Our French Apple Cake is an authentic easy and moist French family recipe from my grandmother’s side, who hailed from Normandy.
If you like homemade apple cake recipes with fresh apples, check out the German apple cake too!
Why the French apple cake?
Can you remember the last time when you had a bit of a cake and it transported you in another time and space?
A succulent, scrumptious, tempting, delicious, mouthwatering and absolutely necessary piece of goodness, namely this French apple cake with Calvados.
You will understand what I mean after 5 minutes baking time, when the cake aroma is wrapping you around the finger, clouding your senses turning you into an utter french apple cake food-slave.
And trust me you will be willingly letting yourself go for this all-time favorite cake.
The moist apple cake recipe is, of course, a family recipe and has been frequently made in my house.
My husband loves it, everybody loves it.
I call it the best apple cake recipe in the world!
In fact, it’s one of those cakes which you can make for any celebrations or occasions.
Imagine presenting this cake to your friends for afternoon coffee/tea time or sell it at your kids school function!
Otherwise, of course, I tend to just bake the french apple cake recipe for fun, in the middle of the week and sometimes (I solemnly confess!), in the middle of the night.
What is Calvados?
Calvados is a French apple brandy, commonly available in France and partially in Europe.
You might be able to get calvados in specialized stores or hypermarkets anywhere else in the world.
The true French Normandy apple cake recipe here needs some calvados on top of the cake before being baked.
How to substitute Calvados?
If you don’t have any Calvados at hand you can also substitute with apple brandy or you can also use apple juice [
Otherwise just skip it.
I crave the french apple cake at different times, sometimes during the day as a lovely dessert with vanilla ice cream.
Because the cake is so popular with everybody, I am rather glad that this is one of those quick and easy cake recipes.
You will thank me for this recipe later, it will save you time and the delicious sweetness of the cake will convince your in laws – or your difficult neighbors – to like you (if not love you and your gorgeous baking skills!)
How to make apple cake the French way?
To prepare this apple cake is rather easy.
Just follow these easy steps.
For the full recipe with ingredients and detailed directions see recipe card further below.
Step 1
Create the dough with the flour and other ingredients.
Cut your apples small and add the apples to the dough.
Step 2
Butter your mold, fill in the apple batter.
I like to use quality silicon molds .
Step 3
Sprinkle sugar and calvados over the cake.
Bake the cake golden.
More French Cake Recipes
Dear Reader, do you have a cake recipe from your grandmother, which you treasure?
Please feel free to share your thoughts and ideas with us in the comment section further below!
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French Apple Cake Recipe
Ingredients
For the cake batter:
- 3.5 ounces All-purpose Flour sieved
- 3.5 ounces Sugar
- 1 stick Butter melted
- 3 Eggs
- 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder not baking soda!!
- pinch Salt
- 1.1 pound Apples ~4 Apples
and…
- Butter soft, to grease the mold
- 2 Tablespoons Calvados or other Apple Brandy
- 2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 Fahrenheit/ 180 Celsius.
- In a bowl, add and combine to a smooth batter the all-purpose sieved flour, sugar, butter, eggs, baking powder and salt.
- Peel and discard the core of the apples. Cut them into smaller pieces and mix them into the cake batter.
- Butter your mold well, pour the batter into the prepared mold and spread evenly. Pour 2 Tablespoons of Calvados over the cake batter and finish by sprinkling the brown sugar over the cake.
- Bake for about 30 minutes at 350 Fahrenheit/ 180 Celsius until golden brown on top. Test with a knife, if the cake is baked, by poking into the center. If it’s gooey keep for 5 more minutes to bake.
- Best served and enjoyed with a scoop of Vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.
Notes
- You can substitute calvados with apple brandy or apple juice. Or skip it (but you will miss some flavors)
Nutrition
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Amazing and very easy to make.
fantastic, thanks for sharing!
The recipe sounds delicious; can’t wait to try it. Do you weigh the flour & sugar? I don’t have a food scale so
how many cups should be used?
Hi Laura, I only share baking recipes with weights because everything can go wrong (and goes wrong) using cups. Baking is an exact science and cups, unfortunately, are not that exact because it’s in volumes. I used to share them in cups and people just measured it all wrong with their cup measurements and the cakes failed (and I would get to hear about it). I totally recommend getting a food scale if you plan on baking more often. It’s a must-have kitchen tool.
Beautiful cake, so moist and before it had time to cool down my husband was already into it. Says it all. ❤️
So glad to read that it was such a success! Thank you for sharing Claudette, it made my day. 🙂
Looks delicious! What kind of apples do you use? Thanks!
Gala and Fuji apples are great for this kind of cake but you can use other apples too if you prefer. Boskoop, Elstar, Reinnete Clochard are commonly used in France too.
I love apple strudel and while you said yours is a french apple cake, I’m not sure if this is the same! My future father-in-law might be happy to try it as he’s a cake lover
Oh no it’s not the same, that’s an apple cake and apple strudel is a pastry stuffed with a special apple breadcrumbs filling. 🙂 This apple cake is french, apple strudel is Austrian. You can find my apple strudel recipe here.
I would love to munch on this apple cake while reading a good book! I’m no baker though, so I might ask someone else to bake it for me 🙂
http://www.thebookblvd.net
Mouth watering recipe indeed. And must be high in nutrition value too. Feeling like tasting it just now but of course not possible.
French apple cake… I have never heard of it before but it sure looks good. Cant wait to try your recipe out sometime!
This is good, we love app and this recipe looks so delicious and yummy. I will probably try it soon. Thank you so much for sharing it though because it will be selfish to not thank you!
Wow! We love Apple, this French Apple Cake looks so yummy and tempting. I would love to try this, and I’m sure my family would love this.
This cake must taste heavenly! and but i love must about is the texture it has.
This looks devine! I am saving for later!!
this looks so delicious and yumm, I would love to try this someday
What a delicious apple cake recipe! I am used to this type of cake but with pears instead of apples. The add of Calvados is a really nice touch as well, I can imagine it gives so much flavor.
Oh my goodness! This is really looks delicious! Mouth-watering! I’ll have to try this fantastic French Apple Cake Recipe.
OMg I love sweets esp baked goods and apples! How did u know?! Lol
This cake looks divine! I’ll admit, I can be a bit intimidated by French cuisine … but I love that this recipe only takes 40 minutes from start to finish and looks relatively easy!
Ohhhh man. This looks so damn yummy. I actually want to try it next month for a fancy dinner. I imagine this will be my new go-to!
Oh this recipe looks divine. I’d love to share it on my own recipe blog after I try it of course! 😉 . You have done a great job making this look easy and your photography is beautiful.
I made it and it was to sweet, halve of the sugar would be better.
Tried this delicious and easy cake this afternoon..the whole family loved it!! I used mixture of apples and pears from my garden…didn’t have any calvados so had to make do with cognac n some rum 😉 also used coconut sugar instead of brown sugar. Thanks for this yummy recipe Helene!
I just made an apple cake recipe from Lorraine Elliot and it was wonderful, but I do love all things French, so I will put this one on the list to try in the future.
I have a couple of recipes that were passed down from my Mother’s mother, cherry cake (you might recall that I guest blogged that cake on Charles’ blog many years ago) and donkey ear cookies! I only have recipes from my Father’s sister-in-law and I don’t know if they are treasured family recipes.
This apple cake sounds heavenly! I just got back from apple orchard picking with my friends and we’ve been browsing pinterest for new recipes to make, yum!
Looks like a lovely cake, I will have to give it a go!
I didnt know about calvados in traditional french apple cake. Would love to give this family recipe of yours a try. Thanks for sharing
Double apple cake? That sounds, and looks amazing. I can’t wait to try.
double? what do you mean?
This looks and sounds amazing! I love using brandy in my cooking, but I’ve never used apple brandy in a cake. What a fabulous idea!
“Succulent, scrumptious, tempting, delicious, mouthwatering and absolutely necessary piece of goodness”…I’m sold!!! This does look exactly as you described it. I’ve got to give this a try! Thanks for sharing this Helene!
Such a classic, simple cake. I always think I should bake in the middle of the night when I can’t sleep but I never do. I’ll have to try it with this!
I made a french apple cake maybe 2 years ago from Dorie Greenspans book. On the day I made it I was all out of apples so used pears and it was equally as delicious! Although I have to say mine didn’t look as pretty as yours. This is beautiful!
Oh Helene, nothing would make me happier than this French apple cake. Well, maybe some whipped cream but that’s it! 🙂
What a perfect pairing. Cant wait to try your recipe out sometime!
I love Calvados! Never cooked with it, though. Really like the idea of this cake — definitely something we need to try. Thanks!
this looks delicious, my daughter just loves apple desserts. im making this on weekend, thnx for sharing
You know….I had to look up what Calvados is! And now that I know, I can totally see how a couple of tbsp makes all the difference. Love! (Love the pics too…) Pinning!
You know, I don’t eat apples straight up but I adore them in baked goods! Love, love this cake Helene! It looks wonderful!
The cake looks amazing! I must get a bottle of apple brandy to try this too.
This cake must taste heavenly!
Cheers,
Rosa
Oh Helene, this is simply beautiful! I love apple cake, and this one has really captured my fancy xxx