Apple snack cake

This apple snack cake is easy to make, packed with chunks of apple and gently spiced. It has a wonderful balance of sweetness, tender buttery cake and fruitiness. It's always incredibly popular with all who try it, so make sure you do soon, too!

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When my older son was young, we needed to get out of the house pretty early every day. It wasn't so much that he was clamoring at the door, but he was obviously not content being in the confines of our house and needed more to keep him happy.

Luckily, I had a few friends in the same position, and particularly when the weather wasn't great, we'd often head to the Children's Museum.

Much as it is a great museum (and we still go now, just less often), one thing I have never understood is why it doesn't open until 10am.

I know there are plenty of parents and caregivers of young kids who, even with travel time, could do with it being open a good hour or more earlier. Because for whatever reason, so many kids are early risers (why can't they inherit the early bird/night owl genes of their parents?!)

However thankfully, there's a great cafe nearby, Flour, which we still go to regularly for lunch when we're at the museum. We'd sometimes meet there first for coffee and a snack, and their apple snack cake was definitely a favorite.

I've previously shared a sour cream apple cake which we all loved, but I decided it was about time to try a version of the snack cake.

I found the original, which this draws on (from owner Joanna Chang's book, Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston's Flour Bakery + Cafe, affiliate link) a little too sweet, so I've adapted to my taste including reducing the sugar a little.

Don't worry, though: it's still definitely sweet and has a wonderfully round spice flavor, without being too much. It's moist, light and not too crumbly.

Steps to make apple snack cake

This is a really easy cake to make, as you simply:

• Cream together the sugar and butter;
• Add the eggs and mix.
• Separately mix the dry ingredients.
• Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture.
• Stir through the diced apple and dates, then put in a lined pan and bake.

I've added a few chopped dates in here, as I love both the flavor and texture, but you could also use raisins as in the original. Many recipes also add in some nuts which you are welcome to do as well, I just knew my kids would be funny about them and I do really like it without.

I tried it both with and without frosting and I really have a hard time deciding which I prefer. Funny enough, the kids go for with frosting but it is a little more messy. My compromise is the drizzle you see here.  It's up to you, and it's delicious either way.

This apple snack cake is a wonderfully easy and tasty cake perfect for any time of day. Enjoy it with coffee, as dessert, as part of brunch or any excuse. It's jam-packed with juicy apples and is sure to be a hit.

Like apple-y treats? So do I! Try these other tasty ideas:

• Apple bacon cornmeal scones
• Caramel apple magic bars
• Apple crepes
• Classic apple tarte tatin
• Apple banana smoothie
• Plus get more inspiration in the fall recipes archives.

If you like cake with your coffee or tea, try my sour cream mocha cake or German plum cake as well.

I use this 9x9 inch square baking pan for this that works well (and has a lid, handy for storing any leftovers; affiliate link).

See some of my favorite cooking tools and ingredients in the Caroline's Cooking Amazon store. 

This post was originally shared in September 2018 and has been updated, primarily with new photos and a video.

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This post was shared as part of Appleweek 2018. Thank you AppleWeek Sponsors: Swiss Diamond, Nordic Ware, Envy Apples, Imperial Sugar, The Spice House, Rodelle Vanilla, Flahavan’s Irish Oats and Nairn’s for providing the prizes free of charge. These companies also provided the bloggers with samples and product to use for AppleWeek recipes. All opinions are my own.

Try these other apple recipes: