Apple Loaf Cake With Apple Cider Glaze

This apple loaf cake is easy to make, and ready in about an hour. Spiced with cinnamon, and finished with apple cider glaze, it tastes like fall!

This post was sponsored by Red Prince Apples. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

First published January 29, 2020, and last updated September 28, 2020.

Spiced with warming cinnamon, the sweetness level of this apple loaf cake straddles the line between, well, a loaf and a cake! Incredibly moist thanks to grated Red Prince apples and rich buttermilk, the loaf cake is easy to make from scratch, ready in about an hour, and freezes beautifully.

Red Prince apples are a premium apple, first discovered in Europe in an orchard owned by the Princen brothers. In Canada, they’re grown in Ontario, Quebec, and Nova Scotia. Referred to as “Canada’s winter apple”, the apples are harvested in the fall, then preserved in cold storage until the New Year. Similar to cellaring a fine wine, preservation time allows sugars and acidity to develop fully inside the apples, until their release in January at peak flavour!

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Step-By-Step Instructions
• Notes & Tips
• Substitutions
• Recipe

Use the JUMP TO RECIPE button at the top of the post, or scroll to the bottom of the post, to see the full recipe card with ingredient measurements and instructions.

Ingredients

For The Apple Loaf Cake

• Whole wheat flour
• Sugar
• Ground cinnamon
• Baking powder
• Salt
• Baking soda
• Butter
• Buttermilk
• 1 egg
• Red Prince apples

For The Apple Cider Glaze

• Icing sugar (also called confectioner’s or powdered sugar)
• Apple cider

Step-By-Step Instructions

Preheat the oven and grease a standard loaf tin with butter. Line the buttered tin with a parchment paper sling.

In a large bowl mix together the whole wheat flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.

Using your hands, break the butter into small chunks and add it to the flour mixture.

Rub the butter pieces into the flour with your fingertips until the entire mixture is coarse and crumbly.

Whisk the egg and buttermilk together in a small bowl. Add the buttermilk mixture to the flour and use a fork to mix everything together. The apple loaf cake batter may feel quite stiff, and seem dry, but don’t worry because the grated Red Prince apples will add extra moisture.

Add the grated Red prince apples to the bowl and continue mixing until the apples are evenly distributed. I like to finish mixing the batter with my hands as the grated apples will sometimes clump together.

Scoop the batter into the prepared loaf tin and smooth the top with a butter knife or an offset spatula.

Top the apple loaf cake with three thin slices of Red prince apple. This step is optional, but makes for a very pretty loaf!

Place the apple loaf cake into the preheated oven and bake for 55 to 60 minutes.

Remove the apple loaf cake from the oven and cool it on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Lift it out of the tin using the edges of the parchment paper sling as handles. Cool it completely before topping it with apple cider glaze.

To make the apple cider glaze, mix together the icing sugar and apple cider to your desired consistency. I like mine fairly thick, yet runny enough to drip slowly down the sides. Spoon the glaze over the cooled apple loaf cake, slice, and serve.

Notes & Tips

Leaving the apple skins on lend texture, colour, and fibre to the loaf, however, you can peel the apples if you like.

If you don’t want to make the loaf by hand, you can use a stand or hand mixer. If doing so, add the egg and buttermilk at the same time to mix.

After too many banana breads with under-baked, gummy middles, I now take an internal temperature of any loaf I bake. A reading of 200ºF to 205ºF (93ºC to 96ºC), taken from the middle of a loaf, has been consistent for doneness for me.

For tips on making perfect glaze, visit my post for Lavender Sugar Cookies With Earl Grey Glaze.

To freeze, be sure to cool the loaf cake completely. Condensation from any leftover heat will make the slices soggy in the middle, which will create large ice crystals. I like to slice my loaf cake, and store it in a large zip-top bag with the air squeezed out. You can also wrap individual slices gently but tightly with foil to grab quickly in the morning for lunches!

Substitutions

You can use all-purpose or light spelt flour in place of whole wheat if you prefer. Because whole wheat flour tends to suck up more moisture than all-purpose or spelt, you may need to add an extra couple of tablespoons, and up to ¼-cup (38 g), of flour if the loaf batter is quite wet.

Substitute brown sugar for half of the white sugar if you like.

Homemade chai spice, or homemade pumpkin spice are fun alternatives to cinnamon.

More Quick Bread Recipes

One Bowl Buckwheat Banana Bread One of our family’s favourite recipes you’d never guess it’s gluten-free.

Pumpkin Chocolate Marble Loaf With Maple Drizzle A simple and cozy treat.

Carrot Bread With Dates & Olive Oil A fruit-sweetened, vegan, and sugar-free whole grain quick bread flavoured with banana and ginger.

Did you make this recipe? If yes, I would love to know how you made out in the comments below! You can also tag me on Instagram @kellyneildotcom or use the hashtag #kellyneil.