This Irish Apple Cake recipe is made with just the right amount of spice and is loaded with chunks of fresh apples. Top it off with a heavenly 4-ingredient vanilla custard sauce to make it an unforgettable dessert, breakfast, or snack cake.
Treat your taste buds to this irresistible cake and savor each and every bite.
What Is Traditional Irish Apple Cake?
Irish Apple Cake is a traditional homemade Irish recipe that’s also commonly known as Kerry Apple Cake in Ireland. Apples are a huge part of the Autumn Harvest in Ireland, with Bramley apples being the most popular cooking apple making Irish Apple Cake a staple in households during harvest season.
While this recipe is called a cake, the texture of it is similar to a quick bread or coffee cake. And just because it’s called cake doesn’t mean it’s kept just for desserts, it’s actually common to enjoy this as a breakfast treat or snack as well!
One bite of this, and you’ll be enjoying it all hours of the day, year-round! This rustic cake is loaded with tender apple chunks and cinnamon and drizzled with a smooth vanilla custard sauce that makes each bite dreamy and delicious!
Snag this recipe to make a St. Patrick’s Day treat, an impressive dessert when company is over, or to bring more life to breakfast time! Don’t forget to tuck this recipe away for Fall, too!
Rebecca’s Recipe Review
Taste: Lightly sweet with bursts of apple flavor and hints of spice.
Texture: The cake is pretty old fashioned and has more of a coffee cake texture than a dessert cake. The chunks of apples are filled with bright flavor, and the sugar top is crunchy and reminiscent of pie crust. The sauce is warm and smooth and brings it all together.
Ease: 4/10 without sauce, 6/10 with.
Pros: Simple ingredients and an easy cake recipe. Delicious flavor. Cake can be made days in advance.
Cons: The custard sauce is temperamental and can be tricky. Use a kitchen thermometer to ensure you don’t overcook it so it won’t curdle.
Would I Make This Again? Yes. This recipe is more of a brunch cake than a typical dessert. I would make the cake the day before and store it covered on the counter overnight to let the moisture redistribute. Then make the sauce fresh
Irish Apple Cakes Ingredients
This Irish Apple Cake Recipe is prepared with pantry ingredients such as all-purpose flour, light brown sugar, baking powder, sea salt, granulated sugar, and vanilla bean paste. Refrigerator staples like salted butter, large eggs, and whole milk are also needed.
The stars of the show then show up to pack in the drool-worthy spiced apple flavor! Ground cinnamon, ground cardamom, and ground nutmeg bring the spice while chopped Granny Smith Apples deliver the tender chunks of apple that we long for in each bite.
The goodness doesn’t stop there, though, as we move on to the smooth vanilla custard sauce. To make this, we combine easy ingredients such as large egg yolks, granulated sugar, whole milk, and vanilla bean paste to add those pretty specks of vanilla beans to the sauce! If you don’t have vanilla paste on hand, pure vanilla extract can take its place.
Though the ingredients for the custard are simple the technique does require a bit of precision to temper the eggs correctly. Don’t worry though, I will walk you through the process step-by-step!
- Parchment Paper Lining – Scrunch parchment paper into a ball, run it under water, and then unfold it to dry it off with a paper towel. This process softens the parchment paper, making it easier to shape into the pan to ensure that the cake can be easily removed after baking.
- Softened Butter – Since we use a reverse creaming technique in this recipe, the butter must be extremely soft (but do not microwave or melt). Leave the butter out on the counter the night before making this Apple Cake for best results.
- Kitchen Thermometer – Using a kitchen thermometer inserted into the center of the cake is the best way to tell when the cake is finished baking. This will prevent accidentally overbaking and drying the cake out since we want a nice moist inside!
- Chopped Apples – It’s important to note that for this recipe, we use chopped apple pieces, not slices. The chopped apple pieces disperse in the cake more thoroughly, giving the perfect apple-to-cake ratio in every bite.
How To Make Irish Apple Cakes With Custard Sauce
A full recipe card with step-by-step photos and ingredient quantities can be found at the end of the post.
- Peel and cube the Granny Smith apples and set them aside.
- Whisk together all of the dry ingredients for the cake in the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Mix salted butter into the flour mixture until the cake mixture takes on a sandy appearance.
- Add in the chopped apples and then mix them on low speed using the paddle attachment.
- Beat the eggs and whole milk together in a separate bowl. Add this mixture and the vanilla bean paste to the apple mixture and mix the apple cake batter on low speed.
- Pour the cake batter into the prepared cake pan or springform pan, spreading the batter out evenly.
- Sprinkle granulated sugar over the top of the cake batter.
- Bake the Irish Apple Cake in a preheated oven until the top has a golden brown, harder, cracked crust.
- Transfer the pan from the oven to a wire rack to cool.
- Prepare the vanilla custard sauce shortly before serving the cake.
How To Store Apple Cake
Once the Irish Apple Cake has completely cooled, tightly wrap the pan of cake or transfer slices of it into an airtight container. The covered cake can then be stored at room temperature for up to 2 to 3 days.
Transfer any unused vanilla custard sauce into a separate airtight container and store it in the fridge for up to 3 days. Then reheat a portion of the sauce when you’re ready to enjoy a slice of Apple Cake!
For longer storage, you can also freeze this Apple Cake! If you plan to freeze this recipe, I do recommend leaving the sugar topping off of it. To freeze, tightly wrap the whole or individual slices of the apple cake in plastic wrap and then again in aluminum foil. Freeze the apple cake for up to one month.
How To Reheat Custard Sauce
Since custard sauce has an egg base, we want to be careful when reheating it to avoid curdling the custard. Therefore, I find that it’s best to reheat custard sauce using the double boiler method.
The double boiler method reheats the custard sauce slowly and gently by using indirect heat from the steam in the bottom pot that rises up under the bowl of the custard on top.
If you don’t have a double boiler, you can easily make one by filling a pot with a few inches of water and heating it over medium-low heat. Once simmering, lower the heat and place a heatproof large bowl with the custard in it on top of the pot if simmering water, be sure to constantly stir the custard sauce as it is reheating to avoid curdling it.
How To Serve This Irish Apple Cake with Custard Sauce
This Irish Apple Cake can be enjoyed warm or at room temperature. To reheat, just pop one slice at a time in the microwave. Then top with the warm Vanilla Custard Sauce, a scoop of No Churn Vanilla Ice Cream, or a heaping dollop of Homemade Whipped Cream!
Eat up your slice of Irish Apple Cake while sipping a warm cup of coffee made with your favorite Homemade Coffee Creamer! Or pair it with a latte such as this Latte Breve Coffee or London Fog Latte!
If it’s apple season and you’re looking to bake up lots of fresh apple recipes to serve to friends and family, then consider a spread of apple desserts along with this Irish Apple Cake! These sweet, crisp Apple Fritters and skillet Apple Pandowdy are some of my go-to recipes when I’m using up apples!
Can I Use Other Apples In This Recipe?
Yes, Honeycrisp, McIntosh, Cortland, Braeburn, Empire, or even Jonathan apples can be used instead of Granny Smith apples. Keep in mind the texture of the apple cake may change depending on which apple variety you use since some apples bake up better than others.
Can I Make This Recipe In A Cast Iron Pan?
Yes, this Irish Apple Cake Recipe can also be baked in a 9 or 10-inch cast iron pan. Keep in mind that the bake time may vary since you’re using cast iron. Therefore, you’ll want to rely on using a kitchen thermometer to confirm doneness.
Did You Make This Recipe?
If you’ve tried this recipe, please let me know how you liked it in the comments below and leave a review. I love hearing from you!
Don’t forget to tag me – @sugarandsoulco – on Instagram and Pinterest with your photos or join our Sugar & Soul Show-offs Community and share them there.
Best Recipe for Irish Apple Cake
Ingredients
Cake Batter
- 4 large Granny Smith apples
- 3 cups all-purpose flour 390g
- ¾ cup light brown sugar 155, packed
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon sea salt or ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¾ cup salted butter softened overnight for best results
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ cup whole milk 180ml
- 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar for sprinkling on top of cake
Custard Sauce
- 6 large egg yolks
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1½ cups whole milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
Instructions
CAKE
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a 9-inch round cake pan with cake goop or line with parchment paper. Scrunching the parchment into a ball and, running it under water, and drying it with a paper towel will make parchment soft and easier to shape; line so that some parchment comes up over the sides of the pan. Use the parchment to lift it out of the pan after baking. Spraying the pan with nonstick spray before adding the parchment can help secure it in place while you add the batter.
- Peel the 4 large Granny Smith appleschop them into cubes, and set aside. If you were to slice off half the apple beyond the core, you'd cut that half into 9 pieces (3×3 pieces about ¾ to 1 sq. inch). Then, use that same ratio to chop the rest of the apple.
- Add 3 cups all-purpose flour, ¾ cup light brown sugar, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon sea salt, ½ teaspoon ground cardamom, and ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg into a stand mixer bowl fitted with a whisk attachment.
- Add ¾ cup salted butter (make sure it's very soft but not melted) into the dry ingredients and mix until the mixture has a sandy appearance; this is called reverse creaming.
- Switch to a paddle attachment on the mixer. Add the chopped apples to the flour and butter mixture and mix at low speed to coat them thoroughly.
- In a separate bowl, beat together 2 large eggs and ¾ cup whole milk together. Add this mixture to the apples and flour along with 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste and mix at low speed until just combined. The batter will be thick.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared cake pan and use a rubber spatula to spread the top evenly.
- Sprinkle 2 tablespoons granulated sugar over the top of the cake batter before baking.
- Bake for 50 to 65 minutes or until the center of the cake reaches 200°F. The top of the cake should be golden brown and have a harder, cracked crust.
- Remove the cake from the oven and place the pan on a wire rack to cool. The cake should cool for at least 1 hour before serving, I actually prefer it after it has set for a day, so it's a great recipe to make in advance.
Vanilla Custard Sauce
- Shortly before serving, prepare the custard by adding 6 large egg yolks and ½ cup granulated sugar to a medium heat-proof bowl and whisk for 2 to 3 minutes until pale yellow.
- Pour 1½ cups whole milk into a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan and bring to about 175 to 180°F. DO NOT GO OVER 185°F, if you do, remove from heat and allow to cool down to at least 180°F before moving to the next step.
- While whisking fast, pour some of the hot milk into the egg and sugar mixture to temper the eggs. Then pour a little more milk in and continue whisking. Keep the milk off the heat for now.
- Whisk the tempered egg mixture back into the saucepan with milk, then transfer the pan back over the lowest heat and whisk constantly until the custard thickens slightly and *just* reaches 184°F, about 3 to 4 minutes. The custard should lightly coat the back of a spoon, and hold the line when a finger is wiped through it. It is not a thick, pudding-like sauce, but is very pourable.
- Whisk in 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste and transfer to bowl or serving boat/pitcher and serve warm over apple cake. The cake can be served warm or at room temperature.
Video
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?
Don’t forget to share it with me on Instagram @sugarandsoulco and follow on Tiktok @sugarandsoulco and Pinterest @sugarandsoulco for more!
Share your thoughts!
Love this recipe? Share your thoughts with me below and leave a review! And don’t forget to connect on your favorite social platform below!