Last Updated on January 12, 2022 by Chenée Lewis
The best apple cider donut cake recipe and the ultimate fall dessert, this apple cider donut bundt cake is one of my favorites! 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!
Best Apple Cider Donut Cake Recipe
If you love apple cider donuts like me, you'll love this apple cider donut cake! 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 an apple orchard, 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.
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!
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.
- 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.
Equipment
This apple cider donut cake doesn't require many complicated tools, but you will need an electric mixer to cream together your butter and sugars, and to beat in your eggs. Beyond that, a good 10- or 12-cup Bundt pan is always important!
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 liquid 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!
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 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
Equipment you may need
- bundt pan
- 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
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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!
MAtteo Streppone
Real cold outside so I decided to bake using my newest Bundt pan. Great easy recipe, I especially like it that when you list the ingredients you give the measurements again so we don’t have to go back and forth. Tasted great even without the cinnamon topping, but it definitely tastes a lot better with the topping. Thanks for a great cold weather cake, I’ll definitely make it again and again.
Chenée Lewis
So glad you liked it! It's one of my favorites!
venus matsuzawa
What if I want to ship the cake as a gift. Would I still brush the butter and put the sugar topping or leave it out?
Chenée Lewis
I would probably go ahead and put the butter and cinnamon-sugar coating on, and ship the cake frozen and well-wrapped so that even if it thaws in transit it stays a bit fresher. Let me know how it works out for you!
Chaz Lewis
OMG! This looks amazing! I’m getting hungry just looking at it. Can’t wait to make this cake Sunday!
Chenée Lewis
Yay!! I hope you like it! 🙂
Jennifer Whitaker
My whole family loved it! I was wanting a cider mill doughnut and this hit the spot. Definitely making this again.
Chenée Lewis
So glad you all enjoyed it!! Thanks!
Yolanda Hare
This looks so delicious. I'm totally prepared to eat it if you wanted to send it to me.
Chenée Lewis
Dropping it in the mail now! 😀
Kate
This will be our Sunday cake this week. I'm looking forward to making it with my girls - and of course eating it as well.
Chenée Lewis
I'm so glad you guys will be able to enjoy together!
Barry J.
You hands down have the BEST cake recipes. I'm adding this to my Thanksgiving to make list. I knew I wanted to make it from the photo alone.
Chenée Lewis
Thanks so much! I hope this cake is perfect for your holiday! 🙂
Jazz
Love this recipe! It's easy to follow and the cake tastes exactly like my favorite apple cider donuts from an orchard in Georgia!
Chenée Lewis
Thank you! I'm so glad you enjoyed the cake! I definitely wanted to capture the flavors and feel of a visit to the orchard. 🙂
Britney
I cannot get enough of this cake! The sponge is soft and moist and that cinnamon topping is the icing on the cake!! Pun intended lol this recipe is amazing and perfect for Fall baking. Thanks so much Chenée!
Chenée Lewis
Thanks!! I really was going for a perfect fall cake that reminded me of our trips to the apple orchard. I'm so glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Tamara
Everything about this cake was perfect! It truly taste like a donut! All of the flavors meshed so beautifully too. Thank you for sharing this with us.
Chenée Lewis
Thank you so much! I love this cake especially for the fall 🙂
Kari Alana
The moist crumb on this cake is absolutely EVERYTHING. I have found my perfect coffee cake!
Chenée Lewis
Thank you! I agree -- it goes so well with a cup of coffee!
Mila
I loved this cake with my pumpkin spice coffee. It was such a treat and I know I'll be making it again when the cold weather hits!
Chenée Lewis
So glad you enjoyed!! Pumpkin spice and apple cider cake sound like a perfect combination!
Samantha
I love donuts, cake and apples! This is a perfect fall dessert!
Chenée Lewis
Me too!! All of the above!
Capri Lilly
This cake is incredible! I love the grated apples in the recipe! I used dairy-free yogurt in place of sour cream and it worked out great!
Chenée Lewis
Thanks so much! I'm so glad it worked with the swap for dairy free yogurt!
Robin Sparks
This cake is the perfect combination of a spice cake and a doughnut.
Chenée Lewis
That's what I was thinking too! Thanks!
Marta
Another hit. I love apples and I feel like they don't get enough shine during the fall. I made this for dessert tonight and the family said it was amazing.
Chenée Lewis
Yay! I'm glad the fam enjoyed it 🙂
Shani
I made this cake to satisfy my sweet tooth and it was everything! Thanks for sharing!
Chenée Lewis
My sweet tooth enjoys this cake too! Thanks for trying it! 🙂
Renia
Oh girl this cake was amazing. As a lover of ACV donuts this cake went above and beyond!!
Chenée Lewis
Thank you!! I'm so glad you liked it 🙂
Amanda
I am going to try this recipe it sounds delicious and I can’t wait
Chenée Lewis
I hope you love it!