16 Apple Cake Dessert Recipes That Are the Perfect Seasonal Treat

These are our most-loved apple cake recipes.

Bundt Apple Maple Spice Cake drizzled with maple-caramel sauce
Photo: Blaine Moats

Gather your freshly picked apples, we're baking apple cake. Our roundup of delicious apple cake recipes features a variety of all sorts of sizes and flavors of the beloved seasonal fall fruit. Perhaps you're craving an apple bundt cake or coffee cake to go with your morning cup of coffee. Or maybe an apple dump cake or caramel apple cake is the type of dessert recipe you're looking for. We've got all those moist apple cake recipes and more here.

01 of 16

Apple-Maple Snack Cake

Apple-Maple Snack Cake
Andy Lyons

This apple cake proves how brilliant apple and maple are as a pair. With only a handful of pantry ingredients added to the mix, you'll have this apple cake baking in just 15 minutes. It's the perfect apple cake recipe when you're craving a fall treat and don't want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen.

02 of 16

Caramel Apple Poke Cake

Caramel Apple Poke Cake
Blaine Moats

There's nothing like the rich flavor and moist texture that comes from baking a poke cake. This apple cake has both apples and apple butter to deliver the signature fall flavor. Dulce de leche gets into all the nooks and crannies for the ultimate caramel apple dessert. It's also made in two loaf pans so you can have one for yourself and one for a friend (that is if you decide to share).

03 of 16

Maple Brunch Cake with Apples and Cranberries

Maple Brunch Cake with Apples and Cranberries
Andy Lyons

This apple cake recipe "bakes" right in your slow cooker. Simply layer sliced apples into the bottom of you slow cooker and top with a homemade maple cake batter. This easy apple dessert is best served warm.

04 of 16

Apple Pie Coffee Cake

Apple Pie Coffee Cake
Jason Donnelly

Enjoy all the flavors of an old-fashioned pie in this delicious apple coffee cake. A warm-spiced apple pie filling is sandwiched between a moist buttermilk cake. Of course, you can't forget the signature streusel topping.

05 of 16

Apple Sheet Cake

Applelicious Sheet Cake
Andy Lyons

Talk about a showstopping dessert for a 9x13 pan. Chopped fresh apples, apple butter, and dried apples all appear in this apple cake recipe that is as delicious as it is picturesque. A simple maple icing gives your cake the perfect sweet finish.

06 of 16

Apple Cake with Buttery Caramel Sauce

Apple Cake with Caramel Sauce
Peter Krumhardt

When you have a lot of baking apples to use up, keep this apple cake recipe in mind. You'll need 6 cups to go into the walnut-dotted spice cake. We love enjoying a piece with the warm buttery caramel sauce and a scoop of ice cream.

07 of 16

Apple-Cherry Dump Cake

Apple-Cherry Dump Cake
Blaine Moats

Our apple dump cake is the answer to your cravings when you need an easy dessert recipe stat. The secret to making this apple dump cake recipe a breeze? The wonderful slow cooker. After a few hours of "baking," you've got a delicious sweet-tart treat. Don't forget the ice cream!

08 of 16

Apple-Maple Spice Cake

Bundt Apple Maple Spice Cake drizzled with maple-caramel sauce
Blaine Moats

Just wait until the glorious cinnamon-and-fruit aromas from this apple bundt cake fill your kitchen. Choose a medium tart apple variety such as Granny Smith or Gala for the cake, as they'll contrast the sweetness a bit while holding their shape nicely after baking.

09 of 16

Torta di Mele (Apple-Fig Cake)

Apple-Fig Cake (Torta di Mele)
Kritsada Panichgul

This apple cake recipe has a fancy-sounding Italian name but is actually really easy to make. Apples combine with fresh figs and get a spicy-sweet flavor from crystallized ginger and honey. A dollop of sweetened mascarpone cheese makes a delicious alternative to whipped cream.

Test Kitchen Tip: Can't find fresh figs? Use dried figs and rehydrate them in apple juice or brandy before using them as directed in the recipe.

10 of 16

Stove-Top Holiday Apple Cake

Stove-Top Holiday Apple Cake
James Carriere

If you've never heard of making cake on the stove top, this apple cake recipe is going to blow you away. The spice cake gets a deep sweet flavor from molasses and a bit of tartness from dried apricots. We use a can of apple pie filling here for an easy shortcut ingredient.

11 of 16

Caramel-Apple Pudding Cake

Caramel-Apple Pudding Cake
Scott Little

Rich, indulgent, and perfectly cozy, this apple cake recipe is hard to beat. The pudding cake is baked over a layer of apple slices and topped with raisins and caramel for a sweet fall treat everyone will love.

12 of 16

Caramel Apple Upside-Down Cornmeal Cake

Caramel Apple Upside-Down Cornmeal Cake
Blaine Moats

Our apple upside-down cake includes cornmeal for an unexpected, yet delicious contrast in flavor and texture to the fruit and sweet sauce. The buttery homemade caramel sauce tastes divine against the sweet-tart apples and dried cranberries. Pecans add a lovely crunch.

13 of 16

Fresh Apple Cake

overhead view of apple cake cut into squares
Brie Passano

This cake recipe using fresh apples has appeared in our BHG cookbook for many years and continues to be a fan favorite. As one reviewer raves, "I've been making this for years, I got the recipe from my mom's BHG cookbook many years ago. This week I made it using mostly pears and substituting caramel chips for some of the walnuts, and it was amazing!"

14 of 16

Cinnamon Apple Spice Cake with Apple Topper

Cinnamon Apple Spice Cake
Andy Lyons

When you want a beautiful dessert to display but aren't a fan of frosting, serve this fresh apple cake. The batter includes oil and buttermilk to achieve an ultra-moist texture with a bit of tangy flavor. Use a mixture of different types of apples and/or pears for the fruit topper and filling for color and flavor variation.

15 of 16

Applicious Cider Cake with Butterscotch Frosting

apple cider cake with butterscotch frosting
Karla Conrad

Planning a harvest feast at home? Make this stunning apple cake for friends and family to swoon over. The triple-threat of apples in the recipe comes from apples, apple cider, and Calvados (apple brandy). As if that wasn't apple-y enough, we top it off with an apple cider glaze.

16 of 16

Classic Fresh Dutch Apple Cake with Caramel Glaze

Classic Dutch Apple Cake with Caramel Glaze

A caramel glaze takes this apple sheet cake into totally decadent dessert territory. As one BHG home cook shared, "Excellent! Used Gala apples. Did not have half and half so used whole milk in glaze, which made it thinner. It soaked into cake and was delicious."

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