The ovens are back on. Apples and plums are cheap and everywhere, the evenings are getting shorter, and the house wants to smell like cinnamon again.
The best fall baking starts with what is in season: apple cakes and strudel, plum cake, honey cakes, walnut and poppy seed bakes, and buttery crumb cakes. European home baking is built for autumn – most of these recipes were invented to use up exactly the fruit that is piled up at the market right now.
We picked 28 favourites from Germany, France, Italy, Greece and the Czech Republic. Every one is tested, most are easier than they look, and several taste even better on the second day.
Only baking one thing this weekend? Make Zwetschgenkuchen while Italian plums are still in stores, or French apple cake – four ingredients you already have, and it never fails.
Apple Season First
Apples lead autumn baking in every European kitchen. These eight are the ones we come back to every single year.
1. French Apple Cake
More apple than batter, with a rich custardy middle. Four basic ingredients and one bowl – the cake we make most in October.
2. German Apple Cake (Apfelkuchen)
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 from 1 review
The classic sunken apple cake from a German grandmother’s kitchen. Simple, soft and perfect with afternoon coffee.
3. German Apple Strudel
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 from 1 review
Paper-thin pastry around cinnamon apples and raisins. The pulling technique is easier than its reputation, and the payoff is enormous.
4. Tarte Tatin
France’s famous upside-down caramel apple tart. It looks like a restaurant dessert and needs only one pan and a sheet of pastry.
5. Rhenish Apple Cake (Apfelriemchen)
A regional German treasure: shortcrust, apple compote and lattice strips. Old-fashioned bakery baking at home.
6. Milopita (Greek Apple Cake)
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 from 1 review
Greece’s cinnamon-scented apple cake, lighter than most and made with olive oil. Lovely slightly warm.
7. Zemlovka (Czech Apple Bread Pudding)
The cozy Czech answer to leftover bread: layered with apples, quark and cinnamon. Humble and completely comforting.
8. Homemade Apfelmus (German Applesauce)
The building block for half of German autumn cooking. Make a big pot – it goes on pancakes, potato pancakes and everything else.
Plum & Stone Fruit
The Italian-plum window is short – late August to the end of September. Bake these now or wait a year.
9. Zwetschgenkuchen (German Plum Cake)
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 from 1 review
Rows of dark plums packed tight on a soft yeast base. THE September cake in Germany, always with whipped cream.
10. Povidla (Czech Plum Butter)
Slow-cooked plum butter with no added sugar needed. The filling for dumplings, kolache and winter breakfasts.
11. German Fruit Flan (Obstkuchen)
The sponge base every German home keeps for topping with whatever fruit the season gives. End-of-summer plums shine here.
Honey, Spice & Syrup
When it gets colder, European baking reaches for honey. These five fill the whole house with autumn.
12. Honigkuchen (German Honey Cake)
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 from 1 review
Deeply spiced honey cake that improves for days as it sits. The gentle cousin of gingerbread.
13. Medovník (Czech Honey Cake)
Thin honey layers with caramel cream, softening into one silky slice. A showstopper that is really just patience.
14. Melopita (Greek Honey Pie)
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 from 2 reviews
Crustless honey and cheese pie from the island of Sifnos. Five ingredients, gently sweet, unusual and lovely.
15. Loukoumades (Greek Honey Donuts)
Crisp little doughnut puffs drenched in honey and cinnamon. Eat them the minute they are made.
16. Diples (Greek Honey Rolls)
Paper-thin fried pastry ribbons dipped in honey and walnuts. A celebration sweet that feels like autumn sunshine.
Nuts & Poppy Seed
Walnuts, almonds and poppy seeds – the deep, old-world flavours of European fall.
17. Karydopita (Greek Walnut Cake)
Spiced walnut cake soaked in syrup – moist, fragrant and impossible to stop eating.
18. Baklava with Walnuts & Pistachios
Layer by buttered layer, sweetened with honey syrup. Slow, meditative baking with a spectacular result.
19. Slovak Nut Roll (Orechový Závin)
Soft yeast dough spiraled around a rich walnut filling. The roll that shows up at every Central European family gathering.
20. Mohnkuchen (German Poppy Seed Cake)
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 from 2 reviews
A generous poppy seed filling under buttery streusel. Dense, nutty and very German.
Crumb Cakes & Cozy Classics
Butter, sugar, streusel. The everyday cakes that make an ordinary Tuesday better.
21. Streuselkuchen (German Crumb Cake)
Half the cake is crumble topping, exactly as it should be. The sheet cake of every German childhood.
22. Butterkuchen (German Butter Cake)
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 from 1 review
Soft yeast cake dimpled with butter and sugar. Three ingredients doing all the work.
23. German Marble Cake (Marmorkuchen)
The swirled loaf that lives on every German coffee table. Keeps for days, dunks perfectly.
24. Käsekuchen (German Cheesecake)
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 from 4 reviews
Made with quark, so it is lighter and tangier than American cheesecake. A year-round classic that feels right in fall.
25. Crostata di Marmellata (Italian Jam Tart)
Buttery lattice tart filled with jam – the merenda of every Italian childhood. Use plum jam right now.
26. Dampfnudel (German Steamed Dumplings)
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 from 1 review
Fluffy steamed buns with a caramelised base, swimming in vanilla sauce. Bavarian comfort at its purest.
27. German Pancakes (Pfannkuchen)
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 from 1 review
Thin, golden and endlessly adaptable – apple slices cooked into the batter make them instantly autumnal.
28. German Vanilla Sauce (Vanillesoße)
The warm vanilla sauce that belongs on strudel, Dampfnudel and every baked apple. Ten minutes, no packets.
More Cozy Baking to Try
The tin is never really full. These fit autumn beautifully too:
- German Bee Sting Cake
- Black Forest Cake
- Käsesahnetorte (Cheese Cream Torte)
- Torta della Nonna
- Italian Lemon Ricotta Cake
- Greek Yogurt Cake
- Revani (Greek Syrup Cake)
- German Rhubarb Streusel Cake
Fall Baking FAQ
What should I bake in the fall?
Start with what is in season: apple cakes, strudel and tarte tatin in September and October, Italian-plum cake (Zwetschgenkuchen) until the end of September, then honey cakes, walnut cakes and spiced bakes as it gets colder. European recipes are ideal because most were created around exactly this produce.
What apples are best for baking?
Firm, tart apples hold their shape and balance the sugar – Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Braeburn and Jonagold all work well. For applesauce and strudel fillings, softer apples like McIntosh break down nicely. Mixing two kinds gives the best of both.
What are Italian plums and can I substitute them?
Italian plums (Zwetschgen) are the small oval purple plums sold from late August to late September – firmer and less juicy than round plums, which is why they bake without flooding the cake. If you cannot find them, regular plums work; just drain them briefly after slicing.
Which of these can I make ahead or freeze?
Honey cakes, marble cake, nut roll and Lebkuchen-style spiced bakes actually improve after a day or two wrapped. Streuselkuchen, apple cakes and strudel freeze well for up to three months. Tarte tatin, loukoumades and Dampfnudel are best the day they are made.
Which one is going in the oven first? Tell us in the comments. When dinner needs the same cozy treatment, our 35 fall dinner ideas and 27 fall soups are ready too.
