Apple and Cinnamon Cake to Cook with Kids
Fall is in the air and the apples are ripe on the tree. The perfect time for some baking with the kids and this delicious apple and cinnamon cake is perfect for early autumn and late summer cooking. Made with cooking apples this is an easy recipe that you can cook along with your younger kids and your older kids can make themselves. So here go our autumn loaf cake with freshly picked apples and cinnamon.
Apple and Cinnamon Loaf Cake
Layers of cake, apples and cinnamon sugar make this a moist and tasty treat for you and the kids to enjoy. The cooking apples stay in form but are deliciously sweet after baking and the cinnamon sugar forms the perfect crust on the top.
Have lots of apples? Why not try some of our other delicious apple recipes to cook with kids?
I first made with back in 2014 with my 3-year-old as part of our cooking the alphabet series here on Rainy Day Mum. We’d been to an orchard to pick some apples (see our preschool learning on an apple picking field trip for more about that) and decided to use some to make this delicious recipe. It was originally made using cups instead of grams but as part of our maths over the years we have converted the recipe to grams for you.
To make it easier for you and your kids the recipe can be printed out below or used on a tablet or screen to follow.
Ingredients for Apple and Cinnamon Loaf Cake
Large cooking apple – Bramley or similar is really good.
Soft brown sugar
Ground cinnamon
White sugar – we use caster sugar
Unsalted butter
Eggs
Vanilla extract
Plain
Baking powder
Semi Skimmed or whole fat milk
I use a 2lb loaf pan with a liner in it to save on washing up as well as keep the cake moist when storing.
Cooking with kids: A is for Apple and Cinnamon Loaf Cake
Cooking provides such a great opportunity to work on fine-motor skills as well as hand-eye coordination, and this recipe is a fantastic one. It’s great to make year round but of course it’s a favourite with the apples straight from the tree in the autumn or from the cold store once you’ve picked them. We started off by peeling the apple. I love the peelers that have a chunky handle which makes them ideal for use with kids. They can grip them, and it’s easier to put more pressure on them than the traditional knife-style peeler.
With the apple peeled, I cored and then split it into manageable parts for J to cut. Once the apple is chopped up put it aside until you come to make up the loaf.
Into a bowl, add the brown sugar and the cinnamon and stir until well combined – again put to the side.
This recipe is ideal to make with a stand mixer or by hand. If you are making by hand with young kids be aware that you will likely have to help to cream the butter and sugar together.
A top tip from me is to take the butter out about an hour before you want to cook this will make it much easier to cream together.
Cracking eggs without ending up with the shell in the mix or the egg everywhere is a skill that kids need to learn – I have to tell you that although this recipe calls for 2 eggs we ended up using 3 as the first went outside of the mixing bowl and all over the kitchen floor. However, with coaching, we managed the next egg together, and with supervision the final egg on its own and got it into the bowl.
Mix up the creamed sugar/butter and egg and then measure out the vanilla extract and add to the mix. Add the flour and the baking powder and mix it all together. It’s quite stiff at this point so you need the milk to get it to a better consistency.
If you have milk in glass bottles like us you may wish to measure out the milk yourself before hand.
In fact, when you are cooking with toddlers one of our top tips is to measure out all of the ingredients and do the prep parts yourself ahead of time to minimise stress during the cooking. Want more tips for cooking with toddlers then read to find out what made it easier to cook with 2 kids at once from a young age.
With the mix made up, spoon half of it into a 2-lb loaf tin which you have lined.
Then add in half of the apples, pressing them down into the mix.
Spoon on half of the cinnamon and brown sugar mix, and then add on the remaining cake mix.
Add the final half of the apples to the top and again press down.
Now sprinkle the top with the rest of the brown sugar-cinnamon mix and press in with your hand.
Place in the oven at200C for around 35 minutes.
Put aside to cool and then after around 10 minutes turn out onto a cooling rack.
Check out even more Apple Activities for Learning with Preschoolers here!
Simple Apple and Cinnamon Cake to Cook with Kids
Ingredients
- 300 g cooking apple Approx 1 large apple
- 50 g soft brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 130 g caster sugar
- 110 g unsalted butter
- 2 large eggs
- 1.5 teaspoons anilla extract
- 240 g plain flour all purpose flour
- 1.75 teaspoons baking powder
- 125 ml semi skimmed milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200C
- Grease or line a 2lb loaf tin
- Peel, core and chop the large cooking apple and set aside
- In a separate bowl mix the brown sugar and cinnamon together and set aside
- Into a large mixing bowl or mixer add the white sugar and butter/margarine and mixed until creamy in texture
- Add in the 2 eggs and vanilla extract and mix
- Combine flour and baking powder and add to the mix
- Mix well and add the milk until smooth
- Pour half of the mixture into the prepared loaf tin
- Add 1/2 the apples and 1/2 the brown sugar cinnamon mix and press into the cake mix
- Pour the remainder of the mix on top
- Into the cake top add the remaining apples and press in
- Cover with the brown sugar and cinnamon and press
- Place in the centre of the oven for 35 minutes until a skewer comes away clear
- Take out and cool and then Enjoy!
I used smaller braeburn apples and over compensated. I cut up three apples and that was too much. There ended up not being enough room for all the batter and it over flowed all over the place. Luckily I suspected this would happen once I saw how full the loaf pan was. I preemptively placed a cookie sheet under the loaf pan. Good thing I did! Lol. Maybe a measure ment of how much apple would help…:)
awesome healthy one prepared by kids they enjoy doing cooking activity………
My kids with moderate autism loved making this. They each made their own as they leek different apples and different levels of spice
Thank you for this series – it has given me the push to spend more time in the kitchen with the kids. That loaf looks scrummy – I bet it tasted lovely!