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It’s been a big couple of months for the O’Regans: we had a baby, my older sister Bailey and her family bought a new house and moved, and my younger sister Emma got engaged to her long-time boyfriend, Danny. There’s been a lot to celebrate! Though I’ve been mostly hunkered down since Wren was born, partaking in lots and lots of cozy baby snuggles, his sweet, milky cloud cheek resting against my chest, squished mouth open like a little fish. And in my “free” time, I try to play with Phoebe as much as I can—she’s been a wonderful big sister and is at the same time struggling, understandably, to make sense of her new reality, which translates as big, explosive toddler feelings.

We’ve been cozy inside our home; it’s rained so much that our backyard squishes noisily underfoot when we walk, and sometimes our feet punch through inches of mud where gophers have weakened the topsoil. After the first couple of weeks spent mainly adjusting to our new schedule (or lack thereof), reading a lot and nursing Wren, I started to get back into cooking and baking whenever Jonji took Phoebe out and about. I strapped Wren into the front pack and whipped up whatever I was craving, mostly brownies and cookies; anything that didn’t require too much fuss was good enough for me. Like this Apple Fritter Cake.

I first saw a recipe for an Apple Fritter Cake posted on The Bake Feed’s Instagram in early Fall of 2023, and decided to make it for some friends who were coming for dinner shortly before Thanksgiving. I had to change quite a few things; the recipe author was from the UK, which meant some converting to US standards—it was also originally written as vegan. Even after all the changes I made, it was a smash hit with our friends, so I made it again when we were invited over to my younger sister’s fiancée’s parents’ house (a mouthful, I know!) for dinner in early December. Yellow leaves sprinkled the lawn and the kids held hands, dancing to music streaming through outdoor speakers as we ate Peruvian chicken and rice around their rectangular, rock-filled fireplace. The cake was still hot when I brought it over to their house, and as I peeled the parchment paper down the sides of the cake after dinner the kitchen was filled with the warm, cozy scent of cinnamon and apples. The cake was gone in a flash, most people going back for seconds right after finishing the first slice.

This is one of those simple cakes you can make quickly, with very little fuss—no frosting, no slicing into layers, and using ingredients most people will already have in their pantries. It’s heavenly to eat when it’s still warm (though it’s still fantastic at room temperature), with a crackly, sweet glaze coating the top and a layer of gooey apples running through the middle. You get the flavor of a fried apple fritter, but without having to deal with a pot full of hot oil. I often leave it in the parchment paper to serve (it rather feels like that exciting moment when you unwrap a donut in its crinkly parchment paper bag), but feel free to only line the sides of the cake rather than the bottom, if using a springform pan, for a cleaner-looking presentation. That being said, this cake is meant to be rustic in all the best ways.

If you want to speed up the process, you can make the apple layer a day or two in advance—simply store the cooked apples in the fridge until needed (discard any significant amount of liquid that’s collected in the bottom, which will happen if you store the apples hot). Everything else comes together quickly. Note that the cake is best eaten on the day it’s made.

Apple Fritter Cake

makes one 9-inch cake | adapted from a recipe by Rosie Brown

for the cake:
360g all-purpose flour
2 ½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda 
1 tsp cinnamon
¾ tsp kosher salt
200g brown sugar 
360ml buttermilk
100g plain whole milk yogurt 
100g light olive oil or grapeseed oil 

for the filling:
2-3 Granny Smith apples, peeled and diced 
60g granulated sugar 
1 tsp cinnamon 
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tbsp water

80g brown sugar 
1 tsp cinnamon 

for the glaze:
200g powdered sugar
40g milk
1 tsp vanilla paste or extract

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9-inch springform pan or 8-inch square baking dish and line with parchment paper.

In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the diced apples, 60g sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon, 2 tbsp cornstarch, and 1 tbsp water. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5-6 minutes or until the apples soften and the liquid thickens to coat the apples (it’ll look quite sticky). Set aside to cool while you make the cake batter. 

Sift 360g flour, 2 ½ tsp baking powder, ¼ tsp baking soda, and 1 tsp cinnamon into a medium bowl. Stir in ¾ tsp salt and 200g brown sugar.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together 360ml buttermilk, 100g yogurt, and 100g oil. Gently stir the dry ingredients into the wet until fully combined. The batter will be quite thick and you may think you don’t have enough, but keep the faith.

In a small bowl, combine 80g brown sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon for the filling. Set aside.

Spread half of the cake batter in the bottom of the prepared pan. Top with all of the apple mixture, spreading carefully to cover the batter as evenly as possible. Sprinkle ⅔ of the dry cinnamon-sugar filling all over the apple mixture. Spread the remaining cake batter on top of that and then sprinkle the whole thing with the remaining ⅓ of the brown sugar and cinnamon mixture.

Bake for 40 to 50 minutes (if using a 9-inch springform pan, the bake time will be closer to 50 minutes), or until the center of the cake is set and a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached.

When the cake has about 5 minutes left to bake, prepare the glaze. Whisk 200g sifted powdered sugar, 40g milk, and 1 tsp vanilla in a medium bowl until smooth. Add more milk if it’s too thick, but it will thin out when it meets the heat of the cake.

When the cake is done, leave to cool for 15-20 minutes, then poke holes with a toothpick or skewer all over the cake (reaching almost all the way to the bottom). Pour the glaze over the top of the cake, spreading to cover completely. 

Let the glaze set for 20 minutes before serving warm or at room temperature. Enjoy!