With simple ingredients and made in one bowl, this Apple Tea Cake is a nostalgic and delicious treat to enjoy at tea time, or really any time of day. Full of sweet-tart apples, warm spices, and a streusel topping, this light and airy dessert is the ultimate apple cake to serve for any occasion.
This buttery Apple Tea Cake recipe is loaded with sweet apples, is easy to make, and uses a handful of common pantry ingredients. The sweet batter is spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg, and comes together quickly and in just one bowl. No matter what level of baker you are, you can successfully make this.
This one bowl apple cake is light and tender, which lends itself to just about any occasion. Serve this with coffee, alongside a quiche at brunch, or as an after-dinner dessert with a scoop of ice cream or whipped cream.
If you like this easy dessert, be sure to check out some of our other must-make dessert recipes, too. We love this fruity Berry Cake, our Apricot Cake is sweet and unique, and this Apple Puff Pastry Tart (coming soon!) is decadent and easy to make.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
We truly love this Apple Tea Cake so much. It’s perfection in our eyes. And here’s why:
- Quick and easy to make. With familiar ingredients that are easy to find (or already in your pantry) and a simple process, this cake comes together quickly and can be made by any level of baker. It can all be done in mostly one bowl (or the mixer does most of the work), too, which means clean up is a breeze.
- Versatile and customizable. Enjoy this for dessert, as an afternoon snack with tea, or as a sweet pastry at breakfast. Serve it warm or cool, too. You can also easily substitute in any of your other favorite fruits; plums, pears, berries and even a combination of a few would be delicious.
- Seasonal and perfectly sweet. The fall and winter months definitely call for warm, spiced desserts, and this one definitely fits the bill. Seasonal apples are perfectly sweet and tart in this cake, and the sweet buttery streusel on top adds just enough sweetness.
Ingredient Notes
- Butter: We use unsalted here to control the amount of salt in the batter, since salt is added as well. If you’re using salted butter, pull back on the added salt by ¼ teaspoon.
- Sugar and light brown sugar: granulated sugar is all you need for the cake. You’ll need a combination of granulated and light brown sugar for the streusel.
- Baking Powder: The rising agent. This allows the cake to puff up and rise perfectly. It gives the cake a nice, airy, yet still chewy texture.
- Salt: A little salt is always necessary when baking to balance out the sweetness.
- Nutmeg, Cinnamon and Dried Ginger: These spices are all warm, spicy and nutty. They compliment the sweet apples nicely. Play around with other warm spices you like, a dash of cardamom, cloves or allspice would also be delicious.
- Eggs: Helps to bind the batter together. They also keep the cake moist.
- Vanilla Extract: For the best flavor, use pure extract to provide deep, concentrated notes of caramel and vanilla.
- All Purpose Flour: No surprising flours here, this is the base of the batter.
- Granny Smith Apples: Sweet, slightly tart, and firm in texture, these are the ideal apples to use in this recipe, but you could also try using Honey Crisp or Braeburn.
How To Make Apple Tea Cake
You can find the full recipe including amounts and timings in the recipe card below.
1. Mix Up the Streusel Topping
Simply combine the butter, flour, sugars and spices until it comes together into a stiff streusel.
2. Make the Cake Batter
Start by beating together the butter, sugar, baking powder and spices until smooth.
Add in the eggs, one at a time, until smooth. You will need to scrape down the sides of the bowl so everything gets evenly mixed together. Beat in the vanilla.
Add the flour and mix on low speed just until combined (don’t over-mix, some dry pockets of flour is OK).
Measure out ¼ cup of the apples and set them aside for the topping. Add the remaining apples to the batter and mix just until combined.
Spread the batter into a 9-inch round cake pan that is greased and lined with parchment paper. (You can also use an 8-inch square pan.)
3. Top the Cake with Streusel and Bake
Pinch the streusel into pieces and scatter in an even layer over the cake batter.
Bake the cake just until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, this will take about 35 minutes.
Allow to cook for a few minutes in the pan before inverting it and removing it. Serve it warm or cool it completely and store in an airtight container at rom temperature.
Pro Tips
This Apple Tea Cake recipe is easy to make, but we’ve got a few key tips to ensure it comes out perfectly.
- Cream butter and sugar completely. Cream these together thoroughly until the mixture is very smooth before incorporating the other ingredients. You don’t need it to be pale and fluffy—just smooth.
- Don’t over-mix the batter. Once the flour has been added, avoid mixing the batter too much. This will result in a tough, dry dessert. Instead, mix the batter until it’s just combined and gently fold in the apples.
- Use tart and sturdy apples. We recommend Granny Smith here since they are tart in flavor to pair with the sugar. They also have a crisp texture that holds up well during baking. Honey crisp also work nicely for baking.
- Layer the cake ingredients correctly. Be sure to add the batter, then streusel, then the reserved apples on top.
Storage and Freezing Instructions
Having leftovers is a wonderful thing. Here’s how to keep them fresh and flavorful:
- Fridge: Store any leftover cake in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days. Any longer, and I recommend popping it in the fridge. Stored at room temperature, the cake will soften slightly (nothing a toaster oven can’t help out). Stored in the fridge, the cake with firm up a bit. Warm it slightly in a toaster oven or microwave and it’ll be good to go.
- Freezer: Once cooled, wrap the cake in two layers of plastic wrap and place it in a zipper-lock bag. Store it in the freezer for up to 3 months. When ready to enjoy, thaw the cake overnight in the fridge and serve cool, at room temperature, or warm after reheating in a low oven. The texture may differ slightly than if you were to enjoy it immediately or from the fridge, but it will still be delicious.
Variations
We like this version of our Apple Tea Cake, but there are a few other varieties that are just as tasty. We have some recommendations to jazz it up.
- Serve With Whipped Cream. A dollop of fresh, homemade whipped cream takes this cake to a whole new level.
- Add spices. Add in other warm spices like allspice or cardamom to elevate the fall flavors or to change up the flavor profile of the cake a bit.
- Substitute in different fruits. We love sweet, crisp apples, but get creative and try using other fruits, too. Pears, plums, peaches and berries would work great. You can even do a combination of fruits to get the best of a few worlds.
FAQs
Tea cake is usually soft, small, delicate cake that’s traditionally meant to be eaten with tea. Regular cake is usually larger and often served with a frosting or icing on top.
It’s special because it’s a nostalgic, old-school dessert. It’s a simple, buttery, delicate cake that’s supposed to be eaten with afternoon tea, a specific occasion.
It originated as a type of snack-like cake that was traditionally meant to be served and eaten at tea time, with tea.
Be sure to measure your ingredients correctly, especially the flour. This can result in the cake becoming too dry, or, if not enough is added, too wet.
Also, avoid over-mixing and over-baking the cake; these can both lead to dryness. Simply mix your batter until just combined, and remove the cake from the oven once a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
I also recommend placing an oven thermometer in your oven to double check the accuracy of your oven.
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Apple Tea Cake
Description
Ingredients
Streusel
- ½ cup (65g) all purpose flour
- ¼ cup (55g) light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons (35g) granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
Cake
- 8 tablespoons (113g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon (5g) baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon (5g) kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground dried ginger
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup (130g) all purpose flour
- 1⅓ cup (150g) granny smith apple, peeled and finely diced
Instructions
Streusel
- Mix together flour, light brown sugar, sugar, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg until combined.
- Add butter and mix together, pinching and pressing mixture as needed until a stiff streusel comes together.
Cake
- Heat oven to 350°F (177ºC). Lightly grease 9-inch round pan (or 8-inch square pan); line bottom of pan with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl (or stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment), beat together butter, sugar, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, and ginger on medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Beat in eggs one at a time, scraping down bowl after each addition. Stir in vanilla. Mix in flour to make a stiff, smooth batter. Reserve ¼ cup apples and set aside. Fold remaining apples into batter.
- Spread batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle streusel over top then sprinkle reserved apples over top. Bake cake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean and top of cake is light golden brown, 35–40 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and serve warm.
- Store any leftovers, covered and refrigerated, for up to 5 days.
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Notes
Nutrition
