This delightful Fresh Apple Crazy Cake is bursting with tender apple, pecans, and warm spices. No eggs, milk, or butter required! It’s a truly delicious treat.
Fresh Apple Crazy Cake
This super moist Fresh Apple Crazy Cake is a must-try! Made without eggs, milk, or butter, it uses pantry staples like cinnamon, nutmeg, tender baked Granny Smith apple, and coarsely chopped pecans. This apple cake is the perfect way to satisfy your sweet tooth, with its warm spices and cozy flavors. A comforting dessert that’s perfect for any occasion, this budget-friendly apple cake will knock your socks off!
Wacky Apple Cake: A Depression Era Recipe
Crazy Cake, also known as Wacky Cake or Depression Cake, originated during the Great Depression when ingredients like eggs, milk, and butter were scarce. While the original cake is most commonly known as a chocolate cake, I’ve created a variety of new flavors by adapting the cherished vintage recipe.
This new apple cake is made with simple ingredients that you likely already have in your pantry. All you need are a baking apple and pecans. I personally prefer Granny Smith apples for their tangy tartness that complements the sweetness of the cake. If you enjoyed my Apple Cider Crazy Cake, you’re sure to love this one!
What Ingredients Do I Need To Make Fresh Apple Crazy Cake? (See Recipe Card Below for Full Recipe)
- Granny Smith apple (or your favorite baking apple, peeled, chopped)
- pecans (coarsely chopped)
- all-purpose flour
- sugar
- ground cinnamon
- ground nutmeg
- baking soda
- salt
- vegetable oil (or canola oil)
- apple cider vinegar (or white vinegar)
- pure vanilla extract
- water
How to make Fresh Apple Crazy Cake
This is the EASIEST cake to make, and you only need 1 medium to large size apple – it takes just minutes to prepare!
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and then spray an 8″x 8″ baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
Mix the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt) in a large bowl.
Next, make 3 depressions in dry ingredients – two small, one larger. And then add the vinegar in one depression, vanilla in the other, and the vegetable oil in the third larger depression. Last, pour water over top.
Mix well until smooth, then fold in the chopped apple and coarsely chopped pecans.
Pour batter into a prepared baking dish, then bake on the middle rack of the oven for approximately 40–45 minutes. Check the center of cake with a toothpick to make sure it comes out clean. Adjust baking time according to your oven, be sure not to over bake.
Last, remove from oven, allow to cool for 15 minutes before serving.
This cake is fantastic served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce. You can also serve it plain, with a dusting of powdered sugar or a dollop of whipped cream. Or allow the cake to cool and top it with your favorite buttercream, cream cheese, or vanilla frosting.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
Crazy Cake, also known as Wacky Cake or Depression Cake, is named for its unique simplicity. It doesn’t require eggs, milk, butter, or mixers, and some recipes don’t even need bowls. In Fact, the original name, Depression Cake, reflects its origins during the Great Depression, when ingredients like butter, eggs, and milk were scarce.
Vinegar is part of the leavening process. The vinegar reacts with the baking soda, which is what makes the cake rise. In fact, you do not taste a hint of the vinegar in the finished cake!
Yes! Simply use a 9×13 baking pan.
You can use apple cider vinegar or white vinegar.
You can use vegetable oil and canola oil. Olive oil works well in my Lemon Crazy Cake and my Lemon Blueberry Crazy Cake.
This cake is best enjoyed warm, served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of caramel sauce. For a lighter touch, serve as isdust it with powdered sugar or top it with a dollop of whipped cream. If you prefer a cooler treat, let the cake cool completely and then frost it with your favorite flavor: buttercream, cream cheese, brown sugar, cinnamon, or vanilla.
Yes! So many people have used gluten-free mixes with great success with this cake, and my other crazy cake flavors.
What’s the best apple for baking in a Crazy Cake?
My go-to apple is the Granny Smith. I love its tangy tartness balanced with sweetness in cakes and pies. However, you can use a variety of baking apples – Honeycrisp, Jonagold, Fuji, Cortland, and more.
Fresh Apple Crazy Cake (No Eggs, Milk or Butter)
Ingredients
DRY INGREDIENTS
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup sugar (granulated)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
WET INGREDIENTS
- 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar (or white vinegar)
- 5 Tablespoons vegetable oil (or canola oil)
- 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup water
APPLE & PECAN
- 1 cup Granny Smith apple, peeled, chopped – 1 medium to large apple (or your favorite baking apple)
- ½ cup pecans, coarsely chopped (or coarsely chopped walnuts)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and then spray an 8″x 8″ baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
- Mix the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt) in a large bowl.
- Next, make 3 depressions in dry ingredients – two small, one larger. Add the vinegar in one depression, vanilla in the other, and the vegetable oil in the third larger depression. Next, pour water over top and mix well until smooth.
- Finally, fold in the chopped apple and coarsely chopped pecans to the batter, then pour the mixture into the baking dish.
- Bake on the middle rack of the oven for approximately 40–45 minutes. Check the center of cake with a toothpick to make sure it comes out clean. Adjust baking time according to your oven, be sure not to over bake.
- Remove from oven, allow to cool for 15 minutes before serving.
- This cake is best enjoyed warm, served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of caramel sauce. For a lighter touch, serve plain or dust it with powdered sugar or top it with a dollop of whipped cream. If you prefer a cooler treat, let the cake cool completely and then frost it with your favorite flavor: buttercream, cream cheese, brown sugar, cinnamon, or vanilla.
- Cover tightly and store in the refrigerator up to 4 days. You can reheat a piece of cake in the microwave for a few seconds on high.
Danita Jo watson
This one is going in my recipe box. I made a crumble topping with cold butter, cinnamon sugar I had along with brown sugar and some flour. It made a slightly crunchy topping and such a great snack cake, gone in one day!
Leesa Rezendes of Oregon
Hi!
Sweet Little Bluebird, I simply adore this recipe. I make, bake and gobble this cake up. I have raved it, shared some, taught my friend, her friend how to make one, two or ?? Personally, I will only use a large Granny Smith apple when making it. I like the way it balances with the ACV. Thank you for sharing your recipe!
Lois Yoder
Scrumptious, my husband and I eat it in a couple days
Theresa
This was so easy and better than my old 3 bowl, “cream the butter and sugar”…apple cake recipe! Went together in just a few minutes and gone just as fast here. Thank you!
Jackie
Loved your cider crazy cake, this one is just as good! Do you ever offer nutrition info with your recipes? A new health issue forced us into a low salt/sodium diet – a lot of us folks out here dealing with this- I spend as much time researching and trying to limit salt as I do making the recipes. I’ve signed up for your slow cooker email and I’m sooo hoping there is info on the recipes! If not, please, please consider it?
Mary Neumann
Hello Jackie,
I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed my new cake! Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing.
As for nutritional information, that’s not my area of expertise, and due to product variations, it can be tricky to provide accurate details. You might find a helpful explanation here from a fellow food blogger.: https://southernbite.com/heres-why-i-dont-post-nutritional-information-with-my-recipes/
Here is a great tool you can bookmark that you may find helpful for recipes: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
Lea Anne Brummett
Thanks for this recipe. We are having a family gathering this weekend. I needed a vegan dessert that everyone, even none vegan would enjoy. I’m hoping the extra light olive oil will work fine in this recipe because the vegan is picky about her oils.
Mary Neumann
Hello Lee Anne,
You are so welcome. I think it will be great, especially if you are using a light olive oil. Please stop back by and let me know how it turns out. Happy baking!
Brenda
This was delicious my husband and I ate all of it in 2 days. I did make a thin glaze from powered sugar and milk spread on the cake while warm. Tomorrow making one for a loved one but doubling the recipe for their family. Thank you for sharing. God bless you
Perry Walden
I was craving something sweet for after lunch today and stumbled across this recipe. So easy and so delicious. I’ve eaten two pieces with ice cream already. I think it will also be great for breakfast but I will skip the ice cream for that. Well, maybe not. I’m an adult and can do what I want!
Kathi
Making this tonight as I have a granny smith apple that needs to be used or will die a horrible death. LOL. Thanks for posting.
Mary Neumann
Yay! I hope you love it, Kathi! I was just snacking on a small sliver…I have half a cake in the fridge. FYI..it’s great cold too, with nothing on it!
Teresa Pitman
Just a question: the ingredient list does not mention salt, but the instructions say you should mix it in as one of the dry ingredients. How much salt should I add?
Mary Neumann
Yes, Teresa – your ears were burning, it’s fixed. I was just in my recipe card fixing that…1/2 teaspoon salt.
Thanks so much for topping by! Hope you like this cake as much as I do.
Linda Smith
How far ahead can I make this cake?
Mary Neumann
You can make it a day ahead, Linda. It will last several days in the fridge.