Recipe from my Grandmother, this is a simple 7 ingredient "cake", topped with fresh crisp apples, a dash of cinnamon sugar and baked to perfection! Works equally well as breakfast or dessert.
New! I’ve added a cooking video to this page so you can see how easy it is to make this gluten-free Dutch Apple Cake!
If you’re new to this website, as with all my recipes, there is a printable recipe with exact measurements and directions at the bottom of this page.
Hope you love it!
Original post…
Who else loooves apple season?
My entire family loves crisp Fall apples and aside from eating them, we love baking with them!
And one of the first seasonal things we usually bake is my Grandmother’s Dutch Apple Cake.
You might recognize this tart from the Dutch Peach Cake this Summer. It is the same great recipe from my Grandmother only with apples! She made it all the time switching up the fruit based on the season.
This simple “cake” is not too sweet, bursting with crisp Apples and equally loved as breakfast or dessert.
The beauty of this light “cake” is that the sweetness comes from the fruit, not the cake, so it really highlights seasonal fruit.
A note about the apples...
Any apple will work but Granny Smith apples or any kind of baking apple (Cortland’s were particularly good at my farmer’s market this week) will give a nice tart flavor in contrast to the crumble and will hold their form best.
Other apples may lose their form and become more “mushy” when baking.
A note about the name…
As I mentioned when I published the Dutch Peach Cake, we have struggled with the name “Dutch Peach/ Apple Cake” because while my Grandmother always called it a “Dutch Peach/ Apple Cake” but it’s not a cake in the traditional sense.
Let me explain…
It’s a simple 7 ingredient pastry crust (reminiscent of a shortbread crust) that’s low in sugar (only a few tablespoons!) and low in butter (only 1/3 cup) and so yummy.
The pastry dough is gently pressed into the bottom and around the edges of a pie pan or even a rimmed baking sheet.
Then the apples are pressed in to the dough. Topped with a dash of cinnamon sugar and baked to perfection!
And it’s not thick… you can see here, the cake part is thin and you are really tasting the apples!
Whatever you name it, you’ll call it a delicious and easy addition to your baking repertoire!
There’s a reason it’s a longtime family favorite!
Let’s take a look at the details.
All you need is pantry staples and some apples!
The cake is made with 7 simple ingredients:
Gluten-Free all purpose flour (we used GF Jules – Affiliate link)
baking powder
salt
sugar
butter
milk
egg
As an aside, you may have noticed that we are affiliate for GFJules. To learn more about why we love GFJules flour and why we have used it for 10 years, click here.
Bonus: at the bottom of that post is a one-time use affiliate Discount Code.
And importantly, purchasing through an affiliate link does not change your cost at all. It generates a small percentage of the sale for me, and purchasing through an affiliate link helps me fund this website and all the recipes I share, so thank you!
Back to the Gluten-free Dutch Apple Cake…
It comes together quickly!
All you do is mix together the dry ingredients, add the egg, milk and butter.
UPDATE: My grandmother always said to mix it by hand but since I use my Kitchen Aid for everything, I used my Kitchen Aid usually. However, I recently started making it by hand mixing… and my grandmother was correct, I like it better!
The dough will be thick but pliable.
So you drop in into the pan and gently press if with your fingers into the pan and around the edges.
Then you press in the apples anyway you like.
I tend to make circular designs but as you can see by all the different photos, they always look different!
Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and bake!
Hope you love this easy and versatile cake as much as we do!
Recipe from my Grandmother, this is a simple 7 ingredient cake, topped with fresh crisp apples, a dash of cinnamon and sugar and baked to perfection. The beauty of this cake is that it isn't sweet and highlights the fruit of the season. Perfect for breakfast or dessert!
Keyword: gluten-free breakfast, apple recipes, easy gluten-free dessert, gluten-free apple recipe, gluten-free apple cake recipe, dutch apple cake, gluten-free apple dessert recipe
Servings: 8-10 servings
Author: Healthy Gluten-free Family
Ingredients
1½cupsgluten-free flour with xanthan gumwe use GF Jules - affiliate link
1¾teaspoonsgluten-free baking powder
½teaspoonsalt
2tablespoons+ 1½ teaspoons sugar
⅓cupbutteror dairy free butter, room temperature, cut into pieces
⅓cupmilk
1egg
Cinnamon & sugar for sprinklingwe used a mix of 1 tablespoon sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon, but didn't need it all
3-5apples(depending on size), peeled and sliced into approximately 1/4 inch slices
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F, and lightly grease a 9 or 10 inch pie pan or ½ sized rimmed baking sheet.
In a large bowl add dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt, sugar) and combine with a fork or pastry cutter.
Add eggs, milk and butter into the flour mixture and mix to combine using a spoon. Batter will be thick but workable. Update 1: I now add egg, milk and butter at the same time; it is quicker and I find the dough easier to work with. Update 2: My grandmother insisted this recipe by mixed by hand with a large spoon and that you do not want to over mix. I always used my stand mixer, but I recently started mixing by hand with a large spoon and turns out my grandmother was correct... I prefer it!
Drop batter onto prepared pie pan by spoonfuls, and gently press into the bottom and around the edges of the pan
Press sliced apples into the dough, pushing gently, forming any patter you like. I find it easiest to press the apples into the dough in a circular pattern.
Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
Bake for 40 minutes, checking at 30 minutes and covering with foil if apples getting to crisp.
I have a Dutch apple cake recipe that was my Oma‘s. I wanted to make a gluten-free version of it, so I looked for ingredients and measurements as close as possible to my original recipe. This was very close. My Oma‘s recipe is the same except: instead of just sprinkling cinnamon and sugar on top, melt 3 tablespoons of butter, 2 teaspoons of cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg with 3 tablespoons of sugar (I usually double this). Mix it well and then gently spoon/smear over the top of your apples before you put it in the oven. When out of the oven, combine 3 tablespoons of apricot jam with enough warm water to make it a little less “stiff” of a preserve (again, I use more) and spoon it over the hot cake. Divine!
Yes, I did the recipe with coconut sugar and it worked just fine. Only that from what I observed also on other recepies, to give the proper sweetness, I add more coconut sugar than the description for normal sugar says. For instance here, I added 3.5 tablespoons coconut sugar and it was just perfect!
I am just learning about Gluten Free baking. I have a lot of Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose Flour without Xanthan Gum. I found out from other recipes that I needed to add Xanthan Gum. So I now have a lot to that too. Ugh! I see that the ingredients in Bob’s Red Mill flour are slightly different than what is in the flour you recommend. Do you think this recipe will be okay with the Bob’s Red Mill and adding the Xanthan Gum to the flour? Thanks
Thank you! And great question! Any type of apple will work in terms of flavor and taste, but baking apples like a Granny Smith or Cortland will hold their form well, whereas other apples may get “mushy” but will still taste good! Let me know if you make it.
Hi! My name is Karen, and I’m the mom in our Healthy Gluten-Free Family. My posts and pictures here and on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter are labors of love that allow me to share a very personal journey with you, one our family has taken together — learning, experimenting and sharing how to raise a healthy happy gluten-free family. Read more ...
I have a Dutch apple cake recipe that was my Oma‘s. I wanted to make a gluten-free version of it, so I looked for ingredients and measurements as close as possible to my original recipe. This was very close. My Oma‘s recipe is the same except: instead of just sprinkling cinnamon and sugar on top, melt 3 tablespoons of butter, 2 teaspoons of cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg with 3 tablespoons of sugar (I usually double this). Mix it well and then gently spoon/smear over the top of your apples before you put it in the oven. When out of the oven, combine 3 tablespoons of apricot jam with enough warm water to make it a little less “stiff” of a preserve (again, I use more) and spoon it over the hot cake. Divine!
Wow! The apricot jam on top sounds yummy! Thanks for sharing!
Can I substitute the sugar with coconut sugar?
I have never tried it but it should work… lmk if you try it
Yes, I did the recipe with coconut sugar and it worked just fine. Only that from what I observed also on other recepies, to give the proper sweetness, I add more coconut sugar than the description for normal sugar says. For instance here, I added 3.5 tablespoons coconut sugar and it was just perfect!
ever try this with vanilla or almond extract
I haven’t but I’m sure it would taste great! Let me know if you try it.
I am just learning about Gluten Free baking. I have a lot of Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose Flour without Xanthan Gum. I found out from other recipes that I needed to add Xanthan Gum. So I now have a lot to that too. Ugh! I see that the ingredients in Bob’s Red Mill flour are slightly different than what is in the flour you recommend. Do you think this recipe will be okay with the Bob’s Red Mill and adding the Xanthan Gum to the flour? Thanks
yes! It should work fine! I’d just add a 1/4 teaspoon or so of xanthan gum. Enjoy!
This looks delicious! What type apples do you recommend?
Thank you! And great question! Any type of apple will work in terms of flavor and taste, but baking apples like a Granny Smith or Cortland will hold their form well, whereas other apples may get “mushy” but will still taste good! Let me know if you make it.