Italian apple cake recipe: easy to follow recipe to make at home this delicious Italian dessert perfect as breakfast cake, afternoon snack or homely dessert.
Italian apple cake is a classic in Italy’s family kitchen.
It is an easy to make cake loved by kids and adults and a versatile cake that you can both as dessert after lunch or dinner or use as a breakfast sweet – first thing in the morning, with coffee, Italian apple cake is simply delightful and a staple of a traditional Italian breakfast!
Baking this cake requires no baking experience and you can easily involve your kids in the making process since most of the job consists in stirring with a wooded spoon – safe and satisfactory!
This is how you make Italian apple cake, following the recipe I have on my trustworthy family recipe notebook, where I have been gathering friends and families recipes for over 30 years!
In Italy we use grams to this is my main measuring unit however, I have converted it to cups to the best of my ability as well, to make the recipe easier to replicate if you use a different system.
You can find more kid-friendly Italian recipes here.
Table of Contents
Italian apple cake ingredients
- 2 cups /300 g flour
- 15g instant yeast (1 sachet)
- 1 cup / 150 g sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 cup or a tiny bit less / 100 g butter, at room temperature
- 0.4 cups / 1 dl whole milk
- 4 small apples
- Grated lemon rind – cake sure your lemon has no wax and is washed. If you are not sure, you can substitute the rind with a couple of drops of lemon juice.
What types of apples for Italian apple cake?
To make apple cake I recommend you use ‘renette’ apples, which maintain their shape and bite when cooked and develop a sweet, smooth taste
Golden delicious are also good for this Italian apple cake recipe
Fuji apples and pink ladies also work really well as they have an ever so slightly more acidic taste that complements well the sweetness of this cake.
Kitchen gear you need to make Italian apple cake
- A large bowl for mixing
- A wooden spoon
- A spring tin for cooking
- A grater for the lemon rind
How to make Italian apple cake: the process
Place the butter in a large bowl then, using a wooden spoon, work it until it melts into a thick paste.
Once you have a smooth cream with no lumps, add the eggs and mix them in, the add sugar, flour, yeast and your grated lemon rind: once the mixture starts coming together, slowly add the milk to add moisture and make the mixing easier.
.Keep mixing everything until you get a soft, smooth mixture.
Good to know: the order in which you add the ingredients is not hugely important as long as you add the eggs before the flour, as this minimizes the chances of getting lumps.

Once you have your mixture ready, peel your apples and cut them in small chunks. Put them into the mixture and fold them in.
Need to know! I keep pealing the apple as the last step to prevent them from browning. If you prefer to peel them and chop them in advance, you can preserve their color and texture adding some lemon juice to them and keeping them covered with cling film.
Now take your spring tin, butter it and give it a light dusting of flour to prevent your cake from sticking. Then pour in your batter and give it a quick dusting with granulated sugar.

Put in the over at 180C/350F degrees for about 50 minutes then stick a toothpick in the cake to check the inside. If the toothpick comes out clean (bar some apple pulp) your cake is ready! Serve hot or cold with or without Italian pastry cream.

How to serve Italian apple cake
You can serve Italian apple cake as a breakfast cake: once cool, you can keep the cake for 2-3 days (make sure you cover it to prevent drying)
You can serve this cake as an accompaniment to tea or afternoon coffee
You can serve it with cream Italian custard works perfect as a homely dessert.

Italian apple cake recipe

Easy to make, delicious, traditional Italian apple cake, the perfect cake for breakfast, a light snack or to serve as a homely dessert.
Italian apple cake is a delicate tasting dessert you can easily make with the kids and that is sure to please the whole family.
Making it requires no baking experience and you do not need any special equipment to make it, the process mostly being down to some good old wooden spoon mixing!
The Italian version of apple cake uses no shortcrust base and requires no chilling, so you can make it without much previous preparation.
This is a lovely cake for a family gathering and one you can easily make with the kids too.
Ingredients
- 2 cups /300 g flour
- 15g instant yeast (1 sachet)
- 1 cup /150 g sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 cups /100 g butter, at room temperature
- 1 dl whole milk
- 4 small apples
- Grated lemon rind - cake sure your lemon has no wax and is washed. If you are not sure, you can substitute the rind with a couple of drops of lemon juice.
Instructions
Place the butter in a large bowl then, using a wooden spoon, work it until it melts into a thick paste.
Once you have a smooth cream with no lumps, add the eggs and mix them in, the add sugar, flour, yeast: keep mixing everything until you get a soft mixture. Add the milk as needed to make the mixing smoother and easier to work.
Once you have your mixture ready, peel your apples and cut them in small chunks.
Put them into the mixture and fold them in.
Take your spring tin, butter it and give it a light dusting of flour to prevent your cake from sticking. Then pour in your batter and give it a quick dusting with granulated sugar.
Put in the over at 180C/350F degrees for about 55 minutes then stick a toothpick in the cake to check the inside. If the toothpick comes out clean (bar some apple pulp) your cake is ready!
Serve hot or cold with or without Italian pastry cream.
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