An apple cake with a spicy, chai twist and mouthwatering maple cream cheese drizzle. This recipe will knock your spicy socks off.
Apple Chai Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Drizzle
I have made a lot of cakes…like…a lot of cakes, but this one, this cake, is one of the most amazing tasting desserts I have come across in a long time. I can’t stop eating it! It has the perfect ratio of cake to apples and drizzly frosting. I also covered mine in walnuts because walnuts with anything sweet are the ultimate pairing in my opinion.
I never thought about making an apple cake with a chai mixture. It’s honestly so perfect and a nice change up from a traditional cinnamon spiced version. I could eat the apples just like this and I just might have.
The sliced apples are layered between the cake batter and baked to perfection in your favorite Bundt pan.
The cake slides easily out of the pan and is a gorgeous golden brown color with some of the apples peeking through.
Every slice is packed with apples. I’ve eaten this cake for breakfast, lunch and dinner, it just keeps on giving and tastes great for days.
How can you not make this?
Other Apple Cake Recipes You Might Enjoy
More Chai Spice Recipes
Here are a few more recipes that move you into the warmer side of the spice drawer.
- Chai Eggnog – spiced from-scratch bliss.
- Pumpkin Chai Pots de Crème – pumpkin custard with pumpkin seed brittle.
- Chai-Spiced Ice Cream Syrup – perfect for giving.
Apple Chai Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Drizzle
Ingredients
Cake:
- Butter, oil or cooking spray for greasing pan
- 3 cups (426 g) all-purpose flour, plus more for flouring pan
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup (235 ml) neutral-flavored oil (such as canola, vegetable or grape seed)
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) orange juice
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups (400 g) sugar, plus extra 5 Tablespoons for apples
- 4-5 Granny Smith apples (3-1/2 cups/440 g), sliced
- 1 Tablespoon ground cardamom
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
Drizzle:
- 4 ounces (113 g) cream cheese, softened
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup (113 g) powdered sugar
- 3 Tablespoons maple syrup
- pinch kosher salt
- 1 Tablespoon (plus 1-2 teaspoons, if needed) milk (or water or almond milk if keeping parve), at room temperature
- walnuts for garnish (optional)
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F/ 180 degrees C. Grease a 12 cup (2.8 L) Bundt pan with butter and a dusting of flour (or use nonstick spray) and set aside.
- In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, or a large bowl with hand mixer or spoon, mix together oil, eggs, orange juice and vanilla. Mix in sugar until combined. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, switching to beater attachment (or continue to mix by hand). Mix until combined, being careful not to over mix. Batter should be thick but pourable.
- Peel and core apples and cut into thin, 1/8" (3 mm) wedges.
- Combine apples in a large bowl with remaining 5 Tablespoons sugar, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger and cloves.
- Spoon a third of the batter in pan and add half of the apple mixture in an even layer , add another third of the batter. Follow with other half of the apple mixture and last of the batter.
- Bake for 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then remove and finish cooling on a cooling rack.
- To make drizzle, beat cream cheese and butter with a hand mixer until light and fluffy. Then beat in powdered sugar, butter, maple syrup, salt and enough milk to get a thick, but runny glaze. Keep beating until smooth. Drizzle all over your cooled cake.
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Erin @ The Speckled Palate says
Oh my! This cake looks and sounds utterly incredible! What a perfect sweet to bake during the winter months.
Heather | All Roads Lead to the Kitchen says
Mmmm, three words I love – apple, maple, and chai. This sounds incredible, and I’ll have to check out Amy’s book!
Michelle says
That cake looks absolutely divine! I could go for a slice (or two) right now!
Sabrina says
What a delicious-looking breakfast cake! My husband would love this!
katerina @ diethood.com says
Oh my!! What an incredible cake!! YUM!!
Melanie | Melanie Makes says
As a lover of all things apple and chai, this sounds delish!
Krista says
I love this! I cannot wait to try this!
Laura Dembowski says
I love a good bundt cake and one this full of goodies is even better!
Joan Buell says
Well, I used Pam, liberally, on the pan, but cake fell into pieces when I tried to remove it from the pan much of it sticking. I will attempt to patch it with the glaze, but…Also, from tasting the crumbs, I can tell there is way too much clove in it for my taste. Would decrease to 1/2 tsp. Let’s see how it goes over tomorrow At my Senior Saints meeting. (No, I am not too proud to serve a repaired cake. ?)
Molly says
I am not following the OJ addition. Citrus with chai.? This cake looks Devine but I will use apple cider instead….it’s what I have on hand. Thank you a perfect Autumn treat
Cathy says
Trust me, it’s awesome.
Kathy says
I made this for a work event. When I turned out the cake it stuck to the bottom. It split in half where I layered the apples. Maybe I didn’t cool long enough? I was able to piece it back together. The frosting is yummy and covered my mistake. Win!
Cathy says
Yes sounds like it wasn’t cool enough.