A little while ago a video for an apple cake popped up on my YouTube feed from Lecker Schnell. I was intrigued because the cake not only looked easy but was packed with layers of thinly sliced apples!
This weekend I decided to try making this cake … with some modifications. First, the video said to cook the cake in an 8-inch tin, but the sides looked much deeper than a regular 8-inch round tin. I would guess it was 2-inches deep rather than 1 inch. I thought cooking the cake in a springform pan would work well since you have to unmold the cake after cooking but the smallest tin I have is 9 inches. So first I had to modify the recipe to make enough batter to fit in the larger pan.
Next, I upped the sugar amount slightly, from 75 grams to 100 grams, or half a cup, and used half white sugar and half brown sugar. The only flavouring the original recipe had in it was some lemon zest, so I added vanilla and a bit of cinnamon and allspice to amplify the flavour. Last, I added some rum-infused raisins, because in my opinion, raisins and apples an amazing match!
The abundance of apples was so good! This dessert was a big hit with the whole family 🙂 The batter for the cake doesn’t have much flour and the flavour of the cake reminded me of a dutch baby pancake, similar to my Blueberry Dutch Baby recipe I posted a few months ago. Since I couldn’t find an actual name for this cake or another similar recipe anywhere, I decided to call it an Apple Dutch Baby Cake.
I recommend using a firm apple for this so that the apples hold their shape when baking. I used 4 large Honeycrisp apples but Golden Delicious or Granny Smith would work well too.

Apple Dutch Baby Cake
This custard-based cake is a true celebration of apples! The thinly sliced layers of apples are coated in cinnamon-spiced sugar and tossed with rum-soaked raisins and a pancake-like batter for an easy, scrumptious tea cake.Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F/180 C
- Combine raisins and rum in a glass measuring cup. Microwave in 15-second burst, stirring between each burst until the rum has soaked into the raisins. Set aside
- In a large bowl, beat together eggs and granulated sugar until light in colour and foamy, about 1 minute.
- Add milk, vanilla, lemon zest and salt and beat to combine.
- Add flour and baking powder and beat until just combined. Set aside.
- Peel, halve, core and slice apples into very thin slices. You should have about 9 1/2 cups (2 litres + 400 ml) total slices. Place apple slices in a large bowl and toss with lemon juice.
- In a small bowl, stir together brown sugar, cinnamon and allspice. Add to apples along with the raisins and stir to coat completely.
- Pour batter over apples and stir to coat apples.
- Place a sheet of parchment paper over the bottom of an 8-inch (20 cm) springform pan and then place the side over top. Grease the bottom and sides of the pan with butter. Pour the apple mixture into the pan. cover any exposed raisins with apple slices so they do not burn while baking. Pour the melted butter over the top of the cake. Bake for 60 minutes.
- Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edge of the cake and remove the side of the pan. Place a serving plate over top of the cake and then invert the cake onto the plate, removing the springform pan bottom and the parchment paper. Dust the top of the cake with icing sugar before serving.
I made a vegan version of this tonight. It was excellent. I just added some cornstarch and water to replace the egg, plus an extra spoon of fat. A nice change from apple crisp, and just as easy.
Glad you guys liked it!