I dug into my family recipe box to share this dessert with you – my Grandma’s Apple Cake with Cinnamon Crackle Glaze. This cake is tender, studded with loads of apples and walnuts and it is topped with the most glorious crinkly cinnamon glaze! Thanks for supporting Shaken Together and allowing me to share recipes with you though sponsored partnerships with trusted brands like McCormick®.
Most of my food memories center around my grandma. Summer was just not Summer without her strawberry shortcake. And many days, I sat on the same stool that my mom sat on a kid eating her cucumber salad out of avocado green bowls. Her chicken salad? Is legendary. Waldo burgers. Brats & Sauerkraut. Hawaiian Rice Pudding. This list goes on and on. Needless to say, she is my foodie inspiration!
Grandma’s Apple Cake with Cinnamon Crackle Glaze
This is one of the few ‘from scratch’ cakes here at Shaken Together. If I don’t default to a box mix, then you know that this is a treasured, tried and true recipe. Just like I know any recipe written in grandma’s sloping script is going to be delicious, I know that McCormick spices are going to deliver on quality and flavor in my kitchen. Those iconic red lids have been in our family’s pantries for as long as I can remember. For this classic family holiday recipe, both the batter and the glaze get that warm comforting taste of cinnamon thanks to McCormick Ground Cinnamon.
Can’t you almost smell it?! The spicy fragrance of cinnamon, the sound of my grandma cutting apples and plunking them into a bowl from the blade of her paring knife, the feel of a nubby rag rug under my feet in her kitchen … those are the memories that come to mind when I bake something that I know came from her home.
I mean, just look at this apple and walnut studded batter … you can see the rich brown flecks of cinnamon and loads and loads of fruit and nuts. This has holiday baking written allllll over it!
This cake bakes up all golden brown with nooks and crannies for the cinnamon crackle glaze to settle into …
You heard that right. This cake does not get all dolled up with a thick frosting. Nope. There is a simple cook and pour cinnamon glaze that gets poured right over the warm cake. Oh, this is my favorite part!
Once cooled, that glaze is going to crackle the second your fork hits it …
If you can wait for it to cool, that is. That’s probably my least favorite part 😉
Grandma’s Apple Cake with Cinnamon Crackle Glaze
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 3/4 granulated sugar
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons McCormick Ground Cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup walnut pieces
- 2 1/2 cups apples diced
For the glaze
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon McCormick Ground Cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon McCormick Pure Vanilla extract
Instructions
For the cake
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Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
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Prepare a 9x13 baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
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With a hand mixer or in the bowl of your stand mixer, cream together sugars, eggs and oil until well blended.
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Add dry ingredients and mix well.
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Fold in apples and nuts.
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Pour the batter into baking pan. (It will be thick with the apples and nuts very visible.)
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Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
For the glaze
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In a medium saucepan over medium heat, stir or whisk together all ingredients.
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Allow glaze to thicken slightly - stirring frequently - and pour it over the warm cake.
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Use a spatula to quickly and gently, spread the glaze over the surface of the cake.
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Allow cake to cool, then slice and serve.
Recipe Notes
A quick tip: Since the cake and glaze have similar ingredients, measure the ingredients for the glaze right into your saucepan as you measure them for the cake.
Trust me when I say that one piece of Grandma’s Apple Cake will not be enough. And vanilla (or even butter pecan) ice cream is highly recommended!
A BIG thanks to our friends at McCormick® for sponsoring this post at Shaken Together!
Oh YUM Keri! This sounds absolutely wonderful, and the images!? Omg… I think it’s my favorite YET!
I just have such a ‘thing’ for my grandma’s classic, tried & true recipes … so it makes it really fun to snap pictures to share it with the world 🙂 Thanks so much for the sweet comment!
Very good! I did add a little apple cider to glaze.
Do you think you could do apple cider INSTEAD of milk in the glaze?
I haven’t tried that, but it’s certainly worth a try!
This is delicious. I needed to take a dessert for our Bible study group and being that it is October, aka apple season, what better choice than your Grandma’s cake? Let me tell you the aroma in my kitchen while it was baking was mouth watering! I topped it with a dollop of slightly sweet fresh whipped cream and sprinkled it with finely chopped pecans. A total hit!!
Thanks for sharing your recipe Keri. It will be made again and again!
Blessings,
Terry
Worth the hype! Just made the recipes with fresh Honeycrisp apples from my parents farm. Very tasty! Thanks for sharing!
Are the apples peeled in this recipe?
Hi Pam! I actually washed the apples well and left the peel on, but you could certainly peel them if that is your preference 🙂
This was a very good cake — not overly sweet. The 375 deg oven was a bit too high so next time I will bake it at 350 instead. Might be that my oven bakes hotter…or that I used a glass pan….??? I like the glaze too — it’s sweet but it doesn’t overwhelm the cake as frosting might. Thank you!
Hi Beverly – I’m SO glad you enjoyed this recipe from my Grandma – those classic recipes are the BEST! And ovens are finicky things and the type of pan may have impacted baking as well. But that’s just all the more reason to bake another apple cake!! 🙂 Happy Holidays!
I love this cake, so moist and so tasty. It was easy to make which is always good. Thank you for sharing this awesome recipe.😀
Thanks for the recipe…it looks amazing. I am wondering, would it be good served a day later? I was thinking of making it the day before thanksgiving for the thanksgiving dessert table (but not much time to cook it the day-of, as I have to cook everything else).
Absolutely! We find that this cake is just as delicious 1-2 days after it’s made … if it lasts that long!
This cake looks great! Can I make it a day before? If I do, should I glaze it the day of? Thanks!
Hi Kristie – This is one of those cakes that is just as delicious a day or two after it’s made – glazed and all! Hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
I have made this cake about 5 times now. My favorite cake of all time. Making it again tonight for guests.
Naima – you have no idea how happy that makes me to hear that you love my Grandma’s apple cake recipe! I love that our family’s food history is melding with yours! Hope you have a great day!
Just wanted to comment again, this time with feedback. I made this cake for Thanksgiving and it was delicious. I made a vegan version of it, subbing Ener-G for the eggs and apple cider for the milk in the glaze. The only minor issue was that it kind of stuck to the pan, which my vegan husband said was great because, once you got it unstuck, the bottom was like toffee. It was fabulous….all my non-vegan family loved it. Next time, I’m putting vanilla ice cream out with it. Thanks for the recipe and for replying to comments!