German Apple Cake (Apfelkuchen)

A moist, buttery sponge topped with sliced apples, cinnamon and a dusting of sugar.

TIME BREAKDOWN
Prep: 25 min
Cook: 50 min
Total: 1 hour 15 minutes
Vegetarian
✅
Nuts
❌
Serves
10 people
Difficulty
Easy

Ingredients

  • 150g butter, softened
  • 150g caster sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 200g self-raising flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • 3 tbsp whole milk
  • 3 apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 2 tbsp caster sugar, for the topping
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • Icing sugar, to dust

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan). Grease and line a 23cm springform cake tin.

  2. Beat the butter and 150g sugar until pale and fluffy, then beat in the eggs one at a time.

  3. Fold in the flour, baking powder, lemon zest and milk until smooth. Spoon into the tin and level the top.

  4. Toss the apple slices with the lemon juice and arrange in overlapping circles over the batter, pressing in gently.

  5. Mix the topping sugar with the cinnamon and sprinkle over. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes until golden and a skewer comes out clean.

  6. Cool in the tin for 15 minutes, release and dust with icing sugar. Serve with whipped cream.