Skip the donut shop and make this fall ready Apple Cider Donut Cake recipe right at the crib. It’s a beyond flavorful, moist and perfectly Autumn spiced cake that has the texture of a doughnut with it’s tender melt-in-your-mouth bite. We add in both apple cider and applesauce to get those apple notes popping then we smother the whole baked thing in butter and coat in cinnamon sugar like a boss! Get into it!
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They’re Lovin’ It! Here’s what They’re Sayin’:
“This cake was delicious! Made it for my son’s 14th birthday. Followed the recipe to the t and it worked out perfectly!”
—AMELIA
Ain’t nothing like an apple cider donut during Autumn. Whether you grab one at your local donut shop or while apple picking at the orchard, they are a major part of the fall season. This apple cider donut cake recipe is giving all that flavor and then some. It is a super moist, spiced cake made with both apple cider and applesauce that keeps the crumb moist and soft. After it’s been baked to tender perfection, the bundt is smothered in butter and coated in cinnamon sugar. My girl Cake by Courtney put her foot in it. Thanks for sharing it with me.
The Lowdown of This Apple Cider Donut Cake Recipe
Cuisine Inspiration: A fall classic with a cake remix
Primary Cooking Method: Baking
Dietary Info: Can be made gluten-free with ingredient swaps
Key Flavor: Warm spiced apple cider donut in a cake package
Skill Level: Easy y’all (No Sweat Fam!)
Fall Flavor Bomb
Apple cider, applesauce, cinnamon, and nutmeg all create a bomb explosion of autumn deliciousness getting you all the way in a cozy mood.
Easy Peasy Boos!
This cake couldn’t be easier to pull off. Grab a mixing bowl and a hand mixer and go to town on this simple recipe with the most straightforward instructions ever!
Texture of a Donut
Most of my followers are sometimes confused about the texture of this cake. You might be expecting a fluffy cake texture but you get more of a doughnut consistency instead. Think of this cake as a big ole giant donut baked in a bundt pan boos.
Ingredients You’ll Need to Make Apple Cider Donut Bundt Cake
- All Purpose Flour: This will add structure giving this bundt cake a dense yet soft crumb that tastes like a donut.
- Spices: We get super cozy with cinnamon and nutmeg in the mix.
- Baking Powder: Leavening will give you the perfect soft, cakey donut consistency.
- Salt: This helps cut sweetness while enhancing flavor!
- Sugar: We use a combo of brown sugar and white sugar here. The brown sugar will deepen flavor while the granulated sugar works as the perfect cinnamon sugar coating for the exterior!
- Vegetable Oil: Oil helps maintain a silky, soft and moist texture.
- Eggs: They will give your apple cider bundt cake just enough structure to hold up to all that cinnamon sugar apple flavor boos.
- Apple Flavors: We’re using both apple cider and apple sauce to pack the cake full of apple essence while keeping it super tender.
- Vanilla Extract: This is gonna give just enough aromatic brightness to intensify the flavors.
- Unsalted Butter: The richness is undeniable and necessary boos.
How to Make Apple Cider Donut Cake
How To Serve Apple Cider Doughnut Cake
- Serve Warm: This cake is best served fresh and warm out of the oven!
- A La Mode: Go indulgent and add scoops of vanilla ice cream or something super rich like cookie butter ice cream, apple pie ice cream or sweet potato ice cream.
- Dollop It Up: Just a spoonful of fresh whipped cream or some hard sauce can be the perfect pairing for a slice of this apple cider donut bundt cake.
- Bundt Cake Buffet: Entertaining a ton? Make a full dessert table with this cake, Bailey’s chocolate bundt cake, lemon pound cake, sour cream pound cake, and strawberry pound cake.
Recipe Subtitutions
- Apple Cider: You can easily swap in apple juice if you don’t have cider around. Just note that the apple flavors won’t be as intense so only swap in a pinch.
- Spices: Replace cinnamon and nutmeg with apple pie spice to keep it no-fuss.
- Brown Sugar: If you don’t have any around, you can make homemade brown sugar with granulated sugar and molasses.
- Vegetable Oil: Swap out this oil for canola or another neutral oil.
Recipe Additions and Variations
- Gluten-Free: While it may change the texture a bit, swap in your fave 1:1 ratio gluten-free baking flour.
- Spice it Up: If you’d like to add something a little extra, try a dash of ground allspice, cloves, or cardamom.
- Caramel Drizzle: Drizzle it up with this simple caramel sauce to add even more indulgence to this cake.
- Add Apple Texture: Toss in some finely chopped apple pieces to give you more texture.
Expert Tips and Tricks for Making the Best Apple Cider Doughnut Bundt Cake
- Use Apple Cider If You Can Boos: Apple cider and apple juice are not the same y’all. Cider is much more concentrated and flavorful, making for an apple cider bundt cake that tastes as good as a hot apple cider donut at the orchard.
- Intensify The Apple Flavor Even More: To get a stronger apple flavor, reduce the apple cider by simmering it on the stove to concentrate the flavor before adding it to the batter boos.
- Room Temp Matters: Allowing all your ingredients to come to the same temperature allows all your ingredients to heat at the same rate for even baking.
- Don’t overmix!: Overmixing will cause gluten to overdevelop and create a tough, dry cake y’all. Mix the cake batter until it’s just combined!
- Grease it Up!: The best way to avoid a stuck cake is to grease every nook and cranny of the pan with cake release and a light dusting of flour.
How to Store Apple Cider Donut Cake
If you keep your cake in an airtight container like under a cake dome or tightly wrapped, this cake can be kept for up to 3 days at room temp.
How Long Will Apple Cider Doughnut Cake Last in the Fridge?
It will typically last for about 5 days. Just remember to bring back to room temp before you serve it up.
Can I Freeze Apple Cider Donut Bundt Cake?
Wrap the cake in plastic wrap then put it in a heavy-duty freezer bag. Make sure you add the date to the package. It should last for up to 3 months. When ready to dig in again, thaw overnight in the fridge or at room temp for a couple hours.
Frequently Asked Questions
The texture of this “cake” is more like a donut than a typical bundt cake boos. That’s part of its magic. It is super moist but it will be a bit more tender and dense than your typical fluffy light cake. Also remember that you must bake it all the way or it could give a soggy mouth texture.
For sure boos. Just add the batter to lined muffin tins and start checking the cupcakes after 12-15 minutes of baking.
The toothpick trick works every single time y’all. Make sure you remove from the oven once that toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out nice and clean boos.
More Apple Recipes
Apple Cider Donut Cake
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Ingredients
For the Cake
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1 1/2 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar packed
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs room temp
- 1 cup applesauce room temp
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup apple cider room temp
For the Cinnamon Sugar Coating
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter melted
- 1/4 cup coarse sugar
- 2 tsp 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 ⅓ 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 55-60 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 ¼ 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.
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Flavor was good, cake was gummy. I’m not sure what I did wrong. I’ve been baking for years and haven’t had this issue.
I’m so sorry you had a problem with that. This cake is a bit more donut in texture and not as much cake like.
Turned out great! My very picky son loved it. I read some of the comments and ended up going with the longer bake time. It didn’t need it. The apple flavor is a bit subtle but maybe it’s because I used unsweetened apple sauce? Will definitely make again!
Couldn’t wait until fall to try this delicious Apple Cider Donut Bundt cake. Glad I didn’t wait. A delicious cake. Moist, light and very tasty. Need a cake that’s good with your coffee? This is the cake. Full of flavor❤️
can you use apples instead of applesauce
No it is best to follow the instructions and not make this substitution.
I made this cake to take to my Mother-n-laws for a fall get together. I was to embarrass to take it. Like some of the others it was to gummy. I went strictly by the recipe. It doesn’t matter whose recipe this is, I will never make it again. This was a miss.
Hi Evie, I spoke with the author of this recipe and she said that it could be that the cake wasn’t baked enough. She also said that the texture of the cake should be more like a donut instead of a typical bundt cake.
I have a recipe for baked apple cider donuts, which I love, so was excited to try this one. I agree with what others are saying that the flavor is delicious but there’s something off. There’s a moist cake but this was gummy. I followed the recipe as written except used avocado oil instead of vegetable oil since that’s what I had and will not be trying this one again due to the texture. I used not only a long wooden cake tester but also my Bundt cake tester, too. Both indicated this was done but in reality, only the outside edge of the cake was really good. The flavor was amazing but baking is a science and an art. This recipe clearly demonstrated the artistic side but the science was lacking.
This sounds delicious! I cannot eat vegetable oils because I have a metabolic problem. What can I use to substitute? I would like to make this for Thanksgiving. Thanks!
This cake was delicious! Made it for my son’s 14th birthday. Followed the recipe to the t and it worked out perfectly!
I followed the recipe exactly, Jocyln, but even after putting it back in the oven and raising the temp to 350 for 15 more minutes it stayed way too moist, almost to the point of gumminess. The flavor was tremendous and it raised properly but I wonder if anyone else has had this problem? I generally love and trust your recipes, and have had such good luck with them. Help!
Hi Marj, thank you so much for writing to me. This isn’t my recipe. It is my friend Courtney’s from her new cookbook that I mention above so it wasn’t developed by me however when I mad eit, I didn’t have the same issue. I am wondering what may have happened. Did you end up baking it longer?
I baked it miuch longer and it is still too moist to the point of gumminess. Oh well. Maybe I can make a trifle out of it.
I had this problem too but I realized after the fact that I forgot to add the baking powder! Still loved the cake though. Can’t wait to try it again with the baking powder : )