All in one apple cake tray bake – no-fail recipe

This is the best apple cake recipe I have ever tried. As it bakes, the juice from the apples combines with the cake batter to form a delicious custardy inside. Serve it as a tasty tea-time slice, or tranform it into a luscious dessert by adding a scoop of ice-cream or a drizzle of custard.

Easy apple cake tray bake

What can I say about this easy apple cake tray bake? I could tell you that it is delicious, with a creamy custardy filling, packed with apples, cinnamon and sultanas. Or I could tell you that it is so easy to make that even a child could do it. I could even tell you that it does double-duty, and you can serve it either as a cake or as a dessert.

But I’m not going to tell you any of those things. What I am going to tell you is that I have been making this easy apple cake tray bake for years, and I can safely say it has never failed once. I call it my one cup apple cake because you basically just need one cup of everything. It’s moist, it’s custardy and best of all it’s delicious.

It’s one of those recipes that everyone should have up their sleeve for when they need a quick cake in a hurry. Like for those times when hubby says ‘Did I tell you my mother is coming round or tea this afternoon?’ or when child number 2 says just before bedtime ‘But Mummy, I told you last week I needed a cake for school tomorrow‘. If you add this easy apple cake to your repetoire you’ll never need to panic again.

The magic ingredient is a can of sliced apples. As long as you remember to keep this to your regular grocery list, and you will be able to whip up this easy apple cake in 5 minutes and then relax while it bakes.

What you need to make an all in one apple cake

You need 6 main ingredients. And they are so easy to remember. With the exception of the oil, you need one measure of each ingredient.

• Sliced apples – 1 x 385g can. Don’t buy apple puree – that won’t work at all. You need nice firm apple slices.
• Self-raising flour – 1 cup. If you don’t have self-raising flour you can just add 1 teaspoon baking powder to 1 cup of plain flour.
• Sugar– 1 cup. You can use either granulated or caster sugar.
• 1 large egg
• Milk – 1 cup. Either full-fat or semi-skimmed is fine.
• Oil – this applecake is made with oil rather than butter, and this is the only exception to the 1 cup rule. You will need 25ml of sunflower oil. I have a Jaegermeister shot glass which is marked off at 25ml so I just use one of those 🙂
• Cinnamon sugar -1 tablespoon. You could cheat and add a little more if you prefer a sweeter cake. You can make your own cinnamon sugar by mixing 1 cup of white sugar with 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon spice. Store it indefinitely in a screw-top jar in your cupboard. It’s great for sprinkling on pancakes too.
• Sultanas – 1 handful. You just need enough to sprinkle over the apples. If you don’t like sultanas you can leave them out.

How to make an all in one apple cake

Note – The batter for this cake is quite thin – much thinner than a normal cake mixture. Don’t worry if it seems too thin. As it sets around the apples it forms a custard-like filling which is moist and creamy – not a dry cake crumb in sight!

• Preheat the oven to 190C / 375F
• Grease an 8 x 8 inch baking dish with a little butter. I sometimes forget this step and my cake has never stuck. To be honest I think the oil in the batter prevents the cake from sticking to the dish, but better safe than sorry!
• The dish should be deep enough to hold both the apples and the batter.

• Open the tin of apples and arrange them in a layer on the bottom of the baking dish. You will find the apples float up during baking and distribute themselves throughout the cake.
• Sprinkle the apples with a small handful of sultanas and then sprinkle with a tablespoon of cinnamon sugar

Mix the batter

• Sift the flour into a mixing bowl and then add the sugar, egg and oil.
• Pour in one cup of milk.
• Whisk until there are no lumps. The batter will be very runny and much thinner than a normal cake batter. Don’t worry – this is perfectly normal.
• Pour the batter over the apples in the baking dish.

Bake

• Place the cake into the pre-heated oven (190C / 375F) and leave it for 40 minutes.
• The cake will be cooked when it is firm to the touch. It should not jiggle when you press the middle of the cake with your finger. If it does jiggle, just leave the cake in the over for another few minutes, but keep your eye on it so it does not burn.
• The surface of the cake should be nicely browned, with pieces of apple showing through.
• When the cake is cooked, remove from the oven and if your baking dish has a lid, cover with the lid. If you don’t have a lid on your dish, cover with a piece of tinfoil until the cake is cooled. This will help to make the top of the cake nice and gooey.

What do I serve with apple cake

This apple cake is so moist and tasty that it doesn’t really need anything with it. A single slice of this is perfect served as a tasty tea-time snack. The taste and texture remind me of a creamy Danish pastry.

If you want to make a dessert out of it, you could serve it with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream, or drizzle it with custard.

Can I freeze apple cake?

To be honest, I have never tried to freeze it. However, I have frozen cooked apples successfully before, so I don’t think there will be a problem.

If you want to freeze it, let it cool completely then remove it from the baking dish by sliding a knife around the edges to loosen the cake. Place a large plate over the dish and invert it. The cake should drop down onto the plate.

Wrap the cake a layer of tin-foil and then wrap in cling-film and place in the freezer. It should keep for up to six months.

When you are ready to use it, remove the packaging and pop it back into the baking dish to defrost. Once defrosted you can either eat it cold (maybe served with a dollop of ice cream), or pop it into a hot oven for a few minutes to warm it. You can also warm it in the microwave.

More of my favourite desserts

If you enjoyed this recipe, why not try one of these too.

• Black Forest Trifle – a delicious chocolate dessert with black cherries and flavoured with cherry brandy
• Citrus cheesecake with Greek Yoghurt – another quick and easy creamy dessert flavoured with oranges, lemons and limes.
• Easy coconut pie – mixed in one dish, but separates into three distinct layers as it bakes.

Or if these don’t appeal, why not browse all my dessert recipes or take a look this post for my 9 favourite dessert recipes.

Equipment for making apple cake

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You probably have all of this equipment in your kitchen already. In case you are missing something, I’ve included some handy links to items on Amazon that you may find useful.

You will need a baking dish for making the apple cake. You will also need a mixing bowl and a either a spatula or hand-held mixer for mixing the batter.

If you are measuring your ingredients in cups, than a standard set of measuring cups will be useful. But if you prefer to weight out your ingredients, then you will need a set of kitchen scales.

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Recipe – All in one Apple Cake

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5 from 4 votes

Easy Apple Cake

A deliciously moist apple cake – serve as a tasty tea-time treat, or add a scoop of icecream for a mouthwatering dessert

Prep Time5 mins

Cook Time40 mins

Total Time45 mins

Course: Baking

Cuisine: Any

Servings: 9 squares (sliced)

Calories: 250kcal

Author: VJ

Ingredients

• 1 385g Tin sliced apples
• 1 cup self-raising flour 150g / 250ml
• 1 cup sugar 200g / 250ml
• 1 large egg
• 25 ml sunflower oil
• 1 cup milk 1/2 pint /250 ml
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon sugar
• 1 small handful sultanas

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 190°C / 375°F
• Grease an 8 x 8 inch baking dish with a little butter
• Arrange the apples in a layer in the baking dish
• Sprinkle with the sultanas and cinnamon sugar
• Sift 1 cup flour into a mixing bowl and then add 1 cup sugar, 1 egg and 25ml oil
• Add 1 cup milk
• Whisk or mix with a spatula to remove combine all the ingredients and remove any lumps.
• Pour the batter over the apples
• Place the cake in the oven and bake for 40 minutes
• Remove from the oven and allow to cool covered with a lid or a sheet of tinfoil

Video

Notes

The cake will be cooked when it is firm to the touch, and it should not ‘jiggle’ when pressed with your finger.  If it does jiggle, leave it in the oven for a few minutes longer until it is firm.

Nutritional information is based on cutting the cake into 9 equal squares.

 

t’s mi

I am not a nutritionist. The nutrition information has been calculated using an on-line calculator, and is intended for information and guidance purposes only.  If the nutrition information is important to you, you should consider calculating it yourself, using your preferred tool.

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