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Grandma's German Apple Cake – plated and served
Cakes & PastriesWinterChristmasGerman

Grandma's German Apple Cake

Shortcrust pastry, juicy cinnamon apples and icing, the covered apple cake just like from grandma's bakery.

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Preparation
30 min
Cook/bake time
55 min
Total
2 hr 25 min
Difficulty
Medium
Calories
412 kcal
Servings
12 pieces
Prep
30 min
Cooking & baking
55 min
Resting
1 hr

Only 1 hr 25 min of that is hands-on – the rest takes care of itself.

Shortcrust pastry, juicy cinnamon apples and icing, the covered apple cake just like from grandma's bakery. A recipe that has worked for generations: crispy shortcrust pastry on the bottom and top, with a thick layer of warmly spiced apples in between.

Why this works

Shortcrust pastry becomes tender because the fat coats the flour particles and prevents them from forming a gluten network during kneading. Therefore, the butter must be cold and the dough worked briefly, as warm butter absorbs into the flour and the base becomes tough. The breadcrumbs under the filling are not a filler, but absorb the juice of the apples, which would otherwise soften the base.

Step-by-step instructions

Conventional · 180 °Cor Fan 160 °C

  1. Knead the dough

    Quickly knead the flour, cold butter, sugar, egg and salt into a smooth shortcrust pastry. Work as quickly as possible and with cool hands, because the shorter the butter gets warm, the more tender the dough will be later. Wrap it in foil and chill it for 60 minutes.

  2. Prepare the apples

    Peel the apples, quarter them and cut them into narrow wedges. Mix them with sugar, cinnamon, lemon juice and, if you like, the raisins. The lemon juice keeps the apples nice and bright and gives the filling a fine freshness.

  3. Line the base

    Roll out two thirds of the dough and line a 26 cm springform pan with it. Pull up an edge about 3 cm high, which will hold the filling later. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs on the bottom, because they absorb the apple juice and keep the dough crispy.

  4. Fill and cover

    Fill in the apple mixture evenly. Roll out the remaining dough into a lid, place it on top, press the edges well and prick the lid several times with a fork. The steam can escape through these small holes, otherwise the lid will bulge.

  5. Bake

    Bake the cake at 180 °C top/bottom heat for 50 to 55 minutes until golden brown. Be sure to let it cool in the pan afterwards, because the filling is still soft when warm and would fall apart when cut.

  6. Glaze

    Stir the powdered sugar with the lemon juice until smooth and brush the still lukewarm cake with it. On the warm surface, the icing runs beautifully evenly and becomes wonderfully shiny when drying.

Our best tips

  • Boskoop or Elstar fall apart easily and become wonderfully tender, perfect for the filling.
  • The breadcrumbs on the bottom absorb the apple juice and keep the dough crispy.
  • On the second day, the cake tastes almost even better because the filling infuses.

Tasty variations

With crumble

Instead of a dough lid, sprinkle butter crumble made from 100 g flour, 75 g butter and 50 g sugar.

Christmassy

Refine the filling with speculoos spice and chopped almonds.

Nutrition facts

Per serving (1 pieces)
Calories412 kcal
Protein5 g
Carbohydrates64 g
– of which sugar37 g
Fat15 g
Fiber4 g

Where the 412 kcal come from

per serving
Calculated from the ingredients – how we do it

We add up reference values for every ingredient and divide by the number of servings. These assumptions are baked in:

  • Reference values per 100 g – for the raw ingredient, exactly as listed.
  • Tinned goods count at drained weight, bone-in meat at purchase weight: you eat about 70 per cent of a chicken thigh and leave the rest.
  • Water evaporates as you cook. The energy stays in the pot, the weight does not – so the figure is per serving, not per 100 g of finished dish.
  • Anything listed without a quantity – “salt and pepper” – is not counted.

A guide value, not a lab measurement: no two onions weigh the same, and fat content varies from pack to pack.

How we calculate nutrition →

Frequently asked questions

Why does my shortcrust pastry become crumbly?

Kneading too long with warm hands makes the dough crumbly and brittle. Use cold butter, work quickly and process the dough well chilled.

Can I freeze the cake?

Yes, even very well without icing. Frozen in pieces, it lasts 3 months and thaws in 2 hours at room temperature.

Which pan is suitable?

A springform pan with a 26 cm diameter. At 24 cm, the cake will be higher and needs about 10 minutes longer.

How many calories does a piece of apple cake have?

One piece out of twelve comes to around 385 kcal. The shortcrust pastry contributes the largest part, the apples themselves hardly anything. Without icing, you save noticeably more per piece.

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