I make this apple harvest cake over and over again every fall. It’s an easy, delicious way to celebrate harvest season and it’s definitely a family favourite!
I’m not sure exactly when I first discovered this apple harvest cake, but it feels like I’ve been making it since the dawn of time at this point. It’s one I make over and over again after we go apple picking every fall and it’s something everyone always seems to enjoy. Just a great all-occasion cake to have around on cozy fall days. 🙂
Ingredients for the Apple Harvest Cake
- Apples (I usually use Macintosh, but I’ve mixed it up a bit here and there and it’s honestly good with all apple types)
- Flour (I usually use whole wheat or spelt and I think the texture is even better that way compared to white flour)
- Butter or a butter substitute
- Baking soda
- Ground cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg
- Sugar
- Eggs or chia seeds (Here’s how to use chia seeds instead of eggs in baking!)
- Vanilla
- Icing sugar for dusting
- Water
This is one of those cakes that I can throw together at any point during the fall because these are all basic ingredients that I have in the house at all times. Yay for that!
Making the Apple Harvest Cake
So like with all old recipes that have been made thousands of times over and over again, I’ve made a few tweaks here and there. My method might seem a little unconventional, but after making it so many times, this is the way of making this cake that seems to work out the best every time!
Here’t the full printable recipe!

I make this apple harvest cake over and over again every fall. It's an easy, delicious way to celebrate harvest season and it's definitely a family favourite!
- 3 apples peeled and chopped
- 3 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 1/4 cups melted butter
- 3 eggs or chia eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/4-1/3 cup room temperature water
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Combine flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and baking soda in a medium bowl and set aside.
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In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the melted butter with the sugar and stir on medium speed until well-combined. Add eggs and mix a bit more. If using chia eggs, add the water just a few seconds before adding the eggs to the sugar and butter and mix very well until all ingredients are combined evenly.
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Reduce speed to low and slowly add in the dry ingredients. Once everything is fully combined, add in the apples, then the vanilla.
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The batter will be quite dry. With the mixer running on low, slowly add in the water, stopping when the batter looks a little more workable. Usually about 1/4 cup, but it may take up to 1/3 cup.
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Fold the batter in to a greased bundt pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. You can also use two loaf pans and bake for about an hour.
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When cool, sprinkle with icing sugar and enjoy!
This cake freezes really well, so definitely feel free to make a double batch if you have a lot of apples to use up right now! Let me know what you think!
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- The Creek Line House Dessert Recipe Archives
Courtenay Hartford is the author of creeklinehouse.com, a blog based on her adventures renovating a 120-year-old farmhouse in rural Ontario, Canada. On her blog, Courtenay shares interior design tips based on her own farmhouse and her work as founder and stylist of the interior photography firm Art & Spaces. She also writes about her farmhouse garden, plant-based recipes, family travel, and homekeeping best practices. Courtenay is the author of the book The Cleaning Ninja and has been featured in numerous magazines including Country Sampler Farmhouse Style, Better Homes and Gardens, Parents Magazine, Real Simple, and Our Homes.