Apple Cinnamon Swirl Cake with a Simple Milk Glaze

Can’t decide between apple cake and cinnamon rolls? This cake gives you a little of both, without making a yeast dough. Cinnamon-coated apples go into the batter, then a brown sugar and butter mixture gets swirled through before baking.

There are a few mixtures to prepare, but each one is straightforward. Keep the butter for the cake separate from the butter for the swirl—it’s an easy detail to miss when you’re reading quickly. The milk glaze goes on while the cake is still warm.

What goes into this apple cake

Apples: You’ll peel and dice them before tossing them with sugar and cinnamon. Try to keep the pieces roughly the same size so you don’t end up with a large chunk in one bite and no apple in the next. The supplied recipe doesn’t name a particular variety.

The cinnamon swirl: Light brown sugar, cinnamon and melted butter are mixed separately from the cake. Don’t pour this mixture into the mixing bowl with everything else; it goes on top once the batter is in the tin.

The cake batter: Flour, sugar and baking powder form the dry mixture. Milk, vanilla and room-temperature eggs go in next, followed by melted butter. Butter appears in two parts of this recipe, so measure each portion into its own bowl before you start.

The glaze: Just icing sugar and milk. There’s no cream cheese frosting to make here, and you don’t need to cover every bit of the surface.

You’ll find all the measurements and the numbered instructions in the printable recipe card below.

A few things to watch as you make it

Get the apples and swirl ready first

Having these ready means you can finish the batter, fold in the fruit and get it into the tin without stopping to peel apples. Once the wet and dry ingredients are just combined and you’ve stirred in the cake’s melted butter, put the whisk down and use a spatula to fold in the apples.

Pour the batter into your parchment-lined tin and smooth it out before adding the swirl. The original recipe doesn’t give a tin size, so the baking dish in the illustration shouldn’t be treated as a size recommendation.

Leave some of the batter untouched

Spoon the cinnamon mixture over different spots, then draw a knife through it. You’re making ribbons, not mixing a second batter. Stop while you can still see lighter areas between the swirls.

Check the middle before you add the glaze

A browned edge doesn’t tell you whether the center is baked. Use the time in the recipe card as your guide, then check with a toothpick. Your tin’s dimensions and material can affect how quickly the cake cooks.

Stir the icing sugar and milk until there are no dry lumps, then drizzle it over the warm cake. A spoon is fine for this; there’s no need for a piping bag or perfectly straight lines.

Before you start

• Read the ingredient groups separately. Sugar, cinnamon and butter appear more than once because they belong to different mixtures. Keep those portions separate.
• Let piping-hot melted butter cool a little. It should still be liquid when you use it.
• Don’t keep whisking once the batter is combined. You’ll be folding the apples through afterward.

Serving the cake

The glaze is already the finishing touch, so you can serve the cake as it is with coffee or tea. If you’re serving it as dessert, vanilla ice cream is an optional addition—not another ingredient you need to buy to make the recipe work.

Recipe quantities and method follow the supplied recipe. Images are AI-generated illustrations based on food-only frames from the supplied original reel, not photographs of a separately tested batch.

Apple Cinnamon Swirl Cake with a Simple Milk Glaze Recipe

Ilina

Apple Cinnamon Swirl Cake with a Simple Milk Glaze

A tender apple cake with buttery brown-sugar cinnamon swirls and a simple milk glaze.

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Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

For the apples

• 2 apples
• 50 g granulated sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon

For the cinnamon swirl

• 150 g light brown sugar
• 2 tbsp cinnamon
• 120 g melted butter

For the cake

• 350 g flour
• 180 g sugar
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 300 ml milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 100 g melted butter

For the glaze

• 100 g icing sugar
• 4 tsp milk

Method

 

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C / 355°F and line a baking tin with parchment paper.
2. Peel and dice the apples. Mix the granulated sugar and cinnamon for the apples, add the apples and toss until well coated. Set aside.
3. For the cinnamon swirl, mix the light brown sugar, cinnamon and melted butter until smooth. Set aside.
4. In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar and baking powder for the cake. Add the milk, vanilla and eggs and whisk until just combined. Gently stir in the melted butter for the cake.
5. Fold in the cinnamon apples and pour the batter into the prepared tin. Smooth out the top.
6. Dollop the cinnamon mixture over the batter and swirl it through with a knife.
7. Bake for 45–50 minutes, or until golden and a toothpick comes out clean.
8. Mix the icing sugar and milk for the glaze until smooth.
9. Drizzle the glaze over the warm cake.

Notes

Oven: 180°C / 355°F. Bake for 45–50 minutes, or until golden and a toothpick comes out clean.

Keep the butter for the swirl separate from the butter for the cake. Swirl gently rather than blending the cinnamon mixture completely into the batter. The original recipe does not specify a tin size, yield or fan-oven adjustment.