Apple Pie Cake – Half pie, half cake, lots of delicious apples.
During this pandemic, many have chosen to spend more time in their own kitchens, whipping up foods they used to enjoy at their favorite restaurants. As a result, those restaurants have been releasing recipes for some of their most famous foods. One of those restaurants is located at Disney World and is famous for their apple pie.
This apple pie is unique because it’s part pie, part cake. Instead of layering the cooked apples with gooey filling, it’s layered with an eggy batter that bakes up into a cakey texture.
When the recipe came out, it was everywhere. People were so excited to make this pie cake for themselves. I, on the other hand, had never heard of the pie before so I didn’t think anything of it when the recipe was released. But because of the hype, I just had to give it a try for myself. I mean, you can’t have too many recipes for apple pie, right?
And let me tell you…this pie was AMAZING. It’s so unique but still has all the comforting flavors that you love in a classic apple pie. My husband especially loved the texture of the cake filling.
So I decided to share my interpretation of the recipe here for you guys to enjoy for yourselves. Without further ado, let’s take a look at this pie, huh?
How is this pie made?
To make this pie, there are three main steps:
- Make pie crust
- Precook apples
- Make batter
Once these steps are all completed, the pie is assembled and baked for about an hour. It’s really not complicated – it just takes some time.
Pie crust
This pie crust is pretty traditional. However, instead of using cold water in the recipe, it calls for cold milk. This makes the flavor a little richer. If you are trying to avoid the extra dairy, however, you can easily swap out the milk for water.
To make the dough, I use a food processor. I have tried making pie dough with a pastry blender or even by hand, but my dough always comes out too dry. When I saw Ina Garten’s technique for making dough in the food processor, I was immediately drawn to it because it require much less effort and ensured the butter and shortening mixed into the flour perfectly.
Once the dough is made, it’s chilled, then rolled, and then lined in a deep dish pie pan.
Apples
To get the apples perfectly tender for this pie, they need to be precooked. To do this, they are steamed for about 10 minutes. I steamed them in a steamer basket but you can also do it in the microwave.
After the apples are steamed, they are tossed with a few spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice.
Cake Batter
Finally, we make the cake batter. It’s a thick batter, about the consistency of brownie batter. It’s made with all the traditional ingredients: flour, butter, sugar, eggs, etc so nothing too fancy here, either.
Once the batter is ready, it’s time to assemble the pie.
First, half of the cake batter is spread in the prepared pie crust. Then the apples get layered on top. Finally, the rest of the batter is spread on the apples. The pie is covered in foil and then baked for 40 minutes. This is to prevent the top from getting too brown before the middle is finished.
But don’t worry – the foil is removed and then the pie is baked for 20 more minutes to create a beautiful golden crust on top.
Tips & Tricks
- For best results, I suggest using a deep dish pie pan. This will ensure all the apples and batter will fit in the pie and not extend too high. It also makes for easier slicing when the pie is being served.
- You must chill the pie dough before rolling or else it will still to the counter and be impossible to roll out.
- When spreading the batter on top of the apples, place the batter in spoonfuls all over and then spread the batter. This will make it much easier.
- If you don’t have a steamer basket, you can easily steam the apples in the microwave. Place water and apples in a large bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Poke holes in the wrap and then microwave for 3-5 minutes or until the apples are tender but not mushy (they should still have a slight crunch).
- You MUST wait until the cake it substantially cool before cutting slices. otherwise, the slices won’t hold together and they will come out a huge mess.
Apple Pie Cake
Ingredients
For the pie crust:
- 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 4 teaspoons granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ sticks unsalted butter cold
- ¼ cup vegetable shortening cold
- ⅓ cup cold milk
For the apples:
- 6 medium granny smith apples peeled, cored, and sliced
- 1½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
For the cake batter:
- ½ cup butter unsalted, softened
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1½ cup flour
- 1½ teaspoon baking powder
- ⅙ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup heavy cream
Instructions
For the pie crust:
- Add flour, sugar, and salt to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse a few times to combine. Cut the cold butter into cubes. Add to the flour mixture along with the vegetable shortening. Turn processor on and let run for 5 seconds. Then, drizzle in cold milk. Keep processing until mixture begins to clump.
- Pour dough mixture onto a clean surface. Using your hands, pull the dough together into one ball. Form dough into a disc. Cover in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until cold, at least 1 hours.
- Once dough is ready, roll it out into a disk using a rolling pin. The dough should be 10½ to 11 inches in diameter. Gently fold rolled dough in half and place onto 9-inch pie pan. Unfold the dough so that it is covering the dish completely. Let the dough lay into the dish so that it is not stretched or pulled. Fold over excess edges and press into a smooth or fluted edge, ensuring that the whole outside edge is the same thickness. Chill while you make the filling.
For the apples:
- Place 1 cup of water in bottom of pot and bring to a boil. Place steaming basket into pot and add slice apples. Steam for 10 minutes. Remove apples from steaming basket and place in a large bowl with cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. Stir together until apples are evenly coated with the spices. Set aside.
For the cake batter and assembly:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add butter and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix until creamy and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time and mix just until combined. Add flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix until combined. Finally, add heavy cream and mix until combined.
- Pour half of the batter into the bottom of the prepared, uncooked pie crust. Add all the apples. Top with the rest of the batter and spread evenly over the apples. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes. Then, remove the foil and bake for another 15-20 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.
- Remove from oven and let pie cool completely before slicing. Right before serving, dust the top of the pie with powdered sugar.
Pin for later:
More recipes you’ll love:
Apple Pie Cinnamon Rolls
Berry Crumble Pie
Apple Cinnamon Monkey Bread
Dusting powdered sugar on top right before serving is such a lovely finishing touch. Simple but makes it look like it came straight from a bakery!
This apple pie cake is such a brilliant mashup of two classics! The fact that you managed to capture the spiced apple filling of a pie inside a tender cake is genius. I can just imagine how amazing this smells while baking. Would be perfect for a fall gathering or Sunday dinner dessert. Saving this one for sure!
What a brilliant idea to combine the best of apple pie and cake into one dessert! The streusel topping must add such a wonderful crunch contrast to the tender apple-filled layers. I appreciate that you included tips for getting the apples just right – nobody likes a soggy cake. This would be perfect for fall gatherings or really any time you are craving comfort food with a twist. bookmarking this one for sure!
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This apple pie cake sounds amazing! I love how it combines pie and cake with lots of apples. It’s cool that Disney World shared the recipe, and the eggy batter part is a neat twist. Can’t wait to try making it at home.
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I’ve never tried this dish before, but it looks so delicious!
@ color rush game
Can I substitute flour for almond flour?
I don’t think so. I haven’t tried it but almond flour has very different properties than all-purpose flour so I don’t think it would be the same. If looking for a gluten-free flour, there are a few different kinds that are recommended for cake baking. Try doing a google search for some.
Oh my, this pie looks absolutely delicious! Might try this one next Sunday to have with some tea!
Can you use a pre baked, store bought pie crust , not very good at making pie crusts!!
Apple cake is one of my favorite apple desserts. I like pie but it just needs more substance and cake hits the spot in both taste and texture. It’s our go-to dessert for labor day, memorial day, and thanksgiving.
Well, you are combining two of the best desserts ever, especially this season, apple pie and apple cake! How come I have never heard of this?? It looks mouthwatering, with an amazing texture between the pie crust, the juicy apples, and the cake!
This recipe combines the best of both worlds in dessert universe, cakes and pies. I am saving your recipe and will be making it soon as a surprise for my hubby. He has been asking for an apple pie and I have been procrastinating. He won’t believe his eyes when he sees your apple pie cake! Thank you!!
Drooling over your images. Love this apple cake especially the almonds on it’s top.
Oh, cool! I’d never heard of this before. It looks like a Dutch / German apple “pie”! I love how easy it looks to make. Normal apple pies are too cumbersome for me.
Genius idea and so delicious looking! I wonder if this is served at Disneyland too? I’m so excited to make this for my family!
Great apple recipe to add to my collection. It’s like a cobbler inside a pie crust, so clever! It looks juicy and delicious, just the thing that we love at this house! Here it’s all about apples and lemon, not much chocolate, so I wonder how long it will last, probably not long lol!
I love the combination of pie and cake. That sounds amazing!
I love pie. I love cake. This is the perfect combination of the two things! We loved this so much
Ummm this sounds absolutely AMAZZZZING.
Apples are my absolute FAVORITE in desserts so I can’t wait to try this for Thanksgiving.
Wow, this apple cake looks amazing! Literally packed with apples. A perfect fall recipe!
This apple pie cake looks gorgeous and delicious. Perfect treat for holiday season. Thanks for sharing
This looks so moist and delicious! I can’t believe how many apples are packed in there!
Love this recipe! I love cake and the hubs loves pie! This is the perfect combination of both. Thanks for sharing this one.
This looks wonderful!! Can’t wait to try it.
Am I the only one who hasn’t heard of this before? I am currently obsessed with your recipe and cannot wait to make it. It looks absolutely wonderful! Thanks so much for sharing!
Well, everyone loves apple pie! Would you believe that I’ve never made my own?! Pinning