No Bake Apple Jelly Cake

This light and easy no-bake cake features layers of sponge biscuits and apple jelly, topped with sweetened sour cream. It is an extremely refreshing dessert that the whole family will love!

I make this recipe every fall when the apples ripen in our garden. The prep of the cake is very easy; most of the time is probably spent peeling the apples and then waiting for the cake to rest in the fridge overnight.

However, the waiting time is absolutely worth it! This apple cake has a delightful flavor that is quite refreshing, and the pleasant taste of apples is wonderfully balanced by soft biscuits and a fantastic layer of sour cream as a finishing touch.

Let me tell you that the recipe comes from the Czech Republic, where apples thrive, and home cooks and bakers know many fantastic apple dishes. Give this yellow cake a try, and let yourself be surprised by its divine taste.

MY TIP: Do you have a lot of apples from your garden in the summer and fall and don't know what to do with them? Try this apple compote, a favorite thing of Czech grannies!

➜ Ingredients

For a homemade cake with apple jelly, you need:

• Fresh apples; I used apples from an old apple tree that grows in our garden. If you have a chance to get some homegrown apples, go for it! Otherwise, use store-bought apples.
• Sponge biscuits; in the Czech Republic, we use so-called piskoty. These are round, thin, and crispy biscuits without filling. If you have a Polish European food store near you, try to see if they offer classic Czech piskots. For those based in the US, a good option might be Nilla Vanilla wafers.
• Vanilla pudding powder; a food item you can get in every shop in the Czech Republic. I looked up that the Dr. Oetker brand I used is available online at Amazon.com (please check). If you don't have any Dr. Oetker pudding powder on hand, ordinary cornstarch will work just as well. Dr. Oetker's pudding powder is essentially just cornstarch with vanilla flavor added. The cornstarch will thicken the cooked apple blend and form a flavorful jelly, see below in the recipe instructions.
• Lemon juice; freshly squeezed from a lemon
• Vanilla bean paste for baking; you can possibly omit it. Real vanilla adds aroma and flavor to the cake. In the Czech Republic, a small sachet containing vanilla-scented sugar is available for baking. Check out Amazon.com; from Dr. Oetker, you can find both this vanilla sugar (look for Vanille Zucker as Dr. Oetker is a German brand) and also vanilla baking paste.
• Granulated sugar; to sweeten the jelly and then on top of the sour cream layer
• Cinnamon powder; apples are a natural pairing for this aromatic spice!
• Water; for the jelly preparation. Some people add pineapple juice instead of water, but in that case, reduce the amount of sugar you use to make the jelly.
• Sour cream; together with the sugar, forms the final layer of the cake. I recommend sour cream with a fat content of between 15-20%. Such is thicker, tastier, and keeps better on the cake surface.

✅ You’ll find the exact amount of ingredients below in the recipe card, which you can also print out.

➜ Instructions with photos

STEP 1: Clean the apples, peel their skins, and remove the cores. Cut the apples into cubes about ½-1 inch in size. For more, see the article on how to shred apples.

STEP 2: Put the sliced apples in a pot and cover them with a cup of water. Increase the heat, cover with a lid, and bring to a boil. Then turn the heat down to low and let the apples simmer under the lid for 15 minutes.

STEP 3: Add ground cinnamon, sugar, and lemon juice to the cooked apples. Stir to combine.

STEP 4: Pour a cup of water into a bowl and add a ladleful of the cooking juices from the apples. Stir in the pudding powder or cornstarch and whisk well, so there are no lumps in the mixture.

STEP 5: Slowly pour the pudding powder mixture over the cooked apples. Stir thoroughly and bring to a boil over medium heat. The custard powder will thicken the apples. Cook over medium heat for about a minute, and then remove the pan of apple jelly from the heat source.

STEP 6: Crush the apple pieces a bit, for example, with a potato masher. Do not blend the mixture; you should still see small pieces of apple chunks in it.

STEP 7: Take a round springform cake pan with a diameter of 9-10 inches. Line the bottom with baking paper, fit the sides and simply cut the excess paper around the perimeter with scissors. You can grease the bottom with baking paper with a little unsalted butter.

STEP 8: Place a layer of biscuits on the bottom of the springform pan, one right next to the other.

STEP 9: Scoop the apple jelly with a ladle and spread it over the biscuits while smoothing the surface.

STEP 10: Place another layer of biscuits on top of the jelly.

STEP 11: In a medium bowl, mix the sour cream with the sugar. Pour the cream mixture over the biscuits and spread evenly. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula to make the most of the cream.

Now put the cake in the fridge and leave it there overnight. The cake flavors will develop, and the biscuits will soften as they soak up the juices from the apple jelly.

➜ Serving

Using a knife, carefully cut the cake into wedges and serve on a dessert plate. For a better presentation, dust the cake lightly with ground cinnamon.

MY TIP: If you think the cake is not firm enough, put it in the freezer for half an hour. It will then cut perfectly.

➜ Useful tips

• Instead of sour cream, some Czechs use whipped heavy cream as the top layer. This option contains more calories but is definitely a possible option to consider trying. However, in our family, sour cream is rather preferred.
• Do you have any cake left? Put it in the fridge, where it will keep for 5-7 days.
• No oven is needed to make this no-bake cake. You just need a stove to cook the apple jelly.

More apple recipes:

• Apple strudel
• Czech Apple slice
• Apple bread pudding (Czech Zemlovka)
• Dried apples (Czech Krizaly)
• Pan fried apple rings (in pancake batter)