Apple Cake Recipe (A French Classic)
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This French apple cake recipe is wonderfully moist, just sweet enough, and packed with apples in every bite.
In my twenties, I worked as an au pair in Paris for a family with three little boys. My host mother, Valérie, loved to cook, and her apple cake—with tart apples baked into a tender, buttery rum cake—quickly became one of my favorite desserts. This recipe is based on hers, and it’s every bit as easy to make as it is delicious.
Pair it with a cup of coffee in the afternoon or serve it for dessert topped with whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It’s a great cake to make in the fall, when apples are at their peak, and throughout the holiday season.
“Last year I won first place in a state fair with this recipe…This year I won division champion in our county fair. It’s a total winner of a recipe!”
What You’ll Need to Make French Apple Cake
- All-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt: Measure the flour by spooning it into the measuring cup and leveling it off rather than scooping directly from the bag.
- Unsalted butter: Make sure it’s at room temperature so it creams properly with the sugar.
- Granulated sugar: Sweetens the cake, with a little extra sprinkled over the top before baking to create a delicate, crackly crust.
- Eggs: Bring them to room temperature so they blend smoothly into the butter mixture.
- Vanilla extract and dark rum: The rum gives the cake its distinctive flavor and pairs beautifully with the apples without overpowering them.
- Baking apples: Choose firm apples that hold their shape in the oven, such as Honeycrisp, Granny Smith, Fuji, Braeburn, or Pink Lady. I like slightly tart varieties best to balance the sweetness of the cake.
- Confectioners’ sugar: Optional, for dusting over the cake before serving.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
How To Make Apple Cake
Combine the dry ingredients: Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
Make the batter: Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then add the eggs one at a time. Mix in the vanilla and rum, then add the dry ingredients and mix just until combined.
Add the apples: Peel, core, and cut the apples into chunks, then fold them into the batter. The batter will be quite thick and there will be a lot of apples—that’s exactly how it should look.
Bake the cake: Scrape the batter into the prepared springform pan and smooth the top. Sprinkle with sugar, then bake until golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan, then remove and dust with confectioners’ sugar before serving.
Video Tutorial
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French Apple Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled off
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar, plus more for sprinkling over cake
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons dark rum
- 2 medium baking apples, peeled, cored and cut into ½-inch cubes (about 2½ cups; see note)
- Confectioners' sugar (optional), for decorating cake
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and set an oven rack in the middle position. Grease a 9-inch (23-cm) springform or regular cake pan with butter or nonstick cooking spray. If using a regular cake pan, line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and grease again.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
- Using a handheld mixer with beaters or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well and scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and rum. Don't worry if the batter looks curdled at this point; that's okay. Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until just combined. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the chopped apples.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and even the top. Sprinkle evenly with 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until the cake is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool on a rack in the pan. Once cool, run a blunt knife around the edges of the cake. If using a springform pan, remove the sides. If using a regular cake pan, carefully invert the cake onto the rack, remove the parchment paper, then gently flip the cake over and place right-side-up on a platter. Using a fine sieve, dust with confectioners' sugar (if using). Cake can be served warm or room temperature, plain or with lightly sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
Notes
- When baking this cake, it's important to use apples suitable for baking. Baking apples hold their shape when cooked, so the chunks of fruit won't turn into applesauce in the oven. Tart-sweet varietals such as Granny Smith, Honey Crisp, Pink Lady, Braeburn, and Jonagold are all great options. Feel free to combine different varieties for a more nuanced flavor.
- Make-Ahead/Freezing Instructions: The cake is best enjoyed fresh but keeps well for up to 2 days. Store at room temperature in a cake dome or covered with foil. It can also be frozen for up to 3 months. After it is completely cooled, wrap it tightly with aluminum foil or freezer wrap. Thaw overnight on the countertop before serving.
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Made this for Christmas for my landlord– never received so many compliments in something I’ve baked. VERY easy, seems even for a beginner baker this recipe will turn out!
Loved this simple, but delicious apple cake. It is a great go to recipe for using those few apples that might go off soon. Thanks so much Jenn for all your recipes, you are my secret go to source for great food!
Hi Jenn,
I tried the French Apple Cake and thought it was delicious–just like your other recipes! I didn’t have dark rum on hand, so just used light Baccardi rum. Will the dark rum make a difference if I use it next time? If so, what difference does it make?
Thanks!
It really doesn’t make much difference, Hannah, so it’s perfectly fine to use whatever you have on hand — I’ve also made it with spiced rum.
LOVE THIS RECIPE – so good! I did not have any rum , so I used Apple Jack brandy (a hold-over from a French roast pork recipe). It was great. I will definitely make this again.
Very nice, light cake. Loved the flavouring. Will definitely make this again.
First time perfect! Thank you!
VERY DISAPPOINTING
I feel bad for saying this because so many people claim to love this but this isn’t french apple cake, this is just a simple cake with apples. Traditional French Apple Cake is like a custard on the bottom and cake on the top with a brulee crunchy topping and is 2-3″ tall. I’ve found America’s Test Kitchen has the best recipe.
I followed the directions exactly and I am a seasoned and sometimes professional baker and thought the ingredients seemed to be half of what they should but I followed it anyway. So true. This cake ends up about an inch tall. I checked it 5 minutes before time and it was already too done.
As a “seasoned and sometimes professional baker” you would have know what type of cake this was by reading the ingredients. To compare it to the apple cake you described to this one is not fair. This is a simple and tasty cake. It is easy to make and deserves a decent review based on its merits not your unreal expectations.
We all loved this recipe!! I used 3 1/2 cups apples….very easy to make…will make again soon!!!
Is the french apple cake worth making
if I can’t use any rum, etc. etc.
What can I use that is not alchoholic
in place of rum, etc.
Hi Judith, You can substitute apple cider or apple juice — and it will still be delicious :).
Was wondering if this recipe could be made into cupcakes? I love this recipe, as does every single person I’ve made it for…which is many, many people!
Hi Laurir, You could certainly bake the batter in a muffin pan; just reduce the cooking time. I’d start checking around 20 minutes. You might like a cream cheese frosting on top — you can use the one from my carrot cake recipe. Please let me know how they turn out :).
Doubled the recipe and made 24 muffins, which my husband absolutely loved! We are not normally sweet eaters, so this was perfect without any frosting. Thank you for a very easy, adaptable, and yummy recipe.
Laurie (not Laurir – sorry for the typo!)