a Bundt pan be used for this cake? If so, would there be any changes to the recipe?
Read the recipe. She clearly states she uses a bundt pan. Her mother uses the tube.
A bundt pan works just fine, no changes needed 🙂
What about a regular baking pan? Any changes needed?
Making this for the first time tonight and surprised at how thick the batter is even before adding apples & pecans. Hope it comes out ok. I measured 3 cups of flour exactly.
My batter looks like cookie dough. I followed the instruction. I added a cup of applesauce. Hope it works
Yes you did it right! I usally wet my hands a little and pat it down. But I use a 9×13 pan and cook it for 45 minutes. Then cut into squares and layer them on plate and put in cake server.
Sharon, my step-grandmother used to make her Apple Dapple cake in a rectangular pan so any pan that will hold batter would work as long as you keep an eye on it and make minor adjustments to the cooking time as needed… I am thrilled to find this recipe. I was never able to get it from Granny Cross before she passed and have been looking for years. It was my favorite dessert at family gatherings.
Usually when I make a cake, I replace the oil with applesauce (to cut down on the fat calories) & the cake turns out great. However, I can’t do that with my lemon-poppy seed cake recipe – the cake turns out very tough. Do you think applesauce would work with this cake – it sounds SOOOOO YUMMY! 🙂
I am afraid I can’t say for sure Tamara. I haven’t ever tried it with this recipe so I am not sure if this will be one of those that it works great with or not. If you try it I would love to hear the results!!
I made the cake last night using applesauce instead of oil – it turned out great & was DELICIOUS!!! Thank you so much for a YUMMY YUMMY recipe Christy!!!
Tamara do you use the same amount of applesauce as recipe calls for the oil?
Yes Gloria, 1 cup. I always substitute the same amount of applesauce for oil in cake recipes. 🙂
The recipe includes vegetable oil & oleo. I’ve never found a totally soy free margerine. (To which i’m I extremely allergic). I can use canola oil but the margerine is a game breaker. How about using butter.
Please read the recipe (above) where I list butter first and margarine as an alternative. Also, I do the same within the post itself (butter first). I’m afraid you missed that.
Earth Balance makes a soy free margarine. It’s al I use has great flavor. Comes in stick and tub containers.