The moist and soft apple cake is a tall, tender dessert, full of fruit and melting in the mouth, perfect for starting the day simply. If you’re tired of the usual dry, flavorless apple cakes, this recipe is for you.
The secret to getting a cake that stays moist over time is to use ricotta, a dairy product that gives a perfect, soft, “melting” texture to baked breakfast cakes; pay attention when buying it — it should have a good milky flavor; if possible, buy ricotta from the deli. I personally love it and use it to make ricotta pancakes, ricotta muffins and cakes like the tall and soft ricotta bundt cake.
The moist apple cake does not contain butter but uses seed oil, which makes it lighter — you need very little to get a very soft cake; if you don’t like it you can use another oil of your choice or, if you really can’t give it up, replace it with butter — I’ll leave the quantities in the ingredient list.
Also try other apple recipes:
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Budget-friendly
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Cooking time: 50 Minutes
- Portions: 10 Pieces
- Cooking methods: Conventional oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 2 1/8 cups all-purpose flour (00)
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar (about 5.6 oz)
- 1 cup ricotta
- 2 eggs (medium)
- 2 2/3 tbsp milk (about 1.35 fl oz)
- 1 sachet baking powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- lemon zest (grated, from one large lemon)
- 3 Golden Delicious apples (about 1.3 lb net (approximately 21 oz) after peeling and coring)
- 1/3 cup peanut oil (or another oil of choice — alternatively 6 tbsp (about 3 oz) soft butter)
- 2 tsp butter (for greasing (about 0.35 oz))
- 1 tbsp all-purpose flour (00) (for dusting the pan)
- 2 2/3 tbsp vanilla powdered sugar (for dusting, about 0.7 oz)
Tools
- 1 Mixing bowl large
- 1 Whisk
- 1 Kitchen scale
- 1 Cutting board
- 1 Grater
- 1 Cake pan springform pan 9.5 inches in diameter
Method
Wash the apples, peel them and cut two into 5 mm slices, cut one into small dice and set aside (I put them in the fridge to prevent browning).
Put the ricotta in a large bowl together with the sugar and mix very well; add the eggs, incorporating them one at a time, then the oil, the milk, the vanilla and the lemon zest (or other flavorings as desired).
Sift the flour with the baking powder, add them to the wet ingredients and whisk vigorously to obtain a homogeneous batter. Fold the diced apple into the mixture.
Transfer the batter to the buttered and floured pan and arrange the apple slices on the surface.
Bake the cake in a preheated conventional oven at 356°F for about 50 minutes.
Use the toothpick test to check for doneness; if necessary, extend the baking time by a few minutes — be careful not to overbake it, otherwise it will become dry.If the surface of the cake tends to brown too much, cover it with a sheet of aluminum foil.
The moist and soft apple cake is ready — let it cool slightly before removing it from the pan. Place it on a plate and let it cool completely.
Sift powdered sugar on top and serve.
Tips
Storage
The moist and soft apple cake keeps in the refrigerator for 3/4 days; I personally prefer to store fruit cakes in the fridge and leave them at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving, or heat the portion I need in the microwave.
You can also store it at room temperature but not for more than 2 days because the fruit will tend to turn sour.
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