cakes/ Christmas/ Dessert/ Thanksgiving

Apple walnut cake with honey – easy and super moist! (video)

6 November 2018 | Last Updated: 18 May 2021 By Aleksandra

Autumn apple walnut cake, perfect for tea time. It’s fluffy, super moist, loaded with apples, nuts, and cinnamon. It‘s simple and quick to make. It’s sweetened with both brown sugar and honey. Brown sugar adds amazing caramel flavor and the honey makes the cake super moist. It also tastes amazing the next day!

A slice of apple walnut cake on a wooden board.

Ingredients:

Labeled ingredients needed to prepare apple walnut cake with honey.
  • Which apple variety is best: I used a semi-firm apple variety. Very soft apples will moisten the cake too much and hard apples have a too firm texture for my liking. I used Gala variety for this recipe – it has a semi-firm texture and is slightly sweet. You can also use more tart apples for this recipe if you prefer them in your baking goods, but I wouldn’t recommend for example Granny Smith, as they are very firm. Golden Delicious is another good apple variety for this recipe.
  • Nuts: Instead of walnuts, you can also add pecans or omit the nuts completely.
  • Instead of cinnamon: you could add pumpkin pie spice or even gingerbread spice mix for a Christmassy twist on the recipe.

Step by step instructions:

STEP 1: Start by preparing all your ingredients and a 27 cm / 11-inch round springform cake pan, by greasing it lightly butter and lining with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 160°C / 325°F / Gas Mark 3, no fan.

STEP 2: Using a mixer, whisk the eggs with sugar until light and fluffy, it will take about 4-5 minutes.

STEP 3: Slowly pour in the oil in a thin stream, mixing at the lowest speed.

STEP 4: Mix the honey with vanilla extract together, slowly pour in a thin stream, mixing at the lowest speed.

STEP 5: In a separate bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon, whisk to combine. Add the flour mixture to the mixing bowl, fold in with a silicone spatula until just combined, not longer. You don’t want to overmix the batter so that the cake is light and fluffy.

STEP 6: Gently fold in the cubed apples and roughly chopped walnuts with a silicone spatula.

STEP 7: Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan. Bake for about 1 hour and 10 minutes. Let cool slightly and serve!

How long to bake this cake: the baking time may vary depending on the oven! It may be quicker or longer for you. Just check with a cake tester in the middle. When it comes out clean – the cake is ready.

Top tips for making the best apple walnut cake:

  1. It’s important to whisk the eggs with sugar for a minimum of 4-5 minutes. They need to be really fluffy and pale. Thanks to that the cake will be also light and fluffy.
  2. Add the oil and honey-vanilla extract mixture in a thin stream, do not add it all at once and mix at the lowest speed of the mixer. This will ensure that these ingredients are well combined with the batter.
  3. Gently fold in the flour mixture and then the apples and nuts. Don’t overmix the batter or it will be dense.
  4. Measure the flour and all the other ingredients correctly (more on that below).

How to measure flour:

How to measure flour: if you use a kitchen scale to measure out all the ingredients, it all goes easy breezy! But if you’re using measuring cups, remember that 1 cup of flour can weigh 120-150g, depending on how you’re filling your cup. Don’t scoop the flour directly into the measuring cup, which can compact it! 1 cup of flour in my recipes weighs 125g. To correctly measure the flour, you need to:

  1. Fluff the flour by stirring it in the bag/flour container with a spoon.
  2. Spoon the flour and sprinkle it into your measuring cup.
  3. Sweep off the excess flour with the back of a knife.

Serving suggestions:

A couple of slices of apple walnut cake with honey on a wooden board. A cup of tea and apples in the background.

Storing and freezing tips:

* How to store apple cake with walnuts: Store the cake in a tightly closed container, at room temperature. It will keep for several days. On the next day, it tastes as good as right after baking.

* How to freeze this apple walnut cake: This cake freezes very well. Cut it into pieces (it’s better, but you can also leave it whole) and freeze. Bake at 160°C / 325°F / Gas Mark 3, no fan until defrosted and warm.

More apple recipes you may like:

Apple walnut and honey cake – easy and super moist!

Fluffy and moist apple cake with lots of walnuts, rich in taste thanks to honey and cinnamon.
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apple walnut cake
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5 from 5 votes
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 35 minutes
Servings 12 servings
Calories 444kcal
Author Aleksandra

Ingredients

  • 4 large eggs
  • ½ cup light brown sugar 100g (3.5 oz)
  • ¾ cup vegetable oil neutral-flavored, 170g (6 oz)
  • ½ cup honey 160g (5.6 oz), preferably with mild, delicate flavor
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 ¼ cups all-purpose-flour 280g (9.9 oz), spooned and leveled, not scooped
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 4 cups chopped apples cut into 1 ½-2 cm (¾ – 1 inch) cubes, 6 very small apples, 800g (1.7 lbs)
  • 1 cup roughly chopped walnuts 100g (3.5 oz), or pecans

Instructions

  • Prepare a 27 cm / 11 inch round springform cake pan, grease it lightly butter and line with parchment paper.
  • Preheat the oven to 160°C / 325°F / Gas Mark 3, no fan (if you have convection oven, reduce the temperature by about 20 degrees).
  • Using a mixer, whisk the eggs with sugar until light and fluffy, it will take about 4-5 minutes.
  • Slowly pour in the oil in a thin stream, mixing at the lowest speed.
  • Mix the honey with vanilla extract together, slowly pour in a thin stream, mixing at the lowest speed.
  • In a separate bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon, whisk to combine.
  • Add the flour mixture to the mixing bowl, fold in with a silicone spatula until just combined, not longer.
  • Peel and core the apples, cut into 1.5-2 cm / ¾ – 1 inch cubes. Roughly chop the walnuts.
  • Add the apples and nuts to the batter, fold in gently with a spatula.
  • Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan.
  • Bake for about 1 hour and 10 minutes. The baking time may slightly vary, depending on the oven. A cake tester or a wooden skewer, stuck in the center of the cake, should come out clean.
  • Wait until partially cooled, then cut into servings. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and enjoy!

Notes

* Store the cake in a tightly closed container, at room temperature. It will keep for several days. On the next day tastes as good as after baking.
* 1 cup is 240 ml, 1 cup flour = 125g. For this recipe, using a 240 ml US cup or 250 ml EU/AU cup is fine!
* Freezing: This cake freezes very well. Cut it into pieces and freeze. Bake at 160°C / 325°F / Gas Mark 3 until defrosted and warm.
Course Dessert
Cuisine international
Tried this Recipe? Rate the Recipe and tell us what you think in the Comments!

Did you make this recipe? RATE THE RECIPE or tell me in the COMMENTS how you liked it! You can also add a photo of your dish. It would make me very happy and will help other readers. Thank you!!

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10 Comments

  • Reply
    Carole
    23 October 2022 at 13:30

    How nice to have a lovely recipe that has the ingredients listed in the various measurements, ie cup, grams and ounces. More presenters should follow your lead, it is so frustrating to have to defer to charts to work out quantities. Loving your delicious recipes.

  • Reply
    Current Resident
    28 March 2022 at 18:38

    5 stars
    We liked this a lot! There’s just the two of us so I halved the recipe and baked it in a parchment lined 8×4 loaf pan. I also used a mix of chopped and shredded apples (using the largest holes on a box grater), toasted the walnuts while the oven was pre-heating, and added some craisins. It took 50 minutes in the loaf pan in a convection oven. Delicious perfection!

    • Reply
      Aleksandra
      28 March 2022 at 19:51

      I’m glad you liked this cake, thank you for commenting!

  • Reply
    Louise Krekic
    23 October 2021 at 05:52

    I like the fact that there are four eggs which makes it very good for growing children, lot of protein. But in my opinion the apple pieces are a bit too large. I made it with smaller pieces and the flavor is richer that way, more surface of the apple pieces per sq cm enhances the flavor. I almost felt that the large apple chunks were making the cake taste more like an apple pie. Other than that it’s a fabulous recipe, thank you for sharing.

    • Reply
      Aleksandra
      23 October 2021 at 06:54

      Hi Louise, thank you for your comment, I’m glad you liked the recipe. You can cut your apples as small as you want! Thank you for the suggestion to cut them smaller.

  • Reply
    Aleksandra
    22 February 2021 at 09:05

    5 stars
    Comment from a Pinterest user Estelle: Thank you so much for this recipe. It’s easy but the result is top end. Made mine in a Bundt tin. Absolutely wonderful.

  • Reply
    Todd
    17 March 2020 at 03:03

    5 stars
    The cake has really nice texture and is less sweet than most. Apples and nuts in every bite. I’d definitely make this cake again

    • Reply
      Aleksandra
      17 March 2020 at 08:57

      Thank you Todd for your comment! I’m really happy that you liked the cake!

  • Reply
    Beth
    11 August 2019 at 09:24

    5 stars
    Turned out great, our family loved it. Thank you for thr recipe!

    • Reply
      Aleksandra
      11 August 2019 at 09:28

      I’m so glad to hear that! Thank you for letting me know 🙂

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