Apple Cake Recipe (A French Classic)
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With tart apples baked into a buttery cake with just a hint of rum, this might be the best apple cake you’ll ever taste. It’s simple yet so satisfying—perfect for dessert, a cozy afternoon snack, or even breakfast (yes, it’s that good!).
The summer after my junior year of college, I worked as an au pair in Paris for a family with three energetic little boys. My host mother, Valérie, loved to cook and often enlisted my help in the kitchen once the kids were in bed. Her apple cake recipe, with chunks of tart apples nestled in a tender, buttery rum cake, quickly became one of my all-time favorite fall desserts. Like many French classics—think clafoutis, madeleines, or crepes—it’s wonderfully simple yet incredibly satisfying. A slice is perfect with a cup of coffee in the afternoon or served as dessert with a dollop of whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
“Last year I won first place in a state fair with this recipe…This year I won division champion in our county fair. It’s a total winner of a recipe!”
What You’ll Need to Make French Apple Cake
- All-purpose flour: Forms the base of the cake, keeping it light and tender.
- Baking powder: Gives the cake its lovely rise and fluffiness.
- Salt: Balances the sweetness and enhances the flavor.
- Unsalted butter: Adds rich flavor and moisture, making the cake soft and buttery.
- Granulated sugar: Sweetens the cake and gives it a crisp topping.
- Eggs: Help bind the ingredients and create structure.
- Vanilla extract: Adds warmth and complements the apples.
- Dark rum: Adds a hint of depth and complexity to the cake. If you’d like to omit the rum, you can replace it with milk, apple cider, or apple juice.
- Baking apples: Tart-sweet varietals provide the perfect balance of flavor and also make the cake incredibly moist. When this baking this cake or other desserts with apples, such as apple crisp, apple pie, or apple cobbler, it’s important to use apples suitable for baking. These apples hold their shape when cooked, so the chunks of fruit won’t turn into applesauce in the oven. Granny Smith apples and Honeycrisp apples are both great options. Feel free to combine different varieties for a more nuanced flavor.
- Confectioners’ sugar (optional): A light dusting gives the cake a pretty finish.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-by-Step Instructions
Begin by combining the flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.
No need to sift; just whisk well.
Set aside. Then, in the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs one at a time.
Beat in the vanilla extract and rum.
It will look a little curdled at this point; that’s okay.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.
Mix until just combined.
Add the peeled and chopped apples.
Use a rubber spatula to fold the apples into the batter.
Have a 9-inch springform pan greased, or a 9-inch cake pan greased, lined with parchment, and greased again.
Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and even the top.
Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar.
Bake the cake for about 40 minutes, until golden and crisp on top.
Serve warm or room temperature, plain or with lightly sweetened whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream. A dash of cinnamon would be a nice addition, too.
Make-Ahead/Freezer-Friendly Instructions
The cake is best enjoyed fresh but keeps well at room temperature for up to 2 days. Store it at room temperature in a cake dome or covered with foil. It can also be frozen for up to 3 months. After it is completely cooled, wrap it tightly with aluminum foil or freezer wrap. Thaw overnight on the countertop before serving.
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Video Tutorial
French Apple Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled off
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar, plus more for sprinkling over cake
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons dark rum
- 2 baking apples, peeled, cored and cut into ½-inch cubes (3½ to 4 cups chopped; see note)
- Confectioners' sugar (optional), for decorating cake
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and set an oven rack in the middle position. Grease a 9-inch (23-cm) springform or regular cake pan with butter or nonstick cooking spray. If using a regular cake pan, line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and grease again.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
- Using a handheld mixer with beaters or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well and scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and rum. Don't worry if the batter looks grainy at this point; that's okay. Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until just combined. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the chopped apples.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and even the top. Sprinkle evenly with 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until the cake is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool on a rack in the pan. Once cool, run a blunt knife around the edges of the cake. If using a springform pan, remove the sides. If using a regular cake pan, carefully invert the cake onto the rack, remove the parchment paper, then gently flip the cake over and place right-side-up on a platter. Using a fine sieve, dust with confectioners' sugar (if using). Cake can be served warm or room temperature, plain or with lightly sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
Notes
- When this baking this cake, it's important to use apples suitable for baking. Baking apples hold their shape when cooked, so the chunks of fruit won't turn into applesauce in the oven. Tart-sweet varietals such as Granny Smith, Honey Crisp, Pink Lady, Braeburn, and Jonagold are all great options. Feel free to combine different varieties for a more nuanced flavor.
- Make-Ahead/Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The cake is best enjoyed fresh but for up to 2 days. Store at room temperature in a cake dome or covered with foil. It can also be frozen for up to 3 months. After it is completely cooled, wrap it tightly with aluminum foil or freezer wrap. Thaw overnight on the countertop before serving.
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Jenn, what name brand of dark rum do you use and where can I purchase it? Thank you, Kathleen
Hi Kathleen, I use Mount Gay and I think you can find it in any liquor store. (BTW, if you aren’t able to find that brand, any brand of dark rum will work.) Hope that helps!
Can I put the batter mix together a few hours before baking? I’d like to bake while we have our dinner so we have a fresh warm cake for dessert? BTW this is my to go place for recipes. Not a single one disappoints!
So glad you like the recipes! And I don’t recommend making the batter in advance as the cake won’t rise well when you go to bake it. If you’d like, you can mix the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet in another and then combine them and proceed with the recipe right before baking it.
I can’t wait to try this. Do you use table salt or kosher salt? If the latter, Diamond Crystal?
Hi Michael, table salt is what I intended here. For future reference, when a recipe of mine says salt in the ingredient list, I am referring to regular/table salt. If it calls for something else like kosher salt, I will specify that in the recipe. Hope you enjoy the cake!
Can you use rum extract?
Hi CP, If you want to use rum extract, you can substitute 1 teaspoon rum extract plus 2-1/2 tablespoons apple juice or apple cider. Hope you enjoy!
Very good! Super moist!
Can I substitute buttermilk for the rum or would regular milk be better?
I’d stick with regular milk. 🙂
This is a great apple cake. I made the following customizations; added 1/2t cinnamon and 1/4t ginger to the apples. Used Disaronno instead of rum and added sliced almonds to the top.IMO you can use most any dark alcohol. We actually like it better the next morning and just had a slice with coffee.
This cake was absolutely delicious, and the recipe was so simple to follow! The only thing I changed was using less sugar – about 2 tablespoons – and it was still sweet enough. Thank you for this recipe 🙂
Made this yesterday to bring to a friend’s home for dessert. I multiplied by 1.5 in order to make a larger cake in a springform pan, used Tortuga Gold rum instead of dark, and sprinkled some roasted cinnamon on top with the sugar. Two hours after coming out of the oven, the rum still lightly scented the room. As other reviewers have said, this recipe turns out SO VERY WELL. One person ate almost half the cake himself, he said it was that good (he asked for seconds twice!). I served some of the leftover cake to a friend at an impromptu brunch today and he loved it, too. I want to try it again, next time with Amaretto as other reviewers have used or suggested. Fabulous!
Lovely cake. I like to add 2 teaspoons of cinnamon powder and some lemon juice to my chopped apples and sprinkle some almond flakes and sugar on top of the uncooked cake for extra taste before cooking.
Can I substitute Skinny Caramel Syrup on place of rum?
I’m not familiar with it so I’d be reluctant to suggest it. If you don’t have/don’t want to use the rum, you could replace it with apple juice, apple cider, or milk. Hope that helps!
What if I do not have parchment paper? Also, what are the alternatives to rum that I can use?
Hi Courtney, you can get away with using a cake pan and no parchment paper as long as the pan is nonstick and you treat it with either cooking spray or butter and flour it. And you can substitute apple juice, apple cider, or milk for the rum. Hope that helps and that you enjoy!
The cake is delicious. however it is a very low profile cake, more like a tart. I put it in a 9inch springform pan. The photo shows it as being a bit taller than mine. Is this how it is supposed to be?
Hi Angela, Glad you like it. The photo may be a bit deceiving but this cake definitely has a low profile so you’re not doing anything wrong.
An easy cake to make with a subtle buttery taste. The top browned nicely giving it a lovely flavour and slight crispness. I found a jar of rum soaked raisins in a jar in my pantry and added some of those to the batter, as well as the apples. A double batch was the perfect amount for a 13 x 9 pan.
WOW, delicious. I cut my apples small and had to substitute vanilla bourbon for the rum as I had none. the best apple cake I ever had.
This recipe is a keeper.
I add about 2tsp of lemon zest in the cake batter and another .5tsp sprinkled on top. It adds another layer to the taste! (I work as a bartender, so I always have a lot of lemon ends to grate)