The Best Olive Oil Apple Spice Cake Recipe

Welcome in the Fall season with this delicious Apple Spice Cake! With fresh apples, the perfect blend of warming spices, and pantry baking staples, this perfect cake is packed with Fall flavor, and will be one of your favorite recipes in no time! 

a slice of apple spice cake on a cake stand

Why You’ll Love This Easy Apple Spice Cake Recipe

When September rolls around, I drop berries and stone fruits like a hot potato and move right on over to apples and pears for fruit desserts. I taught this Olive Oil Apple Spice  Cake last year and then proceeded to make it for the Jewish holidays and every time we had people over in the Fall.  Then all my friends who ate it asked me for the recipe and I told them, “Sorry, it’s exclusive to my online cooking class!”  Little did they know I tweaked an Ottolenghi recipe. LOL. This cake reminds me of a better version of the Silver Palate chunky apple walnut cake that I made 100 times when I was in college.

  • Cake can be made 2-3 days in advance
  • It’s so apple-y!
  • The ultimate fall cake, perfect for holidays and entertaining
  • Freezes well
  • No need for frosting, glaze, or anything over-the-top!

If you’re looking for more apple recipes, try these: Apple Amaretti Crisp, Apple Fritter Skillet Cake, or Grain-Free Apple Tarte Tartin.

Ingredient Notes

This recipe calls for very simple ingredients– many of which you may already have on hand. Please see recipe substitutions in the recipe card below to make a gluten-free version or to swap ingredients if you don’t have them. 

recipe ingredients on a marble counter

  • Raisins: I prefer unsulphured raisins. 
  • All-purpose flour: I know I rarely use all-purpose flour, but it helps keep this cake from getting too heavy.
  • Buckwheat or Rye flour: This has a nice earthy taste that provides an interesting flavor in baked goods and pancakes. You can use more whole wheat pastry if you don’t have either of these. 
  • Whole wheat pastry flour: milled from white wheat berries, this is lighter than traditional “whole wheat flour” and less bitter. I love the earthiness whole grain flours provide.
  • Cinnamon: apples and cinnamon are BFF’s!
  • Nutmeg: I love a little nutmeg, but it can get overpowering, so I am conservative when I use it.
  • Cloves or Allspice: a little goes a long way. That’s why I only use 1/8th teaspoon. 
  • Baking soda: Standard Arm & Hammer baking soda reacts with the acidic ingredients to provide extra leavening.
  • Baking powder: I prefer an aluminum-free baking powder to avoid a metallic taste in baked goods. Besides, it’s not like we need any more aluminum in our diet. 
  • Apples: now is the season even though you see apples year-round at the market. I like Granny Smith apples, Pink Lady, Braeburn, Honeycrisp apples, or Fuji, but use what you like.  
  • Sugar: I use a dry sweetener in this recipe. I recommend cane sugar because it dissolves well and is light-colored. You can also use maple sugar (more expensive), coconut sugar (will result in a darker cake), or light brown sugar if that’s all you have. 
  • Olive oil: is one of my go-to fats of choice in baked goods. Olive oil pairs well with fruit, vegetables, and chocolate.
  • Eggs: I use 2 large eggs plus 2 large egg whites. 
  • Vanilla extract: look for pure vanilla extract with no additives or artificial flavors. 
  • Citrus zest: I like to use orange or lemon zest. 

Step-by-Step Instructions 

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease the base and sides of a 9-inch round springform pan with olive oil and line the bottom with unbleached parchment paper. Set aside. 

raisins simmering in a saucepan

Step 2: Place the raisins and 2/3 cup of the water in a medium saucepan. Simmer over low heat until the raisins are plump, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and drain any remaining water in the pan. Set aside.

hands cutting apples on a cutting board

Step 3: Whisk the flours, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, baking soda, baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl. Peel and core the apples, then cut into 1-inch pieces and set aside in a separate bowl. The apples may start to oxidize if you do this in advance, but it’s ok because you won’t be able to tell when the cake bakes.

apple spice cake batter in a mixing bowl

Step 4: Place the sugar, olive oil, whole eggs, vanilla and orange zest in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed for 4-5 minutes, until the mixture is light in color and has thickened a little. You don’t want to beat at such a high speed since it can create air bubbles. Remove the bowl from the machine and, using a large spatula, add the dry ingredients and gently fold to combine. Add the apples, raisins, and the remaining 1/3 cup water (or equivalent amount of calvados, if using) and stir to combine.

a hand holding a whisk to show the stiff peaks of egg whites

Step 5: Place the egg whites in a clean bowl and whisk at high speed until soft peaks form. This will take a little longer if you’re using a stand mixer due to the small amount of egg whites. Gently fold in the egg whites into the batter, then transfer the cake batter into the prepared pan.

raw apple spice cake batter in a spring form pan

Step 6: Smooth the top with a spatula and bake in your preheated oven for 40 – 50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven, allow to cool in the pan for a few minutes. Run a thin knife along the perimeter of the cake, unmold and transfer the cake to a cooling rack to cool completely.

baked apple spice cake right out of the oven

Step 7: Once cool, you can dust with a little powdered sugar if desired.

an overhead shot of an apple spice cake on a serving platter

Recipe Tips 

  • Use room temperature ingredients, especially eggs. You may not realize it, but it makes a difference!
  • Don’t use your peppery, artisanal $50 olive oil here. Just the one you use for daily cooking is fine.
  • Use the apples you enjoy. I tend to prefer Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, and Pink Lady in cakes.
  • Use a toothpick or skewer to determine if the cake is done. Dry crumbs are ok. A sticky batter is not.
  • If you don’t have a springform pan, use a 9-inch round with parchment lining the inside and coming up the top at least an inch.
  • While this is a delicious cake on its own, if you want to drizzle a little caramel syrup or layer a little cream cheese frosting over the top, that is an option. 

Recipe Substitutions

  • Buckwheat or rye flour – Use more whole wheat pastry flour 
  • Wheat flours – Use a good GF flour blend, like King Arthur or Bob’s Red Mill.
  • Ground cloves – allspice
  • Cane sugar – Maple sugar or coconut sugar. Keep in mind that white sugars result in a lighter cake, where darker sugars will make the cake more brown. 
  • Orange zest – Lemon zest
  • Raisins – Diced dates or chopped walnuts

Storage and Serving Tips

You can slice and serve this easy apple cake by itself or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream (or salted caramel ice cream!) or a dollop of whipped cream. Lightly dust with confectioners’ sugar if desired. 

 

Store your cake in an airtight container or wrapped tightly in plastic wrap. It will keep for 2 days at room temperature or 5-6 days in the refrigerator. 

 

For longer storage, let the apple spice cake cool completely. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and store it in a freezer bag. Freeze for up to 2-3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then let it sit for a bit at room temperature before serving! 

a slice taken out of a cake on a stand

More Fall Dessert Recipes

 

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The Best Olive Oil Apple Spice Cake Recipe

Adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi
Welcome in the Fall season with this delicious Apple Spice Cake! With fresh apples, the perfect blend of warming spices, and pantry baking staples, this perfect cake is packed with Fall flavor, and will be one of your favorite recipes in no time!
5 from 2 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Servings 8 -10

Ingredients
  

  • 2/3 cup unsulphured raisins any color (I bet diced dates would be great, too)
  • 1 cup water divided OR â…” cups water + â…“ cup calvados (apple brandy)
  • 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
  • ½ cup buckwheat or rye flour or just use more whole wheat pastry flour
  • ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • â…› teaspoon ground cloves or allspice
  • 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 ½ teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 ¾ pounds apples about 3 large, such as Granny Smith, Pink Lady, Braeburn, Honeycrisp or Fuji
  • 1 cup unbleached organic cane sugar maple sugar, or coconut sugar
  • â…” cup unrefined cold-pressed extra-virgin olive oil + extra for greasing pan
  • 2 large eggs lightly beaten, plus 2 large egg whites
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon finely grated orange or lemon zest
  • Optional: powdered sugar for dusting

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 350 F degrees. Lightly grease the base and sides of a 9-inch round springform pan with olive oil and line the bottom with unbleached parchment paper. Set aside.
  • Place the raisins and 2/3 cup of the water in a medium saucepan. Simmer over low heat until the raisins are plump, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and drain any remaining water in the pan. Set aside.
  • Whisk the flours, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, baking soda, baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl. Peel and core the apples, then cut into 1-inch pieces and set aside in a separate bowl. The apples may start to oxidize if you do this in advance, but it’s ok because you won’t be able to tell when the cake bakes.
  • Place the sugar, olive oil, whole eggs, vanilla and orange zest in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed for 4-5 minutes, until the mixture is light in color and has thickened a little. Remove the bowl from the machine and, using a large spatula, add the dry mix and gently fold to combine. Add the apples, raisins, and the remaining 1/3 cup water (or equivalent amount of calvados, if using) and stir to combine.
  • Place the egg whites in a clean bowl and whisk at high speed until soft peaks form. Gently fold in the egg whites into the batter, then transfer the batter into the prepared pan. Smooth the top with a spatula and bake for 40 - 50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven, allow to cool in the pan for a few minutes. Run a thin knife along the perimeter of the cake, unmold and transfer the cake to a cooling rack to cool completely.
  • Once cool, you can dust with a little powdered sugar, if desired.

Notes

Recipe Tips
Use room temperature ingredients, especially eggs. You may not realize it, but it makes a difference!
Don't use your peppery, artisanal $50 olive oil here. Just the one you use for daily cooking is fine.
Use the apples you enjoy. I tend to prefer Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, and Pink Lady in cakes.
Use a toothpick or skewer to determine if the cake is done. Dry crumbs are ok. A sticky batter is not.
If you don't have a springform pan, use a 9-inch round with parchment lining the inside and coming up the top at least an inch.
While this is a delicious cake on its own, if you want to drizzle a little caramel syrup or layer a little cream cheese frosting over the top, that is an option (Ottolenghi suggests a maple-cream cheese frosting, but I didn't think it needed it.)
Recipe Substitutions
Buckwheat or rye flour - Use more whole wheat pastry flour
Wheat flours - Use a good GF flour blend, like King Arthur or Bob's Red Mill.
Ground cloves - allspice
Cane sugar - Maple sugar or coconut sugar. Keep in mind that white sugars result in a lighter cake, where darker sugars will make the cake more brown.
Orange zest - Lemon zest
Raisins - Diced dates or chopped walnuts
Storage and Serving Tips
You can slice and serve this easy apple cake by itself or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream (or salted caramel ice cream!) or a dollop of whipped cream. Lightly dust with confectioners’ sugar if desired.
Store your cake in an airtight container or covered with plastic wrap. It will keep for 2-3 days at room temperature or 5-6 days in the refrigerator.
For longer storage, let the cake cool completely. Wrap the cake tightly in plastic wrap and store it in a freezer bag. Freeze for up to 2-3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then let it sit for a bit at room temperature before serving!
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

 

 

 

 

(A more healthful) chocolate chip cookie recipe

(a more healthful) chocolate chip cookie by Pamela Salzman

One of my students asked me the other day if I had a good chocolate chip cookie recipe and I instinctively said, “Sure, just check my website.”  To which she replied, “I did.  But all you have on there is your Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe.”  And then it hit me.  I have neither taught in a class nor posted my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe.  Gasp!  Coincidentally, Mr. Picky had been asking if we could make homemade ice cream sandwiches, so I got to work lickety split!

beat butter and sugars until smooth, then add eggs, baking soda and vanilla

In my defense, there are good reasons I haven’t posted my chocolate chip cookie recipe.  First of all, I do use refined white sugar because it just makes the best cookie.  But it isn’t exactly clean and healthful and I want this site to be your destination for high quality recipes.  However, even with the white and brown sugars, I use whole grain flours and everything is organic so these will be waaaaaaay better for you than bakery cookies or packaged (really now?) ones.  It’s all about balance and moderation!

next add the flours, baking powder and salt

The other issue is that I keep changing my recipe when I learn something new to make them even better than the last time.  And this has happened often.  Many of you are so in the know about food trends that you might think my ah-ha chocolate chip moments are sooooo 2005, but I never said I was an early adopter.  Let me first make it clear what kind of chocolate chip cookie I love, because that’s what you’re getting here — my favorite.  If you love the thin and crispy kind, hmmmm, today’s not your day.  Cakey?  Yeah, not me.  Milk chocolate?  Don’t waste my time!  Friends, I like a cookie with some heft and substance, something that you can sink your teeth into.  But I also don’t want a greasy cookie which makes me feel like I’m sucking on butter.  Slightly crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside with chunks of semisweet or dark chocolate is the way I roll.  Sometimes I’m feeling fancy and I’ll add a pinch of flaky sea salt on on the tops and that is just heaven.

chop chocolate from a bar for nice chunky pieces

Something I learned to achieve my perfect cookie is to use cold butter instead of room temperature, which is a trick I learned from Mrs. Fields (not that I met her, but that’s how she makes her cookies.)  The combination of cold butter and  a low oven temperature help to keep the cookie from spreading out too thin and too fast.  I also started adding a little oat flour after I saw this Neiman Marcus cookie recipe which I found out later was not the official recipe but the oat flour stayed in mine.  The oat flour makes the cookie a little nuttier and dense.  Ina Garten taught me (via television, of course) that a chocolate bar cut into pieces is much more satisfying than chocolate chips, although I do use those often.  And every fancy restaurant in the last several years has added a pinch of flaky sea salt to the tops of their cookies — a smart and delicious move.

using an ice cream scooper gives you uniform, round cookies

add a pinch of flaky sea salt for a grown-up twist

I grated some of the chocolate into the batter
I grated some of the chocolate into the batter

It may have taken me a while to bring it to you, but I’m sure with certain special occasions coming up, like Father’s Day or end-of-the-year parties, it’s never too late to try a great chocolate chip cookie recipe.  Of course, if you have the latest and greatest twist on chocolate chip cookies, I’m always open to improvement!

freshly baked | Pamela Salzman

(a more healthful) chocolate chip cookie by Pamela Salzman

 

 
 
 

 
 
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Chocolate Chip Cookies

Pamela
Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup 2 sticks cold unsalted butter or organic Earth Balance, cut into ½-inch pieces
  • ¾ cup cane sugar
  • 1 cup brown sugar or Muscovado sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour or white whole wheat flour
  • 1 cup oat flour you can take a cup of rolled oats and process them in the food processor to make your own oat flour
  • 1 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 18 ounces semi-sweet or dark chocolate bars chopped coarsely or use chocolate chips
  • 1 ½ cups chopped walnuts or pecans optional
  • flaky sea salt optional

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with unbleached parchment paper or silicone mats.
  • Place the butter and sugars in the bowl of stand mixer and blend on medium speed until the mixture is smooth.
  • Add the baking soda, eggs and vanilla to the mixing bowl and mix until combined.
  • In a medium bowl whisk together the flours, baking powder and sea salt. Add to the butter mixture and blend on low speed until just combined.
  • Stir in the chocolate and nuts.
  • Scoop the dough with a 1 ¾ -inch ice cream scooper onto the prepared baking sheets or use a tablespoon. Space them evenly apart. I was able to get 12 on each sheet.
  • Bake 18-20 minutes or until just set. The cookies will be slightly soft in the center. If you like them crispier, bake them for up to 23 minutes. Allow to cool on the baking sheets 2 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. Repeat with the remaining dough.

Notes

Raw cookie dough can be frozen, but it’s a great idea to scoop the dough into balls first and freeze those so you can just pull out as many as you want to bake instead of having to defrost the whole batch of dough.  I have even baked cookies in the toaster oven!
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!