This flavorful, and so delicious Apple Cider Donut Cake is a moist and spiced bundt cake made with both apple cider and applesauce that’s baked to tender perfection then smothered in butter and coated in cinnamon sugar.
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Every year, my family and I hit the apple orchard to pick apples, get lost in a maze, take a couple hayrides and, of course, eat way too many warm apple cider donuts. We love roaming around with cups of hot cider in one hand and a spiced treat in the other.
Today, I’m bringing the orchard experience to y’all! Apple Cider Donut Cake is a fun, creative way to recreate fall’s favorite donut. This recipe comes from my friend Cake By Courtney’s new cookbook which is absolutely incredible! I was so excited to receive this book in the mail months ago and had some family emergencies but finally got around to making this cake for you!!!
Made with simple ingredients, this moist, buttery, and sugar-studded cake is the perfect breakfast, dessert, or tea-snack!
How To Make An Apple Cider Donut Cake
This is simply the best Fall cake you’ll ever have! Apple Cider Donut Cake flaunts a moist, spiced cake made with both apple cider and applesauce to keep its crumb moist and soft. After it’s been baked to tender perfection, the cake is smothered in butter and coated in cinnamon sugar.
Ingredients
- AP FLOUR- flour will give your bundt cake a delicate and soft crumb. For the best result, sift it!
- GROUND CINNAMON + NUTMEG- all Fall baked goods have a combination of cozy spices. If you’d like to add something a little extra, try a dash of allspice, cloves, or cardamom.
- BAKING POWDER- baking powder will give you the perfect soft, cakey donut texture.
- SALT- salt cuts sweetness and enhances flavor!
- GRANULATED +LIGHT BROWN SUGAR- this recipe uses a combination of brown sugar and white sugar. The brown sugar will deepen the flavor of your cake while the white sugar works as the perfect cinnamon sugar coating for the exterior!
- VEGETABLE OIL- oil helps with maintaining a silky, soft texture in the cake.
- EGGS- 3 eggs will give your apple cider bundt cake just enough structure to hold up to all that cinnamon sugar apple flavor.
- APPLESAUCE + APPLE CIDER- we’re using both apple cider and apple sauce to pack the cake full of apple flavor and keep it super moist!
- VANILLA EXTRACT- pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste are best for lots of bright, floral flavor.
- UNSALTED BUTTER- Butter is the key to a moist and tender cake.
Instructions
We start by preheating the oven to 325 degrees F then grease your pan. Select your fave bundt pan. Here we used a classic anniversary style pan.
In a medium size mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients and set aside.
Then in another bowl, combine both sugars and oil. Mix on medium speed to combine.
Then add in the eggs to the sugar mix and then the applesauce and vanilla.
Then finally get in that flour mixture and apple cider.
Pour the batter into the bundt pan and bake for 50 minutes.
Once the cake has cooled, use a pastry brush then add the butter to the cake and sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar.
How To Serve
This Apple Cider Donut Cake is best served fresh and warm out of the oven! If you’re feeling extra indulgent, try adding a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream on top.
Tips
- Be sure to use apple cider! Apple cider and apple juice are not interchangeable. 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.
- Bring your ingredients to room temperature. Allowing all your ingredients to come to the same temperature evens the playing field. In the baking process all your ingredients will heat at the same rate and make for a pound cake with maximum volume.
- Don’t overmix the batter. Overmixing will cause gluten to overdevelop and create a tough, dry cake. So, only mix the cake batter until it’s just combined!
- Grease your bundt pan very well. There’s nothing worse than trying to turn out a bundt cake just for the sides to stick and the whole thing to be ruined. The best way to avoid this is to grease every nook and cranny of the pan with cake release and a light dusting of flour.
Storage
If kept in an airtight container or tightly wrapped, bundt cakes can be kept for 4-5 days at room temperature. This cake should be kept in a cool environment so if you live in a warmer/humid climate I’d recommend storing the cake in the fridge.
To Freeze: Wrap the cake in aluminum foil or plastic wrap then put it in a heavy-duty freezer bag. A frozen pound cake will keep for 4-6 months. When ready to consume, thaw overnight in the fridge or at room temperature for a couple hours.
Favorite Apple Recipes
If you love this cake, you will also adore this Apple Fritter Bread, Spiced Apple Cider Layer Cake, this Maple Apple Cake and this Honey Apple Bars recipe.
More Of Grandbaby Cakes’ Best Loaf and Bundt Cakes
Love this recipe? Check out a few more of Grandbaby Cakes’ easy to make bundt cakes:
Apple Cider Donut Cake
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I’ll email this recipe to you, so you can come back to it later!
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 : )