A lot has changed since the days of George Washington. One thing that’s still going strong? King Arthur Baking Company. As the self-proclaimed oldest flour operation in the U.S., the brand (founded in 1790!) has become a rightful authority on all things baking. Wondering if you've killed your sourdough starter, or what the heck demerara sugar is, or how to make perfect pizza dough? King Arthur has you covered.
So when the company recently published a ranked list of its 49 best fall recipes, I snapped to attention—and was dazzled by the list. There are sweet recipes (sheet cakes, snickerdoodles, fruit tarts), savory recipes (cheesy galettes, dinner rolls), international (pan de muerto, red bean mooncakes) and so much more. One of each, please!
But as I scanned the list, my eyes finally landed on recipe no. 6, a fall dessert that’s become a personal favorite and one I return to every year: apple fritter cake.
I made my first apple fritter cake back in 2020—shortly after the pandemic hit and so many of us turned to baking for comfort. Much like King Arthur Baking Company, I started keeping a ranked list in my Notes app of everything I made. And at the top of that list was apple fritter cake.
How would my no. 1 stack up to King Arthur's no. 6? Let's just say I didn’t need much encouragement to find out. Here's what happened when I made the recipe in my kitchen.
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Apple fritter cake is a rustic treat that borrows its flavor profile from apple fritter doughnuts. In the King Arthur version, lightly spiced apple chunks are piled on a vanilla cake base and finished with a classic powdered sugar glaze. Unlike fried donuts, this dessert is baked. It's an ideal snacking cake—a single-layer treat you can nibble with an afternoon cup of tea or serve at the end of an autumn dinner party.
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Ingredients You Need To Make the King Arthur Apple Fritter Cake
Adriana Chavez
You can find the full recipe on King Arthur’s site, but this Apple Fritter Cake uses basic baking ingredients, many of which you may already have on hand. You'll need:
FlourGranulated sugarConfectioners' sugarBrown sugarBaking powderTable saltGround nutmeg or allspiceGround cinnamonUnsalted butter (I used salted; see note in the last section)Eggs Milk ApplesVanilla extractRelated: The Store-Bought Cookie Dough Hack That Will Make You Look Like a Pro Baker
How To Make the King Arthur Apple Fritter Cake
Adriana Chavez
This recipe consists of three components: the cake base, the diced apple topping and the glaze. Here's the general idea of how to make each one.
In a large skillet, melt some butter over medium heat and add some cinnamon and a generous pinch of salt. Throw in your diced apples and cook until they soften up a bit. Stir in the brown sugar and cook until most of the juices from the apples evaporate and the mixture is slightly sticky. Take the apple mixture off the stove and let it cool while you work on the cake batter.
Make the cake batter
Combine your dry ingredients (minus the cinnamon) in a big ol' bowl. Add butter and work it in until the mixture is a sandy texture.
Your liquid ingredients go in next: Beat in the eggs one by one, then add the milk, followed by the vanilla. Mix until the ingredients are fully combined.
Preheat the oven to 350°. Line a 9-inch square baking pan with parchment paper and lightly grease the paper. Pour in the cake batter and spread it in an even layer. Spoon the apple mixture in an even layer on top of that. Bake for about an hour. Allow the cake to cool completely before glazing.
Spoon on the glaze
Whisk some milk and a splash of vanilla extract in a bowl, then whisk in the confectioners' sugar to form a thin glaze. Drizzle the glaze on top of the cooled cake, give it a few minutes to set, and boom—dessert is served.
Adriana Chavez
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My Honest Thoughts About the King Arthur Apple Fritter Cake
From a prep standpoint, this apple fritter cake recipe was more labor-intensive than my go-to, as it required cooking the apples before baking.
From a taste standpoint, there's no question the folks at King Arthur know what they're doing. Layering the apples on top of the batter—rather than alternating layers or folding in the fruit—created two distinct flavor zones that felt a little fancy and made the dessert fun to eat.
There are only so many ways you can cook spiced apples and make a glaze, so those aspects of the cake did taste similar to my usual recipe. I was more impressed by the vanilla cake, which was light but still held up under the topping. I won't say King Arthur's version is better than my top-ranked dessert from a few years back, just delicious in its own way. The King Arthur apple fritter cake makes a lovely treat for fall.
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Adriana Chavez
My Top 5 Tips for Making the Best Apple Fritter Cake
The King Arthur apple fritter cake recipe suggests using tangy-tart Granny Smith or Pink Lady apples. I opted for Gala apples—a noticeably sweeter variety that looked good in the store. As a result, I probably could have gotten away with using about half the brown sugar called for in the topping. I'd suggest sampling the apple mixture as it cooks so you can gradually add brown sugar to taste.
2. Use whatever butter you have
Though this recipe calls for unsalted butter, I used salted because it's the kind I keep on hand and, frankly, I didn't feel like buying unsalted butter just to make this cake. If you're using the salted variety, just omit the added table salt in the recipe and you should be good.
The pinch of nutmeg in the cake batter was so tiny that I couldn't taste it at all. If you're a spice lover, you'll probably want to dial up the nutmeg with an extra dash or two. But I have to say, I enjoyed the cake's straightforward vanilla flavor in contrast with the more heavily spiced apple topping. Next time, I might omit the nutmeg in the batter altogether.
4. Allow enough cooling time
Cooling the cake before glazing really isn't negotiable. Any lingering heat would make the glaze thin and very runny. Would it still taste good? Yeah. Would it look as pretty and as fritter-like? Nope.
5. Go à la mode
Though this apple fritter cake is casual by design—the sort of treat you can slice up whenever—adding a scoop of creamy vanilla ice cream on top is a great way to make it feel special (and play up that delicious vanilla flavor in the cake even more).
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