Irish Apple Cake with Custard Sauce

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Irish Apple Cake is a light and tender vanilla spice cake with a crunchy sugar topping that's loaded with tart, crisp apples.

Corned beef and cabbage with Mustard Sauce and THIS cake are on the must-bake list at our house every year on St. Patrick's Day. But honestly, we love this cake so much that I make it year-round. Serve this cake with creamy vanilla custard sauce or buttery whisky sauce.

Someone using a fork to cut into a slice of Irish Apple Cake.

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What is Irish Apple Cake?
Ingredients Needed to Prepare this Recipe
Step-by-Step Photos and Instructions
Tips for a Moist and Tender Cake
How to Serve Irish Apple Cake
Irish Apple Cake FAQs
More Delicious Apple Recipes
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What is Irish Apple Cake?

Irish Apple Cake is a soft vanilla cake that's subtly sweet, packed with apples, and gently flavored with cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.

There is some variation in what's considered a "classic" Irish apple cake. Here's what you can expect from this recipe:

Tall, thick slices of vanilla cake flavored with a hint of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves
A LOT of tart, crisp apples
A crunchy, sugary topping that's the perfect contrast to the soft vanilla cake and tart apples (it's my favorite part of this cake!)

The cake is traditionally served with custard sauce (crème anglaise), but whiskey sauce is also a delicious choice.

Someone using a spoon to pour custard sauce over a slice of Irish Apple Cake.

Ingredients Needed to Prepare this Recipe

All the ingredients needed to make Irish Apple Cake.

All-purpose flour
Baking soda and baking powder work together to help the cake rise while it bakes and give it a light, tender texture.
Salt
Cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and vanilla give this cake a delicious warm flavor that's the perfect complement to the tart apples.
Granny Smith apples or a similar variety of tart apples. It's important to use tart, crisp apples in this cake.
Eggs.
Butter. Using unsalted butter gives you more control over the amount of salt in your cake, but I have made this cake many times with salted butter and can say with confidence that both salted and unsalted butter works equally well.
Vegetable or canola oil. A bit of oil keeps this cake moist and tender.
White granulated sugar.
Buttermilk adds flavor and works with the baking soda to ensure a soft and tender texture.
Pure vanilla extract.

Step-by-Step Photos and Instructions

Using a wood spoon to stir chopped apples into flour.

Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg to a large bowl and stir to combine. Peel, core, and chop the apples into bite-size pieces and toss them with the flour to coat.

Two white bowls with egg yolks in one and egg whites in another.

Separate the eggs so that you have 2 egg yolks in one bowl and 4 egg whites in a separate bowl.

Using an electric mixer to beat butter and sugar.

Beat the butter, oil, and sugar with an electric mixer for about a minute.

Using an electric mixer to beat egg yolks, buttermilk, and vanilla into butter and sugar.

Add the egg yolks, buttermilk, and vanilla and beat for about a minute more.

Using a wooden spoon to stir the wet ingredients into the flour and apples.

Scrape the batter into the bowl with the apples and flour and use a spoon to stir everything together.

Someone using a wood spoon to stir Irish Apple Cake batter.

The batter will be very, very thick. Don't worry! That's how it's supposed to be. Just keep stirring until all the dry ingredients are moistened.

Someone lifting a whisk from a bowl of beaten egg whites to show that the egg whites are at the stiff peak stage.

Either clean out the bowl of the electric mixer you've been using or use a handheld mixer to beat the egg whites with a bit more sugar until they are thick enough to hold their shape when you lift the beater from the bowl.

Someone using a wood spoon to fold beaten egg whites into the batter for Irish Apple Cake.

Very gently, fold the beaten egg whites into the cake batter, stirring just until the egg whites are about 90% incorporated.

A springform pan containing Irish Apple Cake batter, ready to bake.

Scoop the batter into a 10-inch springform pan. It's important to coat the inside of the pan with butter or vegetable shortening and flour before adding the batter so the cake won't stick. Here's how to prepare a pan to prevent the cake from sticking.

Sprinkling sugar over Irish Apple Cake batter.

Mix a couple of tablespoons of sugar with a bit of nutmeg and sprinkle it over the top of the cake.

The cake is now ready to bake! For most people the cake will take 50-60 minutes to bake but if yours is taking longer, don't worry about it! The bake time is largely dependent on how juicy your apples are.

To test that the cake is done, insert a toothpick in the center and remove it. If there is no raw batter on the toothpick the cake is ready to be removed from the oven. Set the cake on a wire rack and allow it to cool before removing the sides of the springform pan.

An Irish Apple Cake with a crunchy sugar coated top on a wood cake board with some sliced green apples.

Tips for a Moist and Tender Cake

Be very careful to not overwork the batter. To bake a cake with a soft and fluffy texture, stir the flour gently into the batter by hand. Be sure to mix only long enough to combine the ingredients and moisten all of the flour.
Use buttermilk instead of milk. I like the subtle tang the buttermilk gives to the cake. Buttermilk also reacts with the baking soda to create an even lighter and more tender crumb.
For a tall, fluffy cake that comes out of the pan easily, bake this cake in a springform pan. The removable sides of a springform pan is tall enough to contain a lot of apple-packed cake batter and make it super easy to remove the cake from the pan.

A slice of Irish Apple Cake covered in custard sauce on a wood plate with a few sliced green apples.

How to Serve Irish Apple Cake

Serve this cake with vanilla custard sauce or whisky sauce.

Custard sauce, also known as crème anglaise, is basically unfrozen vanilla ice cream. It's a thin sauce, not thick like pudding. The sauce soaks right into the tender cake creating a texture that's almost like bread pudding. SO GOOD.

Also, custard sauce is a cinch to make and will keep in your refrigerator for about 2 weeks. If you have some left over after the apple cake is eaten and gone, drizzle it on pretty much any other pie, cake, or brownie. Or, stir in some cream and pour it into an ice cream maker to make vanilla ice cream.

Irish Apple Cake is also absolutely delicious drenched in spoonfuls of buttery Whisky Sauce.

Honestly, there are few desserts that can't be improved with a drizzle of whisky sauce. Making the sauce is super easy, requiring a small handful of ingredients and about 20 minutes of your time.

Whisky Sauce will keep in the refrigerator for about 3 weeks, but if it actually lasts that long in your house, you've got considerably more willpower than I do. 😊

Someone using a fork to cut a bite of Irish Apple Cake from a slice on a wood plate.

Irish Apple Cake FAQs

Can I bake this cake in a regular cake pan?

Yes - IF the pan is large enough. Use a 10-inch cake pan with 3-inch tall sides or a 9 x 13 rectangle baking pan. Grease and flour the inside of the pan and line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper. (Here's how to prepare cake pans so the cake will not stick.)

What are the best kind of apples to use in this cake?

It's important to use tart, crisp apples in this cake. I used Granny Smith, but any variety of tart apple will do. Tart apples hold their shape and will retain a bit of crunch even after baking which is really delicious in this cake.

How do I know when this cake is done?

It can be a bit challenging knowing exactly when this cake is done baking. The water content of apples can vary quite a bit. So, be flexible with the timing.

In my oven, Irish Apple Cake takes approximately 56 minutes. In yours, it might take a few minutes less, or a few minutes more.

To test for doneness, poke a toothpick into the cake in a few different place to check for evidence of uncooked batter. Because the cake is super moist, you might have some cake crumbs clinging to the toothpick, which is perfectly fine. But, if you see any batter on the toothpick, keep baking for a while longer.

How long does Irish Apple Cake last?

At room temperature, this cake will keep well for up to 2 days. If you refrigerate the cake, it will keep well for up to 5 days. Store the cake in a covered container or wrapped with plastic wrap to prevent it from drying out.

An Irish Apple Cake with a sugar crusted top on two wood cake boards surrounded by green apples.

The Best Part of this Cake is the Crunchy, Sugary Top

Right before baking, Irish Apple Cake is sprinkled with sugar, creating a thin, crackly layer that is a delicious contrast to the soft, tender cake. Irish Apple Cake is also sometimes baked with a streusel topping which is also delicious! But, I prefer the sugar and nutmeg topping.

I baked this cake yesterday in a completely empty house. It was a challenge to not pick off that sugary layer and eat it before my family got home because it's my favorite part!

Don't worry. I didn't. They all got slices of cake with the sugary topping still intact. Lucky for them, I can occasionally summon some restraint.

More Delicious Apple Recipes

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Happy baking!

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