Recipe: Cinnamon Apple Cake {Cooking Light}

Delicate, tender bites of moist, delicious, apple-studded cake are yours with this recipe for Cinnamon Apple Cake.

You would think that if I had been making a recipe since 1998, consistently, year after year after year, that I would have shared it with you.

Apparently you would be wrong.

Because although I’ve found posts mentioning this Cinnamon Apple Cake, I couldn’t actually find a whole post sharing it and the recipe.

So today we are going to right some wrongs.

Starting with 1998.

Although 1998 was the year I happened to get married, it also happens to be the year I discovered this recipe in an issue of Cooking Light magazine.

Both were good things.

Originally called Jewish Apple Cake and shared with their readers as a Rosh Hashanah dessert idea, the folks at Cooking Light later renamed it to Cinnamon Apple Cake.

I have no idea why, but my guess is so people would consider it an any-occasion cake, as opposed to being just reserved for Jewish holidays.

And rightfully so.

Because no matter what the cake is called, it remains one of Cooking Light’s most popular recipes, and if you’ve had it, there’s no denying why.

It is simple to make and moist, and, perhaps of equal importance, a true marriage of Fall flavors… cinnamon and apples.

This is a cake pretty and delicious enough to serve to company … or just to use up the apples you absconded with after a recent apple picking trip.

It has made an appearance in our kitchen every Fall, at least once a year, since 1998.

Now bring it to yours.

Cinnamon Apple Cake
Recipe courtesy of Cooking Light magazine

The cream cheese in the batter gives the cake lots of moisture. Because it’s so tender, use a serrated knife for cutting.

1-3/4 cups sugar, divided
1/2 cup stick margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 ounces block-style fat-free cream cheese, softened (about 3/4 cup)
2 large eggs
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 cups chopped peeled Rome apple (about 2 large) {I always use 3-4 apples}
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350. Beat 1-1/2 cups sugar, margarine, vanilla, and cream cheese at medium speed of a mixer until well-blended (about 4 minutes). Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture, beating at low speed until blended.

Combine 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon. Combine 2 tablespoons cinnamon mixture and apple in a bowl, and stir apple mixture into batter. Pour batter into an 8-inch springform pan coated with cooking spray, and sprinkle with remaining cinnamon mixture.

Bake at 350 for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan. Cool the cake completely on a wire rack, and cut using a serrated knife.

Note: You can also make this cake in a 9-inch square cake pan or a 9-inch springform pan; just reduce the cooking time by 5 minutes.

Yield: 12 servings