This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our privacy policy for additional information.
Why You’ll Love My Recipe
This recipe is perfect for the next time you’re craving something with the sweetness of apples, dates, and toasted coconut.
Why not make a Easy Salted Caramel Sauce to drizzle over the top of this cake? Try this Fully Loaded Carrot Cake for another dessert packed with flavour and nutrition. If you’ve got some dates leftover from this recipe, why not whip up some Date Nut Bread or Date Bars (Date Squares?
Reader Review
Well, this is serendipitous.
I was walking out of the farmers market today with a bag of carrots – and had the hugest urge to make a lumberjack cake (but in my brain there are carrots and pineapple in it as well now?) – thinking back to when I lived on a catamaran sailing in the Whitsunday’s, emailing a high school friend about a if they ever find or do a recipe for a cake called a … and to the google.
First result – your amazing page.❤️
Amazing – I’ll be baking this tonight & so glad to see you’re doing so well! 💕
Karlynn’s Recipe Notes
- Skill Level: This is an easy recipe.
- Total Time: Making this cake takes approximately 1.5 hours.
- Variations: Try adding spices to the batter. Cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, even ginger would be delicious with the flavours of the fruit in this cake. If you have some Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice, add a couple pinches of that. Try adding some pineapple, grated carrots, or raisins. This cake would also be a great vehicle for chopped walnuts or pecans.
- Tools Needed: For this recipe, you’ll need an 8×8 baking pan, a medium bowl, a vegetable peeler, a cutting board and knife, a large bowl, a hand mixer, a sifter, and a small bowl or small pot.
What You’ll Need For Ingredients
Apples: Use whichever apples you like best for this. Anything from a crispy, tart apple to a softer, sweeter one will work well for this. Peel and chop your apples of choice. You can also grate them with a coarse grate if you’d prefer.
Dates: Again, use whichever you prefer. Don’t worry about them being too dry or tough, since you’ll be soaking them in boiling water and baking soda to soften them up. Just make sure to remove any pits and dice them up nice and small.
Shredded Coconut: For this recipe, you’re going to want sweetened shredded coconut. The shred size is completely up to you, though the bigger shreds will give you a crunchier topping. If you can’t find sweetened coconut, just ad a bit more sugar to the topping.
How To Make Australian Lumberjack Cake
This is a brief overview of the recipe. The full list of ingredients and step-by-step instructions are in the recipe card below.
- In a medium bowl, combine apples, dates, boiling water, and baking soda. Stir together and then let cool to room temperature.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease pan and set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and beat well.
- Sift the flour and salt into the wet mixture, alternating with beating in the apple mixture.
- Pour batter into pan and bake for 1 hour.
- In a small pot on the stove or a small bowl in the microwave, mix together the topping ingredients (butter, sugar, milk, and coconut). Heat and stir until all the ingredients are melted together.
- Spread topping over hot cake and return cake to oven for 20 minutes.
Karlynn’s Tips and Tricks for Making Australian Lumberjack Cake
Servings Suggestions: This cake is great on it’s own, especially when it’s fresh from the oven. However, if you’d like to add some extra sweetness on the side, try adding a scoop of your favourite ice cream. Butter pecan, maple, butterscotch swirl, or vanilla would all be amazing with this cake. Learn to make Perfect Whipped Cream and dollop some of that on. Drizzle on a bit of Caramel Syrup or Easy Salted Caramel Sauce and sprinkle on even more coconut or some chopped nuts.
Additions: If the base of this cake is a little bit plain for your personal taste, you can add more fruit. Try grating up a carrot or two to mix in, or add a can of crushed pineapple or pineapple tidbits. Add more dates or try some raisins or currents instead. You can also load it up with your favourite spices. Anything that would be good in a carrot cake should be good in this one. Chopped walnuts, pecans, filberts, or cashews would all be tasty too.
Storage Instructions
Fridge: Since the topping of this cake is made with milk, it’s a good idea to store the cake in the fridge. Wait until it’s fully cooled and cover it with a lid or plastic wrap. Keep it in the fridge for 2-3 days, if it lasts that long. Warm up for a few seconds in the microwave if you’d like.
Freezer: If you’d like to freeze this cake, try letting it cool and then slicing it. Put the individual slices into a freezer safe container, separated by pieces of parchment or wax paper, so that you can take out single servings to warm up when you want to eat them.
More Delicious Apple Dessert Recipes
Looking for more desserts that use apples?
Try this Cinnamon Spice Upside Down Apple Cake or a Caramel Apple Pie with some vanilla ice cream.
How about apple beverages? Make yourself an Appletini or Washington Apple Drink to sip with your dessert.
Like cookies better? Try these Spiced Apple Oatmeal Cookies.
There you go, everyone. A tasty and easy cake packed with flavour. Try this recipe and let me know what you think.
Happy Baking!
Karlynn
Australian Lumberjack Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup peeled chopped apple
- 1 cup dates, diced small
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup boiling water
- ½ cup butter
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 Large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ Cups all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Topping
- 4 tablespoons butter
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 4 tablespoons milk
- 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
Instructions
- Combine apples, dates, baking soda and water in a medium sized bowl. Allow to cool to lukewarm.
- Preheat your oven to 350 °F.
- Grease an 8×8 pan.
- Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add egg and vanilla and beat well.
- Sift flour and salt, beat in alternately with apple mixture.
- Pour into the pan and bake for approximately 1 hour or until cooked.
- Make the topping by combining butter, sugar, milk and coconut and use the microwave or the stove top to melt the ingredients together.
- Spread over the hot cake and return to oven for a further 20 minutes or until topping is golden brown.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Monica Van De Laak says
Hi do u drain the water??
Heather Sutter says
I have made this cake several times was a go to in the 70/80s of mine.
Funny enough I just took out my recipe for this. Going to make it for a birthday.
I live in shoal bay nsw
It is one of my favourite cakes. So moist. It is delicious warm with custard too
Karen Arlene Price says
Hello, I’ve made this twice and it’s delicious but my cake always turns out much darker! Why?
Lori says
Well, this is serendipitous.
I was walking out of the farmers market today with a bag of carrots – and had the hugest urge to make a lumberjack cake (but in my brain there are carrots and pineapple in it as well now?) – thinking back to when I lived on a catamaran sailing in the Whitsunday’s, emailing a high school friend about a if they ever find or do a recipe for a cake called a … and to the google.
First result – your amazing page.❤️
Amazing – I’ll be baking this tonight & so glad to see you’re doing so well! 💕
Karlynn says
How did I miss this comment? Hope you are doing well Lori! And I hope the cake was close to what you remembered!
james says
Made this on Mother’s Day absolutely delicious. Thanks so much.
Maria says
My recipe is very close yours. I add one egg and two egg yolks.
My husband loves this cake and gets disappointed if I don’t make it very week.
Another favourite of his is Banana and Prune cake.
lisa k says
can i make these into muffins?
wendy inglis says
I have been making this for about 20 or more years Was popular back in the 80s and 90s I am in Australia and it has become quite a popular cake along with the Hummingbird cake
Wanda says
This is the closest thing I can find to a cake I grew up with. It was a handwritten recipe in my mom’s box called “German Raw Apple Cake.” I can’t find that one anywhere online either. The measurements, method, and even baking times are identical, but there are a few ingredient swaps. It uses only brown sugar, honey instead of dates, and buttermilk instead of water.
Carson W. says
My version with a few added ingredients.Wonderful cake however you make it.
LUMBERJACK CAKE
Ingredients:
1 Cup peeled, chopped Apple
3/4 Cup chopped Dates
1/2 Cup Raisins
1/2 Cup chopped Nuts
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1 Cup Boiling Water
1/2 Cup Butter
1 Cup White Sugar
1 Egg
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 1/2 Cups Flour & 1/2 tsp. Salt
sifted together
3 Tblsp. Butter (Melted)
1/3 Cup Brown Sugar
3 Tblsp. Milk
2/3 Cup Shredded Coconut
Mary says
Hi Karrlyn I live in Australia and only two days ago while out with a friend for coffee die I see Lumberjack cake on the menu- and to our delighted surprise it had dates and a coconut topping!!Neither of us had ever seen or heard of this before- we are both mums in our sixties. I’m popping one in the oven as soon as possible!
Frances says
I live in Australia and the Lumberjack cake has been attributed to the lumberjacks who came out from Canada to fell trees (in Qld??). However, once they saw the snakes here, they left and went back home.
Kay says
I was given a recipe for “lumberjack squares” by a neighbor in New Brunswick, Canada back in the early 1980s. It’s been years since I made them, so I decided to search online rather than digging through scads of handwritten recipes. This sounds and looks very similar so I’m going to give it a try! (my neighbor wasn’t Australian though!)
Heidi says
Hi Karlynn! This cake looks amazing and I plan to make it very soon! I have never cooked with dates before and I have no idea what to look for at the store. Are they normally on the baking isle? Do most stores carry them? I truly appreciate your help with my question and I cannot wait to try this recipe. Thank you!
wendy inglis says
Hi Heidi Dates here in Australia are usually found with the dried fruit isle
Ken says
Hello Heidi – I just happened along 5 years later and wondered if you found dates? I would say you can find them in the aisle with prunes or fruit like that. Sometimes they have them with other snacks like nuts or
Even in a fresh produce section. They look like long oval shiny brown berries, in a way. Hope that you found them!
Sandy says
What a great cake! So moist and flavorful. And with two of my husband’s favorite ingredients, dates and apples! He says I need to make this cake every week! The only change I made was to bake the cake in an 8″ springform pan and I added 1/2 cup chopped pecans to the topping.