High Altitude Apple Fritter Cake
This apple fritter cake is made with vanilla cake batter topped with cinnamon apples and baked until fluffy, then drizzled with vanilla icing. Best served warm from the oven!
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- 7x11 Oval Baking Dish, or 9x9 Square Baking Dish
Ingredients
Apples
- 1 lb honey crisp apples (2 large apples or 3-4 small/medium apples)
- ¼ cup light or dark brown sugar, lightly packed
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 ½ tbsp unsalted butter
Cake
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, melted
- ¾ cup whole milk, slightly warmed
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 ¼ tsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- ⅛ tsp ground nutmeg
Icing
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp whole milk
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Apples
- Peel and core the apples, then chop them into quarter inch sized pieces.
- In a saucepan, combine the chopped apples with the brown sugar, cinnamon and butter. Over medium heat, bring the apples to a simmer, stirring frequently. Cook for about 10-15 minutes, stirring often, until the apples soften and the liquid becomes syrupy. Some of the liquid should evaporate so that there is no more than about 3-4 tablespoons of syrupy liquid left in the pan.
- Set the apples aside to let them cool for 30 minutes.
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven.
- Melt the butter, then brush about 2 teaspoons of the melted butter over the bottom and sides of your pan. I used a 7x11 inch oval baking dish, but a 9x9 inch or 10x10 inch square baking dish will also work. Baking times will vary slightly for different pan sizes.
- In a bowl, whisk together the rest of the melted butter with the milk, egg and vanilla.
- Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and nutmeg together, then add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and whisk until smooth, about 15 seconds.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Spoon the apples over the batter, including all the syrup left at the bottom of the pan.
- Bake the cake for about 40-45 minutes, or until a cake tester or sharp knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes before adding the icing.
Icing
- In a bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla until smooth, then drizzle the icing over the warm cake.
- Let the cake cool for 20 minutes, then serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream. When the cake is warm from the oven, the edges will be crisp and slightly chewy, with a soft, cakey center.
Notes
Leftover apple fritter cake is best enjoyed hot from the oven, but it can be covered and refrigerated for up to 3 days.
The cake will be more dense when it cools to room temperature. You can warm up leftover portions of cake in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds on 50% power for a soft, just-baked texture.
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