Nordic apple cake (æblekage)
July 22, 2026 · 2 min read
This is the Scandinavian apple cake that shows up at almost every Nordic baking occasion — straightforward, not fussy, and better than it sounds. The apples go in diced rather than sliced, so they soften into the cake rather than sitting on top. The spice is cinnamon and cardamom: warm but not overpowering.
No frosting, no glaze. It's the kind of cake you eat in a thick wedge with coffee, or warm with a spoon of cold skyr cutting through.
Ingredients
- 3 medium apples (about 400 g), peeled and diced into small cubes
- 2 eggs
- 150 g (3/4 cup) sugar
- 120 ml (1/2 cup) rapeseed or canola oil
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 200 g (1 2/3 cups) all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- Optional: a small handful of walnuts or almonds, roughly chopped
Steps
- Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease a 9-inch round or 8-inch square baking pan and line the base with parchment paper.
- Whisk the eggs and sugar together until slightly pale and the sugar begins to dissolve, about 2 minutes. Whisk in the oil and vanilla.
- Add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, cardamom, and salt. Stir until just combined — a few streaks of flour are fine.
- Fold in the diced apples (and nuts, if using). The batter will be thick.
- Spread into the prepared pan. Bake 35–40 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the top is golden.
- Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature with a spoon of plain skyr or yogurt.
Notes and swaps
Apples: firm-sweet varieties work best — Honeycrisp, Braeburn, Pink Lady, or Granny Smith if you want more tartness. Soft apples like McIntosh break down into the batter more; that's also fine, just a different texture.
Cardamom: ground cardamom has a strong, almost floral flavor that softens beautifully in baking. If you only have whole cardamom pods, crush the seeds from 4–5 pods in a mortar for approximately 1/4 teaspoon. It's worth using.
Oil: rapeseed or canola oil keeps the cake moist even when it's fully cooled. Butter works too — melt and cool it before using.
Serving: good at room temperature, slightly better warm. A spoon of plain skyr adds protein and tempers the sweetness. See what is skyr if you haven't used it.
Storage: keeps 3 days at room temperature covered; up to a week in the fridge.
The macros are estimates per slice from an 8-portion cut. Tell Nordic Diet Companion what you had — "a slice of apple cake with skyr" — and it reflects the fruit and fermented dairy alongside the cake. See Nordic meal ideas for more.