German Apple Cider Cake – a Hessian Apple Cake

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This Hessian apple cider cake with shortcrust pastry is a traditional German Cake recipe you will love made with grandma’s recipe! German Shortcrust pastry filled with apple wine custard and topped with whipped cream. Jump to Recipe

Get cozy with a slice of German Apple Cider Cake!

A traditional German apple cake from the Hessian region made using my tried and tested family recipe! This is one of my favorite fall cakes.

Picture a tipsy apple wine custard topped with whipped cream on a crispy shortcrust pastry! Wine or apple cider in a cake might sound a bit extra but trust me, you will love it!

A simple yet special Apple Cake for adults. 

German baking made easy – this Hessian apple cider cake recipe is quick and easy to prepare. With this apple cake on the table, the guests will be especially cheerful because we use a whole bottle of white wine or apple cider for the custard.

You can use white wine or apple cider for the filling! This authentic German apple cake is perfect for making ahead of time as it can be baked the day before and topped with whipped cream the next day right before serving.

We start with classic German shortcrust pastry with a bit of baking powder for that rise.

There are also apple wine cake recipes using a light sponge cake like this German Mulled Apple Cake but today it’s all but the crispy bottom and fruity-creamy top.

The apple custard filling is quick to prepare. We basically make a hot pudding from apples, 750 ml apple wine / cider or white wine, a few tablespoons of sugar and pudding powder or cornstarch.

To make the filling extra rich and perfect for slicing, we add an egg to the custard.

German Apple cider cake without alcohol

Depending on the region of Germany, cider can also be found under apple wine or Ebbelwoi. But what is meant is always the same. Alternatively, you can use cider, white wine mixed with apple juice or, if children are eating with you, pure apple juice. That way you can modify the apple cake to your taste.

Which apple variety should I use?

As always with German apple cake recipes, I recommend tart apple varieties. The following are the best apples for baking:

• Braeburn
• Cox Orange
• Jonagold
• Elstar
• Granny Smith works well here too 

How to make German Apple Cider Cake

For the shortcrust, you want to use cold butter. Knead together all ingredients to combine. Be quick with this to prevent the butter from melting.

Roll out between sheets of wrapping foil or freezer bags and let sit in the fridge for 30 minutes. I try to shape the dough into a disk as it shortens the time needed to chill thoroughly and it will help you to get the pastry into the pan.

Then roll out the dough on a floured work surface and line your greased springform pan (Ø 26 cm) with it, pressing it up the rim approx. 4 cm – 5 cm high. Prick the dough with a fork.

Peel and core the apples and cut them into small cubes or thin wedges. Drizzle with the juice of a lemon. Mix the vanilla pudding powder or cornstarch with 5 tablespoons of white wine or cider and the egg until smooth.

Bring the remaining apple cider or white wine to a boil along with the sugar.
Stir in the pudding powder slurry and bring the mixture to a boil once. Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the apple slices and lemon zest.

Spread the apple filling evenly over the base and bake the cake in the preheated oven for about 60 minutes on the middle rack.

After baking, let the cake cool down in the mold for about 20 minutes. To avoid the bottom from getting soggy, the cake should then be removed from the mold! To do this, run a knife along the edge to remove the pastry from the edge of the springform pan and leave the cake to cool on a wire rack.

Before the cream goes on top of the cake, the apple wine cake has to cool down completely. At least 3 hours, better overnight. Whip the cream to soft peaks adding the vanilla sugar and spread the cream over the cooled cake. Sprinkle with cinnamon or toasted flaked almonds for decoration.

Tips:

• The apples can be cut into small cubes or thin wedges to allow for them to soften.
• If you have a very high rim or you just like a lot of creams you can use 2 cups of cream. For a less creamy cake, just whip one cup of cream.
• If you are not a fan of cinnamon, you can also decorate the cake with roasted flaked almonds
• For an alcohol-free version, use apple juice instead of wine 
• For a gluten-free cake, use gluten-free flour 
• I use Dr Oetker Vanilla Pudding Powder for this recipe but you can use 80 g cornstarch instead 
• My granny would use German Vanilla Sugar sachets but icing sugar and 1 tbsps vanilla extract also works

More German apple recipes:

• German Apple Fritters Recipe
• German Apple Almond Cake
• German Apple Streusel Muffins
• German Apple Cake Recipe with Streusel Topping
• German Scrambled Pancakes
• Grannys Pancakes

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Hessian Apple Cider Cake - a traditional German Cake recipe

This Hessian apple cider cake with shortcrust pastry is a traditional German Cake recipe you will love made with grandma's recipe! German Shortcrust pastry filled with apple wine custard and topped with whipped cream

Course Dessert

Cuisine German

Keyword apple cider cake, apple wine cake, German apple cake

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes

Servings 12

Calories 300 kcal

Ingredients

• 250 g wheat flour type 405 - 1 1/2 cups
• 1 teaspoon Baking powder
• 125 g softened butter 1/2 cup
• 100 grams of sugar - 1/2 cup
• 1 tsp vanilla paste or 1 pack vanilla sugar
• 1 egg size M

Filling:

• 1.5 kg of apples
• 2 sachets of vanilla pudding powder or 80 g cornstarch - 2/3 cups
• 750 ml white wine or cider 3 1/3 cups
• 1 egg size M
• 100 grams of sugar - 1/2 cup
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest + juice of one lemon

Topping

• 1 1/2 - 2 cups heavy cream
• 2 packets of vanilla sugar or 2 tbsp icing sugar and 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• Instructions

Instructions

1. For the shortcrust, you want to use cold butter. Knead together all ingredients for the the pastry to combine. I do this with my hands and I start my mixing flour baking powder and sugar and then I make a mold in my flour. Into the mold I break the egg and I spread the butter around the mold. then mix egg into the flour and add butter in as you go to form the dough. Be quick with this to prevent the butter from melting.
2. Roll out the pastry between sheets of cling film or freezer bags and let sit in the fridge for 30 minutes. I try to shape the dough into a disk as it shortens the time needed to chill thoroughly and it will help you to get the pastry into the pan.

3. Then roll out the dough on a floured work surface and line your greased springform pan (Ø 26 cm) with it, pressing it up the rim approx. 4 cm - 5 cm high. Prick the dough with a fork.

4. Peel and core the apples and cut them into small cubes or thin wedges. Drizzle with the juice of a lemon. Mix the vanilla pudding powder or cornstarch with 5 tablespoons of white wine or cider and the egg until smooth.
5. Bring remaining apple cider or white wine to a boil along with the sugar.

6. Stir in the pudding powder slurry and bring the mixture to a boil once. Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the apple slices and lemon zest.

   Preheat oven to 180°C - 375 F

7. Spread the apple filling evenly over the base and bake the cake in the preheated oven for about 60 minutes (375F) on the middle rack.

8. After baking, let the cake cool down in the mold for about 20 minutes. To avoid the bottom from getting soggy, the cake should then be removed from the mold! To do this, run a knife along the edge to remove the pastry from the edge of the springform pan and leave the cake to cool on a wire rack.
9. Before the cream goes on top of the cake, the apple wine cake has to cool down completely. At least 3 hours, better overnight. Whip the cream to soft peaks adding the vanilla sugar and spread the cream over the cooled cake. Sprinkle with cinnamon or toasted flaked almonds for decoration.

Recipe Video