Easy apple cider donut cake recipe is the ultimate fall dessert! This is the best apple cider donut cake recipe and one of my favorite apple cider bundt cake recipes! Just like those delicious apple cider donuts you love! And if you love this easy apple cider cake recipe, try my Cinnamon Rolls with Apple Pie Filling, my Deep Dish Caramel Apple Pie, and my Baked Apple Chips!
Easy Apple Cider Donut Cake
If you love apple cider donuts like me, you'll love this apple cider donut cake from scratch! It's a pound cake, so it's got a soft, buttery crumb, and it's got that great autumn spice blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. It's also bursting with all your favorite fall flavors: fresh apples, apple cider, brown sugar, and vanilla. Plus, because it's made in a Bundt pan, it even looks like a donut!
What do apple cider donuts taste like?
Apple cider donuts are cake donuts made with apple cider and spices in the batter, and they're usually coated in cinnamon sugar. If you can't get your hands on some good apple cider donuts from your favorite orchard or farmers' market, or if you want a perfect fall recipe that'll feed a crowd, that's where this cake comes in!
Like my favorite apple cider donuts, this apple cider donut bundt cake recipe is soft on the inside, golden brown on the outside, and coated with cinnamon and sugar. It's the perfect way to enjoy fresh apple cider flavor any time of year!
And the best part? Once your apple cider donut cake is cooled, you'll brush the outside with melted butter, and dust it with the most irresistible cinnamon-sugar coating! It ends up looking and tasting just like your favorite apple cider donuts! It's a perfect fall treat, great for a crowd, for dessert or for breakfast!
What does apple cider do to cake?
Apple cider adds moisture and tangy flavor to our cake batter, and makes this cake so delicious! It also has a bit of acidity, which breaks down gluten to contribute to the soft, fluffy texture of this apple cider donut bundt cake recipe! Also, check out my post on the differences and similarities between pound cake vs Bundt cake!
Apple Cider Donut Bundt Cake Recipe - Ingredients
We're making this apple cider donut cake from scratch with some of your favorite fall ingredients, as well as a lot of ingredients that you'll probably already have on hand!
- salted butter - you'll need room-temperature salted butter for your cake batter. Not too soft -- it should leave an indent when you press it, but it shouldn't be greasy or melty.
- white and brown sugar - the combination of both gives this apple cider donut cake its sweetness, as well as rich flavor and moisture.
- eggs - make sure your eggs are room temperature! If you need to bring them to room temperature quickly, you can submerge them in slightly warm water for 15 minutes.
- vanilla extract - perfect to complement all those lovely fall flavors. Be sure to use a high-quality pure vanilla extract. Or better yet, check out my post on how to make vanilla extract at home with just 2 ingredients!
- sour cream - gives your apple pound cake moisture and added flavor.
- fresh apple cider - very necessary -- gives this cake much autumn sweetness!
- shredded apple - We're adding 2 shredded apples to this cake, bringing in more of that apple flavor as well as making the cake even more moist! I would recommend tart baking apples like Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, or Fuji.
- cake flour - using cake flour in a pound cake recipe like this helps to keep your cake soft and fluffy, even with a tighter crumb.
- warm fall spices - cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger! Or to save time, you can use your favorite apple pie spice or pumpkin pie spice blend for this apple cider bundt cake.
Equipment
This apple cider donut cake doesn't require many complicated tools, but you will need an a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer to cream together your butter and sugars, and to beat in your eggs. Beyond that, a good 10-cup Bundt pan is always important! You'll also want a pastry brush to coat your warm cake in butter before dusting on the cinnamon sugar mixture and a wire rack to let your apple cake cool.
How to Make Apple Cider Donut Cake from Scratch
- Sift together your dry ingredients: cake flour, baking powder, and spices. This helps to ensure that they're evenly mixed, and eliminates lumps in the flour.
- Then, cream together your butter and sugars. Keep your mixer no higher than medium and beat them until the mixture is light and fluffy. It should take about 3-5 minutes.
- Beat in your eggs, one at a time, making sure each is mixed in before adding the next. Beating them in slowly keeps the mixture fluffy and ensures a light, tender cake. Then add in your vanilla extract.
- To incorporate our the rest of our wet ingredients, we'll whisk together the sour cream and apple cider in a bowl and alternate adding our dry ingredients with the sour cream mixture. You'll start with one third of the flour mixture, then half of the sour cream mixture, then another third of the flour mixture, and so on, ending with the final third of the dry ingredients. During this step, you'll want to fold the batter very gently to maintain its fluffy texture.
- Then you can carefully fold in your shredded apples, spread the batter into your prepared Bundt pan, and bake!
- To make your cinnamon sugar coating, combine cinnamon, sugar, and nutmeg in a small bowl. Brush the top and sides of the cake with melted butter, and sprinkle the delicious cinnamon sugar all over your apple bundt cake!
Tips and F.A.Q.
A couple tips for prepping your Bundt pan to make sure your cake doesn't stick:
Make sure you have a good-quality Bundt pan or other fluted tube pan with a nonstick coating that is not scratched or scuffed.
I like to coat my Bundt pan in Pam Baking Spray or another cooking spray with flour. You can also brush your pan with shortening and dust with flour. I prefer baking spray because it never sticks, and I don't get those spots of flour on the outside of my cake, which can happen sometimes when you dust with flour.
Prep your pan right before you pour in your batter. Many cake recipes tell you to grease your pan at the beginning. But with a Bundt cake, if you grease it too far in advance, the cooking spray or shortening might slide down the pan and collect at the bottom. This leaves much of the pan without adequate coating, and also creates pools of oil that can change the texture and taste of the top of your apple cider donut cake.
Any typical baking apples like Golden Delicious, Gala, Granny Smith, or HoneyCrisp would be excellent in this apple cider donut cake!
If you don’t have cake flour, you can make a substitute! All you need is all-purpose flour and corn starch. Just measure out 2 ½ cups of all-purpose flour and replace 6 tablespoons of it with cornstarch. In grams, it’ll be 273 grams of all-purpose flour sifted with 40 grams of cornstarch.
The history of apple cider donuts traces back to the early American New England colonies, but their more recent resurgence was brought about in the 1950s by the Doughnut Corporation of America and its founder Adolph Levitt. He established National Donut Month and announced the "sweet cider doughnut" as a fall promotion.
If you try this recipe, I would love it if you could leave a star review rating and comment below! It’s so wonderful hearing your feedback! And don’t forget to share your creations with me by tagging @chenee_today on Instagram!
More Pound Cake Recipes You'll Love
- Chocolate Sour Cream Pound Cake
- Jamaican Rum Cake with Brown Butter Glaze
- Lemon Sour Cream Pound Cake + Juneteenth Cookout 2021
- Key Lime Pound Cake
- Marble Loaf Cake
📖 Recipe
Equipment you may need
- sifter
Ingredients
- 2½ cup (290 g) cake flour
- 2 teaspoon (10 ml) baking powder
- 1½ teaspoon (7 ml) ground cinnamon - (see note)
- ½ teaspoon (2 ml) nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon (2 ml) ginger
- 1¼ cup (284 g) salted butter - room temperature (2½ sticks)
- 1¼ cup (250 g) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (220 g) dark brown sugar
- 4 large eggs - room temperature
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) pure vanilla extract
- ⅔ cup (153 g) sour cream - room temperature
- ⅓ cup (79 g) apple cider - room temperature
- 1 cup (180 g) grated apples - about 2 medium apples (see note)
- baking spray
Cinnamon-Sugar Topping
- ¼ cup (57 g) salted butter - melted (½ stick)
- ⅔ cup (133 g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) ground cinnamon
- dash freshly grated nutmeg - optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Position rack in the center of the oven.
- Sift together cake flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger in a medium bowl. Set aside.2½ cup cake flour, 2 teaspoon baking powder, 1½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon nutmeg, ½ teaspoon ginger
- Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add sugars and cream on medium speed until lightened and fluffy, another 3-4 minutes.1¼ cup salted butter, 1¼ cup granulated sugar, 1 cup dark brown sugar
- With mixer running, eggs one at a time, mixing between each addition. Mix in vanilla.4 large eggs, 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- In a separate bowl, whisk together sour cream and apple cider until smooth.⅔ cup sour cream, ⅓ cup apple cider
- Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in ⅓ of flour mixture until just combined, followed by ½ of sour cream mixture.
- Repeat process with another ⅓ of flour mixture, the rest of the sour cream mixture, and then the remainder of the flour mixture, being careful not to deflate the fluffiness of the batter.
- Gently fold your grated apples into the batter.1 cup grated apples
- Spray a 10-12 cup Bundt pan with baking spray -- the kind with flour (see note).baking spray
- Spread batter into prepared Bundt pan and bake in preheated oven for 55-65 minutes, or until a toothpick entered into the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then carefully turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Cinnamon-Sugar Coating
- Combine together cinnamon, sugar, and nutmeg (if using) in a small bowl. Mix well.⅔ cup granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, dash freshly grated nutmeg
- Brush melted butter all over cooled cake, including the inner portion of the Bundt, and in all the crevices.¼ cup salted butter
- Sprinkle cinnamon-sugar mixture onto cake and use your hands to press mixture into the sides of the cake.
Notes
- Make sure you have a good-quality Bundt pan or other fluted tube pan with a nonstick coating that isn't scratched or scuffed.
- I like to coat my Bundt pan in Pam Baking Spray or another cooking spray with flour. You can also brush your pan with shortening and dust with flour. I prefer baking spray because it never sticks, and I don't get those spots of flour on the outside of my cake, which can happen sometimes when you dust with flour.
- Prep your pan right before you pour in your batter. Many cake recipes tell you to grease your pan at the beginning. But with a Bundt cake, if you grease it too far in advance, the cooking spray or shortening might slide down the pan and collect at the bottom. This leaves much of the pan without adequate coating, and also creates pools of oil that can change the texture and taste of the top of your cake.
Nutrition
PIN this apple cider cake recipe for later!
Last Updated on September 7, 2023 by Chenée Lewis
Linda
We love this cake! I made for a friend to bring to her Thanksgiving celebration and was overwhelmed with marriage proposals! LOL (I am happily married) but a testament to how delicious this cake is. I always use fresh ground spices. Takes a few minutes longer but definitely worth it. Gives it a bigger”wow” factor.
Chenée Lewis
Definitely! Freshly ground spices make such a big difference!
Linda
We love this cake! I made for a friend to bring to her Thanksgiving celebration and was overwhelmed with marriage proposals! LOL (I am happily married) but a testament to how delicious this cake is. I always use fresh ground spices. Takes a few minutes longer but definitely worth it. Gives it a bigger”wow” factor.
Chenée Lewis
The ground spices are definitely a game changer! Thank you so much!
Sandy
I'm making this later today as it sounds wonderful.
Chenée Lewis
Hope you like it!
Cathleen
Okay, this cake sounds perfect!! I am so excited to give this a go, thank you so much for sharing this recipe 🙂
Angela
What an incredible dessert! This cake is perfect for the holidays. Love all of the flavors and it was so moist. Perfection!
Chenée Lewis
Wonderful! Thank you so much!
Andrea
Oh Wow! You just took one of my favorite Fall treats and turned it into a whole cake! I can't wait to dig into this deliciousness!
Sisley
This was absolutely incredible! I loved every bite.
Chenée Lewis
Great to hear that! Thanks!
Diana
In the instructions you say add sugar and cream to the butter but I can’t find cream in the ingredients.
Chenée Lewis
Hi! I was referring to the act of "creaming" the butter and sugar together, which means to mix them until they're combined and lighter in color and fluffier in texture. So there's no cream used in the recipe -- hope this clears it up! 🙂
Sandy
She means to cream together the butter and sugars, not add cream. The sentence is a bit confusing.
Maymay
The cake came out delicious, and my family loved it. Thank you!!!
Chenée Lewis
Yay! That's wonderful!
Trish
This is a keeper! Great taste, family loved it!!
Chenée Lewis
Wonderful!! Glad you all liked it!
Andy
Talk to me about your Bundt pan girl; brand name? Love the shape. Peace & Thank you
Chenée Lewis
Yesss this one is my favorite!! It's the Elegant Party Bundt from Nordic Ware: https://amzn.to/3SlxUh1
Cindy
Hi I have made this cake twice now and everyone loved it but once I take it out of the oven it seems to shrink about an inch in height. What could I be doing wrong . I used a 12 cup Bundt pan
Chenée Lewis
Hi! This can sometimes happen if your oven runs a bit cold or if the cake is slightly underbaked. I would double check your oven temperature with an oven thermometer and next time, check the cake in a few places to make sure the toothpick comes out clean. 🙂
Lori
How best do you recommend to shred/grate the apples?
Chenée Lewis
I used a box grater, but I would think a food processor could work well too!
Cat
This cake is outstanding! So moist, so full of apple spice flavor, and beautiful texture with the shredded apples. And then you add the crunch of cinnamon and sugar? Gorgeous. So glad I made this! It is going in my favorite baking recipes!
Chenée Lewis
I'm SO glad you like it! Thank you so much for the feedback 🙂
Chrystina
Love this recipe! I have made it twice in less than a month. It was a huge hit for both of the gatherings. This recipe is perfection.
Chenée Lewis
That's wonderful! I'm so glad you and your guests like the cake!
Erin Williams
Can you use gluten free flour with this recipe? Has anyone tried it?
Chenée Lewis
I haven't tried this recipe with gluten free flour but I would love to know how it works for you!