Apple Cinnamon Roll Cake

I absolutely love cinnamon rolls and have created many recipes on this site that deliver cinnamon roll flavor without having to make a traditional yeasted cinnamon roll. In fact, I only have one real classic cinnamon roll recipe and it has pumpkin in it: Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls.

The reason for only one? Well, two reasons.

1. Way back when, I was afraid of yeast so rarely worked with it.
2. Now however, I’m more comfortable with yeast-based breads but cinnamon rolls are everything to me, so if you put a platter in front of me, no matter how large, I will plow through as much as I can. So, keeping that in mind, I only make them on very special occasions.

I’ve developed methods to deliver the same flavor like today’s recipe and these as well: Cinnamon Roll Bundt Cake, Cinnamon Roll Cake, and Cinnamon Roll Loaf Cake.

Sometimes I get fancy and play with pumpkin, as mentioned above or even Sweet Potato Cinnamon Roll Cake. And today we’ve flirted with apple.

Apple and cinnamon are notorious for making a great match. And this recipe proves it. While it may look complicated, it’s not. It’s just broken down into different layers. Cake layer, apple layer, cinnamon topping, and glaze.

I actually omitted the glaze, accidentally. I ran out of powered sugar. My options were to go to the store and get some but then have to wait until the following day before taste-testing it because the sun was going down, and with it my natural light. Or to photograph and taste it without the glaze and see how it was. I obviously went with the taste while still warm option.

And I didn’t miss the glaze at all. Neither did Fabien. The tender apples, the soft cake, and the cinnamon topping were enough to really pack flavor and the beauty of it was that it wasn’t overly sweet. So while the original recipe calls for glaze, I leave that now as an optional last step. I’d say make it for the beauty and for a real dessert or coffee cake option. Leave it out if you plan to use this as a breakfast or snacking cake. Either way, it’s delicious. Enjoy!