16 Best Apple Cake Recipes To Make This Fall

Apple-Cream Cheese Bundt Cake — Photo:
Greg DuPree

Pumpkin isn’t the only fall flavor you can bake with this fall. Apple trees also bear their produce this season — produce that perfectly compliments cinnamon and other spices. We believe the best way to enjoy fresh apples is in dessert form.

Whether you prefer an easy apple cake that just requires a little bit of stirring or want to challenge yourself with a time-intensive stack cake, there's sure to be an apple cake recipe on our list that you'll enjoy baking (and your family will love eating). After a couple of bites, you won’t question why autumn is many Southerners’ favorite season.

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Buttery Apple-Almond Cake

The design on top of this attractive recipe is thanks to honeycrisp apples, which remain firm after baking. Despite its impressive appearance, this recipe is surprisingly easy to make.

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Apple-Cream Cheese Bundt Cake

This apple bundt cake is swirled with sweet cream cheese filling and homemade praline frosting. It's superbly moist and full of juicy Gala apples. Garnish the frosting with extra toasted pecans for an extra toasty fall-forward flourish.

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Apple Fritters

Okay, so it's not exactly an apple cake, but the batter for these fresh Granny Smith apple fritters fries up into an individual cakey fritter that's full of warm fall flavors. Moist, sweet, and tangy, these fritters feel like a cross between a a fresh apple cake and an apple donut, which is arguably fall's most treasured treat.

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04 of 16

Apple Bread

Dotted with tart Granny Smith apples and sweetened with sugar and honey, this sliceable loaf is the perfect fall companion to a hot cup of coffee.

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05 of 16

Old-Fashioned Apple Dapple Cake

Southern Living Apple Dapple Cake on a cake plate to serve with cups of coffee — Jen Causey, Food Stylist: Chelsea Zimmer

Apple Dapple cake is thought to have its roots in Southern baking — a theory made more plausible by the abundance of crunchy pecans in this recipe.

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06 of 16

Apple-Pecan Carrot Cake Recipe

Southern Living Apple-Pecan Carrot Cake — Jen Causey; Food Stylist: Jennifer Wendorf; Prop Stylist: Josh Hoggle

This recipe proves that carrot cake can be enjoyed year-round. The impressive cake features a mascarpone frosting and requires just 30 minutes of hands-on time.

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07 of 16

Caramel Apple Dump Cake

True to its name, this dump cake is as easy as dumping all the ingredients together in a 13- x 9-inch baking pan.

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08 of 16

Apple Spice Cake

This recipe's standout quality is its texture — ultra-moist and tender with a sprinkling of crunchy pecans.

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09 of 16

Caramel Apple Cake

A beautiful cake like this one can serve as both a centerpiece and dessert. As a bonus, it only requires 20 minutes of your hands-on attention.

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10 of 16

Caramel Apple Coffee Cake

Enjoy dessert from breakfast to after dinner with this apple coffee cake.

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Fresh Apple Cake

This simple cake recipe has been delighting readers since it was first published in 2001.

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Apple Stack Cake

You'll make use of a whole pound of apples in this stack cake. We recommend letting it cure for two to three days before serving, so be sure to keep that in mind if you're making it for company.

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