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A close-up shot at a slice of Irish Apple Cake served on a dessert plate in the front shows the moist soft cake layer, the sweet apple layer and the crumbly topping. The rest of the cake is on the big platter and a cup of coffee is next to it.
My Mum's Irish Apple Cake Recipe
Prep Time
25 mins
Cook Time
1 hr 5 mins
Total Time
1 hr 30 mins
 

It doesn't get much better than my mum's Irish Apple Cake recipe — authentically Irish with tart Granny Smith apples and a streusel topping.

Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Irish
Servings: 8 people
Author: Gemma Stafford
Ingredients
Streusel topping
  • ¾ cup (3 ¾ oz/105 g) all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup (4 oz/115 g) granulated sugar
  • ¼ cup (¾ oz/21 g) rolled oats
  • teaspoon salt
  • 6 tablespoons (3 oz/85 g) cold butter, cubed
Irish Apple Cake
  • ½ cup (4 oz/115 g) butter (at room temperature)
  • ½ cup (4 oz/115 g) granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 ¼ cups (6 ¼ oz/177 g) all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • teaspoon salt
  • 3 tablespoons whole milk
  • 3 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled and thinly sliced
Instructions
  1. Preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C) then butter and line a 9-inch spring form pan. Set aside.

For the Streusel Topping
  1. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, oats and salt.

  2. Using your finger tips or a fork, rub in the cold butter until you've reached the texture of coarse breadcrumbs. Set aside in the fridge while you make the cake.

For the Irish Apple Cake
  1. Cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl until light and fluffy.

  2. Next, beat in the eggs one at a time until combined. Lastly stir in the vanilla.

  3. In a separate medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder cinnamon, and salt.

  4. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet along with the milk.

  5. Once the batter has formed, transfer it to the prepared cake pan and lay on the sliced apples, making sure they are arranged in one even layer.

  6. Cover the apples with all the streusel topping. Press down gently with your hand.

  7. Bake for roughly 65-75 minutes, or until the top is golden brown all over and crisp. Remove from the oven and allow cooling slightly before turning out of the tin.

  8. When ready to serve, dust the cake with powdered sugar, slice and enjoy. Store the cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.

Recipe Notes
  • While making the streusel topping, to avoid hand warming up the butter, you can leave out the oats and use a fork to cut the butter into the flour mixture, which helps with even mixing; alternatively, add all ingredients into a food processor and pulse until it looks like coarse bread crumb.
  • streusel To get a more complex flavor, combine tart and sweet apple variations to add depth to the taste. Gala apples, Honeycrisp apples, Pink Lady apples, or even a small portion of pears or peaches will work well.
  • To suit personal preferences, you can experiment with a dash of nutmeg, cloves, allspice, or cardamom for an extra layer of flavor. My Homemade Mixed Spice or Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice will be lovely, too.
  • Depending on personal preferences, you can experiment with adjusting the sugar levels or use sugar substitutes from my chart in both the cake batter and the streusel to achieve the desired level of sweetness. But note that sugar-free sugar substitutes can't caramelize so the streusel topping may not be so crispy.
  • Replace part of the granulated sugar with brown sugar will add a caramel tone.
  • For extra crunch and butty flavors, you can add slivered almonds, pinenuts, chopped toasted pecans, walnuts, or macadamia nuts.
  • I think the best option for this apple cake is a 9-inch springform pan. Because it's a big cake and rises a lot after baking. A springform pan will make removing the cake from the tin possible and so much easier than a normal solid-bottom cake pan.