Apple Cider Donut Bundt Cake โ an incredibly tender and moist apple spice cake with a delicious cinnamon sugar coating.
One of My Favorite Fall Traditions
Since moving to Utah nearly 10 years ago, one of my favorite fall traditions is visiting Rowleyโs Big Red Barn in Santaquin. Itโs about a 45-minute drive from our house and worth every minute on the road! As soon as we arrive, we hop the wagon ride out to the field to do all the activities first. The kids used to love the corn mazes, slides, zip-line and apple throw.
After hours playing in the field, we always head back to the Red Barn for apple cider donuts, ice cream and apple slushies. We get one of everything! (Well, more than one donut, because those are too hard to share. Ha!)
A few years ago, I came home from one of our visits and decided I had to recreate the donuts in cake form!
Apple Cider Donut Bundt Cake
For this cake, I worked off my pumpkin cake recipe from my Pumpkin Pie Cake. In my pumpkin cake layers, I use two cups of pumpkin puree. Since weโre not using pumpkin, weโre replacing that with a cup of applesauce and one cup of apple cider for this cake. All these liquids make this cake incredibly moist! Iโve also added some cinnamon and nutmeg for a little extra flavor. This Apple Cider Donut Bundt Cake is simply one of the best fall desserts youโll ever make!
Cinnamon Sugar Coating
Once the bundt cake is baked and cooled, youโll use a pastry brush to coat the cake with butter and then a dusting of cinnamon and sugar. I used coarse sugar, but you can also use regular, granulated sugar. (or powdered sugar for a more โwinteryโ looking cake!โ
Tips for Making a Bundt Cake
- Bake at a low temperature for longer to ensure your cake bakes completely but doesnโt burn around the edges.
- Allow the cake to cool in the bundt pan for at least an hour to cool completely. Allowing the cooled cake to sit will make it easier for the cake to come out of the cake pan.
- This cake will freeze well if covered in plastic wrap. Just make sure to bring back to room temperature before serving.
- At room temperature, this cake can be stored for a couple of days in an airtight container.
Which Bundt Pan Should I Use
When making bundt cakes out of my cake recipes, I recommend using a 12-cup bundt pan. Youโll have plenty of room for the cake to rise without spilling. I recommend THIS bundt pan.
How to Make This Apple Cider Donut Bundt Cake: Video Tutorial
Other Cakes Youโll Love for Fall
- Caramel Apple Cake
- French Apple Pie Cake
- Turtle Pie Cake
- Pumpkin Gingersnap Cake
- 5 Delicious Thanksgiving Cakes
Apple Cider Donut Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 3 cups (360 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp (5 g) ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp (1 g) nutmeg
- 1 tsp (5.6 g) salt
- 1 1/2 tbsp (21 g) baking powder
- 1 1/2 cups (300 g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (110 g) brown sugar
- 1 cup (224 g) vegetable oil
- 3 eggs, at room temperature
- 1 cup (250 g) unsweetened applesauce, at room temperature
- 1 cup (248 g) apple cider juice (not vinegar), at room temperature
- 1 tsp (5.6 g) vanilla extract
For the Cinnamon Sugar Coating
- 1/4 cup (56 g) unsalted butter melted
- 1/4 cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- 2 tsp (5 g) cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. Spray a bundt pan with non-stick spray and then dust with flour. Set aside.
- In a medium size mixing bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and baking powder. Whisk to combine. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the sugar, brown sugar and oil. Mix on medium speed to combine.
- Add the eggs to the sugar mixture and mix on medium speed for about two minutes.
- Add the applesauce and vanilla. Mix to combine.
- With the mixer on low speed, add 1/3 of the flour mixture, followed by half of the apple cider. Continue alternating the flour mixture and the apple cider, finishing with the flour mixture. Mix until no streaks of flour remain. The batter will be slightly thin, not thick.
- Pour the batter into the bundt pan and bake for 50 minutes. The cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs on it.
- Let the cake cool for an hour in the bundt pan before turning it over onto a cake plate or cooling rack.
- Using a pastry brush, coat the cake in butter.
- Combine the 1/4 cup sugar and 2 teaspoons cinnamon and then sprinkle onto the top and sides of the cake. To coat the sides, it's best to fill your hand with the mixture and pat it on the cake.
The ingredients call for apple cider juice. Is this just apple cider as opposed to apple cider vinegar or is apple cider juice itโs own thing?
Just apple cider
Thank you! Baking this tomorrow morning for a late Thanksgiving dinner.
I think the amount of baking powder is too much? I could taste it and the amount of cinnamon should be increased. The cake was really moist though.
Fantastic cake! The taste is divine, super moist, not too sweet, perfect apple balance. Making my second one today as the first one was so popular! I was surprised how much it rose in the oven and settled while cooling in the pan but it was perfect.
Canโt wait to make this for my neighbors. I will be using smaller 6โ Bundt pans โ how do you recommend I modify the baking time/temp? Thank you!
I wouldnโt change the temp, but the time will vary based on how many pans you can fit in your oven at once. I would probably just set my timer for 30-40 minutes and check on them toward the end and add time as needed.
Can this be made in a loaf pan or square pan?
Yes, but youโll want to split the recipe in half for smaller pans like that.
Holy cow. This recipe is amazeballs. Perfectly moist and delicious. I baked it in my fancy bundt pan, and it was the big hit at a new yearโs party
The grams donโt change when you change to the 2x or 3x.
Thanks for catching that. Thereโs a glitch in that plugin weโll need to fix.
So delicious! I made this for Thanksgiving and everyone loved it both adults and kids. I made the recipe twice and prefer the one made with dark brown sugar.
Love this cake!
I ran out of avocado oil so I replaced the oil with lard and the cake came out so moist and delicious! I will definitely be baking this again. Thank you for this recipe!
This is the first cake Iโve made from this blog and I was so relieved how it turned out! Iโm not the best baker and the last bundt cake was too dry, so I was very nervous. I was so grateful I actually had something delicious to serve my guests! This cake is moist, has the perfect amount of sweetness and the apple flavor isnโt overpowering.
This makes me so happy! Yay!
I followed someone elseโs tip and it was AMAZING! I had 3 cups of spiced cider I needed to use, so I reduced to 1 cup by cooking for about 45 min. I used that in the cake + cooked apples smooshed into applesauce. Really takes this cake to a new level.
So happy you loved it!
Made this tonight and it was a big hit. I didnโt have oil so I used butter. Cake still turned out perfectly. As others have said, very moist! I have to take dessert to an event tomorrow as well and because I have extra applesauce and cider now, I will be making it again. Winner recipe!
Not nearly enough words to say how perfect this cake is!!! Easy to put together hardest part is waiting for it to cool. Family requests this now for almost every occasion and Iโm more than happy to make it..itโs a guaranteed winner