The autumn cake is a soft, delicious, and aromatic dessert truly special due to the pre-cooking of the apples with cinnamon and brown sugar. Very easy to make, it’s perfect for breakfast accompanied by a good hot tea.
For the base, I used my classic 5-minute cake but slightly modified the dough to make it suitable to support the weight of the caramelized apples and cooking liquid.
The apples must be sweet, firm, and juicy, their season has just started, and you can purchase and use the variety you prefer; however, the Golden and Renette are the best for making cakes.
To flavor the apples, you can add other spices; I sautéed them with ground cinnamon, but you can also add ginger and cloves. The same goes for nuts; I used almonds to give a crunchy touch to the surface, but feel free to add walnuts, pine nuts, and pecans to personalize your cake according to your tastes.
If, like me, you go crazy for apple desserts, here are some easy and tasty ideas:
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 8People
- Cooking methods: Stove, Electric oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Fall, Fall, Winter
- Energy 305.69 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 45.21 (g) of which sugars 25.87 (g)
- Proteins 5.32 (g)
- Fat 12.72 (g) of which saturated 6.40 (g)of which unsaturated 6.00 (g)
- Fibers 2.24 (g)
- Sodium 14.88 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 100 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup whole milk
- 1/3 cup butter (melted and cooled)
- 2 eggs (medium)
- 1 packet baking powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- lemon zest (grated, zest of half a natural lemon needed)
- 2/3 cup almonds (or walnuts)
- 14 oz Golden Delicious apples (or Renette peeled)
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
Tools
- 2 Bowls
- 1 Whisk
- 1 Scale
- 1 Sieve
- 1 Cake Pan springform, 9 inches in diameter
- 1 Pan
- 1 Brush food-grade silicone
Procedure
Wash the apples well, peel them, remove the core and cut them into cubes.
In a pan, add brown sugar, cinnamon, butter, and apples, and caramelize them for 3/4 minutes; they should remain firm.
Let them cool while we prepare the cake.
The sugar and butter will form a kind of caramel that we will use partly in the batter and partly to glaze the cake after baking.
Melt the butter in the microwave or in a saucepan and let it cool.
Slice half of the almonds and set aside.
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In a bowl, sift the flour with the baking powder and set aside.
In the other bowl, pour the sugar together with the eggs and mix well with the hand whisk, then add the milk, butter, vanilla, and lemon zest.
Pour the liquid ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients, briefly mixing the mixture with the whisk; you should obtain a homogeneous batter. Add 3 tablespoons of caramelized apples.
Pour the mixture into the buttered and floured cake pan.
Distribute the caramelized apples with two tablespoons of cooking liquid on the surface and finish with the whole and sliced almonds.
Bake the cake in a preheated static oven at 356°F (180°C) for about 45/50 minutes.
Do the toothpick test to check the cooking, if necessary, extend it for a few more minutes, being careful not to overbake it, or it will become dry.If the surface of the cake tends to darken too much, cover it with a sheet of aluminum foil.
The 5-Minute Autumn Cake is ready, take it out of the oven and brush the surface with the remaining caramel, let it cool completely and serve.
Tips
Storage
The autumn cake can be stored for 3 days at room temperature in a cool place. I prefer to store it in the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving to prevent the apples from souring.
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