Fall is in the air… or at least in Charleston, SC it will be soon! What do you think of when you think of fall? I think of apple cider, I think of Yate’s Cider Mill in Rochester, MI. One of my all time favorite places to grab some great crisp, sweet apples, a cup of apple cider, aaaaahhhhhh, and one of those sinful cider mill doughnuts rolled in granulated sugar and cinnamon. Ah, wish they were right around the corner, but its probably a good thing they are far away… VERY far away. If you want a dessert that isn’t too bad for you and has the bonus of making your house smell FAN-TAS-TIC! This is the recipe for you!

This recipe was from Cooking Light magazine (link now goes to EatingWell.com – also, the link to the recipe on the Cooking Light website is no longer valid, so see recipe below!) This recipe was featured in 1997, it was the reason I asked for a springform pan for Christmas that year. The recipe was updated in 2000, it’s fabulous and you know what’s good for you I think yout’ll absolutely love it! The only change I made was that I used low fat cream cheese, not fat free… fat free is chalky in my opinion. But I haven’t tried it in this recipe. I need to… I also used butter instead of margarine. ok, here goes…

UPDATE 2020: The cake seems very sweet to me, I changed a few things from the Cooking Light original (link above): I use low fat cream cheese, butter and less sugar. I also used Honey Crisp apples (fabulous!!) and more cinnamon that it calls for in the cake and topping, but that’s a personal preference. I edited my changes in the version below. 

I LOVE Cooking Light recipes! I have so many favorites and this is another one!

Cinnamon-Apple Cake

Yield: 12 servings

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cup sugar (DIVIDED)
• 3/4 cup (6 ounces) low fat cream cheese (or regular), softened
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 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 Honey Crisp apples (about 2 large)
• Olive oil

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 350°.
• Beat 1 cup sugar, cream cheese, butter, and vanilla at medium speed of a mixer until well-blended (about 4 minutes). Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition; set aside.
• Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture, and beat at low speed until blended.
• Combine 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon. In a bowl, sprinkle 2 tablespoons of the cinnamon/sugar mixture with the apple slices; stir to coat. Then add apple mixture to batter. Pour batter into an 8-inch springform pan coated with olive oil or butter, and sprinkle with remaining cinnamon mixture.
• Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until cake pulls away from the sides of pan. Immediately run a knife around the edge of the cake and then cool cake completely on a wire rack, and cut using a serrated knife.
• Cooking Light Note: You can also make this cake in a 9-inch square cake pan or a 9-inch springform pan; just reduce the baking time by 5 minutes.

🍎You won’t believe how good this will make the entire house smell!!

✍️ Until next time…

Links updated 2/2025