Swedish Apple Cake (Äppelkaka) with Cardamom

This Swedish Apple Cake is soft, buttery, and full of freshly ground cardamom. It's the kind of cake that disappears off the counter a slice at a time. Sour cream in the batter keeps it tender, and the apples go in as wedges pressed down into the top, so you get fruit through every bite instead of a layer sitting on the surface. Cinnamon sugar over the whole thing bakes into a spiced, crackly finish. It all happens in one 9-inch springform, just under an hour in the oven. Best served warm with coffee, or with vaniljsås if you want dessert rather than a coffee cake.

Prep Time30

Cook Time55

Cooling time20

Total Time1 45

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Nordic, Swedish

Diet: Vegetarian

Servings: slices (one 9-inch cake)

Calories: 389kcal

Author: Briana

Equipment

Ingredients

Cake

¾ teaspoon cardamom freshly ground preferred, about 10 green cardamom pods, measured after grinding
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour 160 grams
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt 3g, this recipe uses Diamond Crystal kosher salt, see notes
½ cup unsalted butter softened, 113 grams
1 ¼ cups granulated sugar 250 grams
2 large eggs room temperature
⅓ cup sour cream room temperature, 80 grams
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Apples and Topping

3-4 medium apples or 6-8 small peeled, cored, and cut into wedges (400-500 grams prepared) — Honeycrisp, Ginger Gold, or Gala
3 tablespoons granulated sugar unless you have tart apples, see notes
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions

Prepare the Pan and Dry Ingredients

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter or spray a 9-inch springform pan. Use parchment paper if desired.
Crack the cardamom pods open and grind the seeds to a powder in a mortar and pestle or spice grinder. Measure out ¾ teaspoon.
¾ teaspoon cardamom
Whisk the flour, baking powder, cardamom, and salt together in a bowl and set aside.
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon kosher salt

Make the Batter

Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes.
½ cup unsalted butter, 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Mix in the sour cream and vanilla.
2 large eggs, ⅓ cup sour cream, 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Fold the dry ingredients into the wet just until no dry flour remains. The batter will be thick and spreadable, not pourable.

Assemble and Bake

Spread the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
Peel and core the apples and cut them into wedges. You want enough to cover the top of the batter, which is usually 400 to 500 grams once they're prepped.
3-4 medium apples
Press the apple wedges into the batter in overlapping circles, working from the outside edge in toward the center. Lay them thin-edge down and press firmly so they settle into the batter rather than resting on top of it.
Stir the topping sugar and cinnamon together and sprinkle evenly over the apples.
3 tablespoons granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Bake for 50 to 55 minutes. Start checking at 50. Slide a skewer in at a shallow angle from the edge toward the center so it travels through the cake rather than through an apple, and look for it to come out clean. The top should feel set rather than give when you press it. If you use a thermometer, the center of the cake should read 205 to 210°F with the probe in the crumb, not in the fruit.
Cool for at least 20 minutes before releasing the springform ring. Serve warm.

Video

Notes

Salt. This is measured in Diamond Crystal kosher salt, which is less dense by volume than other salts. If you use Morton kosher, use a generous ½ teaspoon. If you use table salt or fine sea salt, use ½ teaspoon.
Apples. Honeycrisp, Ginger Gold, and Gala all hold their shape through the full bake instead of breaking down. Weigh the apples after peeling and coring, not before, since small apples lose proportionally more than large ones. Early-season apples tend to run sharper than the same variety does later in fall, so if yours taste especially tart, add a tablespoon of extra sugar to the cinnamon sugar topping.
Cardamom. About 10 green pods will get you to ¾ teaspoon, but measure after grinding since pods vary in size. Pre-ground cardamom works at the same measure and will give you a milder cake.
Don't assemble ahead. Bake this the same day you put it together. The baking powder starts working as soon as it hits the wet ingredients, the apples brown and weep, and the cinnamon sugar dissolves into the fruit.
Storage. Cool completely, take the cake off the springform base, and store it under a cake dome or loosely covered rather than wrapped tightly. Wrapping a cake with this much fruit in it traps the moisture the apples give off, and the crumb turns damp. Keeps 2 to 3 days at room temperature, and the cardamom actually comes forward overnight. To bring a slice back, warm it in a 300°F oven for about 10 minutes rather than in the microwave if you can.
Serving. Best warm, within an hour of coming out of the oven. Coffee is the traditional pairing, the same way it is with Toscakaka and Swedish Cardamom Buns. A scoop of vanilla ice cream works, and the truly Swedish way is with vaniljsås poured over the top.

Nutrition