This apple dapple cake is crumbly, crunchy, and loaded with sweet/tart bites of apple and an insane caramel sauce that sinks deep into the cake, creating a moist and buttery center. Do I have your attention yet? I sure hope so! The next thing you should know: this cake is easy!
The name coffee cake in this case, just means that the cake is great served with coffee, but doesn’t actually have any coffee in the batter. It’s a wonderful after-breakfast or brunch treat.
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It comes together quickly and your oven does the rest. it really is as simple as combing the wet ingredients, combining the dry ingredients, mixing them together, add nuts, add apples, fold and voila! You have a cake! This is perfect for company and makes a wonderful apple coffee cake. It tastes like a wildly delicious breakfast muffin, but made ultra decadent with the caramel sauce. Mmm yum!
This recipe is based on the apple dapple recipe shared by one of my readers, Emma. I looked over the simple ingredients and knew I had to try it when she said “It is a hit among my family and friends.” Emma, it was the same for me! Thank you so much for sharing your version of this Southern classic Apple Dapple Cake!
P.S. Apple dapple cake is traditionally baked in a bundt pan. Sure bundt pans look nice, but I find them so annoying to flip and deal with so I used a springform pan. #keepingitreal
Ingredients for Apple Coffee Cake (Apple Dapple):
3 large eggs, room temp
1 cup oil (extra light olive oil or vegetable oil)
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour *measured correctly
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/3 cups walnuts or pecans, toasted and chopped
3 cups (1 lb or 2 large) granny smith apples
*Watch our easy video tutorial on how to measure correctly
Ingredients for Caramel Sauce:
1 cup light brown sugar
6 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 cup milk (any kind)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt
Prep for Apple Coffee Cake:
*Toast and chop walnuts (you want them to cool to room temp before adding to the batter).
*Preheat Oven to 350˚F and grease base and sides of a 9″ springform pan with oil or butter.
*Peel, core, and slice apples into 1/2″ thick pieces
How to Make Apple Coffee Cake (Apple Dapple):
1. In the bowl of a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, mix together: 3 eggs, 1 cup oil, 1 cup granulated sugar and 2 tsp vanilla extract on medium speed 1 minute until blended.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together 3 cups flour, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp baking soda and 1/2 tsp salt.
3. With the mixer on, stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until well incorporated. Mix in 1 cup chopped nuts then mix in 3 cups sliced apples (if needed, use a stiff spatula to blend them in well).
4. Transfer to greased springform pan and bake in the center of the oven at 350˚F for 50-55 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Start making the sauce 10 minutes before the cake is out of the oven (see instructions below).
5. Once the cake is done, poke it all over with a meat fork or large skewer. While still hot and in the baking pan, pour glaze evenly over the surface of the cake. Sprinkle remaining 1/3 cup chopped nuts over the top and give the cake a few minutes to absorb the syrup. Transfer cake to a cake platter (I love these ones from Fiesta) and serve.
How to Make the Easy Caramel Sauce:
1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisk together 1 cup brown sugar, 6 Tbsp butter, 1/4 cup milk, 1/2 tsp vanilla and a pinch of salt. Bring to a low boil and continue to cook stirring gently for 4 minutes. It should be loose and will lightly coat a spoon, since you want most of it to absorb into the cake.
Apple Coffee Cake (Classic Apple Dapple Cake)
Ingredients
For the Apple Dapple Cake:
- 3 large eggs, room temp
- 1 cup oil, extra light olive oil or vegetable oil
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, measured correctly*
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/3 cups walnuts or pecans, toasted and chopped
- 1 lb granny smith apples, 2 large apples (cut into 3 cups)
Ingredients for Caramel Sauce:
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 6 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup milk, any kind
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- pinch salt
Instructions
Prep for Apple Coffee Cake:
- Toast and chop walnuts (you want them to cool to room temp before adding to the batter).
- Preheat Oven to 350˚F and grease base and sides of a 9" springform pan with oil or butter.
- Peel, core, and slice apples into 1/2" thick pieces
How to Make Apple Coffee Cake (Apple Dapple):
- In the bowl of a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, mix together: 3 eggs, 1 cup oil, 1 cup sugar and 2 tsp vanilla on medium speed 1 min until blended.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together 3 cups flour, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp baking soda and 1/2 tsp salt.
- With mixer on, stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until well incorporated. Mix in 1 cup chopped nuts then mix in 3 cups sliced apples (if needed, use a stiff spatula to blend them in well).
- Transfer to greased springform pan and bake in center of oven at 350˚F for 50-55 min, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Start making the sauce 10 min before the cake is out of the oven (see below).
- Once the cake is done, poke it all over with a meat fork or large skewer. While still hot and in the baking pan, pour glaze evenly over cake. Sprinkle remaining 1/3 cup nuts over the top and give the cake a few minutes to absorb the syrup. Transfer cake to a platter and serve.
How to Make the Easy Caramel Sauce:
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisk together 1 cup brown sugar, 6 Tbsp butter, 1/4 cup milk, 1/2 tsp vanilla and a pinch of salt. Bring to a low boil and continue to cook stirring gently for 4 minutes. It should be loose and will lightly coat a spoon, since you want most of it to absorb into the cake.
Notes
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
This cake was not easy to photograph – it’s not very photogenic so I had to make it two days in a row because I loathed the first set of pictures. I hope these photos do it justice because it really is a very delicious apple coffee cake (A.K.T.S.A – a made up acronym meaning “also known to Southerners as”) Apple Dapple Cake!
turn out perfect and a super hit every single time!!!! moist and flavorful
Thank you for your wonderful comments and feedback, Monda. Appreciate it!
How can you make this eggless
Hi Neha, I haven’t tested this as an eggless cake so I can’t say for sure if it would work without eggs.
My family loved it! Thank you Natasha! You have the best recipes!
I’m so happy you have enjoyed this recipe Yana! Thank you for sharing this wonderful review with me!
Delicious Natasha, I made this wonderful cake today, the caramel sauce is so delicious, It’s a pity that I can’t show a photo here, thanks for the recipe 🥰🥰🥰
Hello Manana, I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe. You can actually share some photos of your creation on our Facebook page or group.
Hi Natasha, I’m going to bake this cake and I wonder why it is called coffee? You don’t use coffee, do you?:)
Hi Manana, it is meant to be enjoyed with your morning coffee (or tea!) but does not actually have coffee in it!
Taste is there but the batter turned out very dry. I double batches the Carmel syrup.
I think this recipe calls for too much flour.
I read all your tips, I measured everything correctly.
But overall very good! I think next time I’ll add in 2 cups of flour vs 3.
Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Susan, do you think you possibly over-baked? That can cause dryness. Also, make sure to measure the flour correctly. Mis-measuring and compacting can result in 25% too much flour.
Made this cake after a trip to the Apple orchard. Was worried how thick it was while mixing it, but turned out delicious, everyone loved it. Just the right amount of spice, not too sweet, even with the sauce. Will definitely be making it again. Also love how simple it was to make.. it’s an extra bonus. 🙂
I’m so happy you enjoyed that Tasha!
I followed the directions for the apple dapple cake, it looked lovely and came right our of the springform pan. However……it was bland,,,not sweet, at all! Even with the caramel sauce. I love most of your recipes but not this one!
Hi Barbara, I haven’t had that experience to advise. Was anything possibly altered or added in different amounts?
I gave it 3 stars because it was dry for us. Yes, we did the flour wrong by putting measuring cup in jar. If that was it, oops! I felt after tasting finished product, besides being dry, it could have came out before 50 minutes. We used meat fork all over, right after it came out, sauce was ready, but did not soak in enough, ran down more on the sides. So, we will try another apple something, Soon!
HI Pat, If you give it another try measuring correctly, I’m certain it would make all the difference.
We agree, plus we think we will use oil for the pan, not butter, and measure correctly….it has been better since we first tried it! Thanks
Big storm brought windfalls do I used them in your Apple Dapple cake. Love. It.
I’m happy you enjoyed that Maureen! I hope all is well after the windfalls!
Apple cake looks amazing, will make it tomorrow. Can I put merengue on top, instead of caramel souse?
Hi Svetlana! I haven’t tested that to advise. If you experiment please let me know how you like that.
So good! 👍❤️ I love you’re recipe because it’s easy to follow. I followed the steps and it was perfect! Thank you!
Super! I am so happy to read your good comments, thank you Michelle!
I tried this three times. The first two times I used 2 loaf pans (a larger and a smaller). It was good except the the source was not absorbed well. I thought it was because the holes were not big enough. So I bought a box of 1/4 inch round sticks just to poke the holes (I could not buy one). Yesterday, I made it for the third time for a party. I had my hope very high and I used a 9″ Bundt pan. Trying to make it prettier, I wanted to use the sauce as glaze. I flipped the cake out of the pan and waited till it was cool to pour the sauce. It did NOT work! The sauce was too watery. It just flowed down the side and not absorbed at all (what a waste. It tasted so good). Worst still, I had forgotten to add walnuts to the batter. So it was a failure. I did take it to the party. And it’s a horrible mistake because my friends were obliged to eat it and praise it but I know it was very dry! I should have either trashed it, or eaten the whole thing myself (and gain a few pounds. It did not taste bad. The part soaked with sauce was especially good).
So here is my biggest question. How to use a Bundt pan for this recipe? Since the bottom of the Bundt cake is on the top when it is served, the source will be poured and the 1/3 C’s walnuts will be spread on a smaller area. Would that be less optimal?
Another question is, what if I simply add all the sauce ingredient to the batter? Without the sauce, the cake will not be as pretty. But it will taste sweeter and more moist. In my three trials the sauce was never absorbed very well. Of course I know my third trial was totally incorrect as the source must be poured when the cake is hot.
You might ask why I don’t use a spring pan. I did use it for my Apple Sharlotka cake and it leaked horribly, so I do not trust the spring pan.
Thanks very much.
Hi, I would encourage you to try the recipe as written for best results before experimenting. I haven’t tried this in a bundt pan so I could only guess.
This cake turned out really good. Trying to step up my baking game and ive tried other recipes from other sites before and messed up on them badly, so i was kinda nervous to make it. But i followed the recipe exactly how it says to online and it looks and tastes really great.
That’s awesome! I’m happy to know that the end result turned out really great for you. I hope you love every recipe that you try!
Made this coffee cake today, followed all directions and it is wonderful. Wouldn’t change a thing. Also very beautiful, looks just like the picture.
I’m so glad to hear that, Brenda! Thank you for that awesome review!
Hi Natasha, how do you recommend storing this cake overnight? Room temperature or fridge? Thank you so much!
Hi Liliya, if it is just for a day, keep it at room temperature. Once it is at room temperature, cover loosely and store in a cool, dry place. If making farther ahead of time, refrigerate the cake.
Thank you so much Natasha! Absolutely delicious cake just yummmmy. No leftovers lol that’s how good it is. You are an amazing cook! Love your recipes.
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite!
This cake is soo good! My family doesn’t love chunks of baked apples so I shredded the 3 apples instead and it turned out amazing! I would say it tastes very similar to a banana bread. Very tasty, thanks for the recipe!
That’s a great idea, Olesya! Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
@ Olesya…Same here! I LOVE baking with fresh apples, BUT cannot stand chunks. They’re usually not done enough, but even when they are, I simply do not like chunks! Grating the apples has been the greatest “find”!!
i would like to bake this cake tonight to serve tomorrow night. is it okay to add the caramel tonight while it is warm and let it sit until tomorrow, or do i add the caramel tomorrow?
Hi Dawn, if it is just for a day, it would be safe at room temperature. Once it is at room temperature, cover loosely and store in a cool, dry place. If making farther ahead of time, you would want to refrigerate the cake.
And do I add the caramel right out of the oven as in directions or do I wait until I am serving it? I ended up baking it now and I am serving at 6pm. Is it best to put the caramel in and let it sit like that for a few hours?
Hi Dawn, “While still hot and in the baking pan, pour glaze evenly over the surface of the cake. ” We do it right away so some of the caramel goes into the cake and it ends up very flavorful and moist.
Good, but was dry. Not sure if it was supposed to be like this but I would prefer it to be a bit more moist. Other than that would try it again…
Hi Natasha, I am wondering if I could make the cake the night before and then warm it up in the morning and pour the caramel on top of it? Do you think it will still be good?
Thanks!
Hi Tatiana, we like it fresh but I think that should work! If it is just for a day, it would be safe at room temperature. Once it is at room temperature, cover loosely and store in a cool, dry place. If making farther ahead of time, you would want to refrigerate the cake.