Apple Bundt Cake is a made-from-scratch cake filled with tart apples and topped with a buttery caramel glaze. This recipe is perfect any time of the year, but I especially love it in the fall! If you love caramel apple desserts, be sure to also try my Caramel Apple Dump Cake and Caramel Apple Cake.
Apple Bundt Cake
This Apple Bundt Cake has been a family favorite for years, one that my great-grandmother used to make! I would ask her, “How do you make a bundt cake, Grandma?” And she would lean in with a gleam in her eye and whisper, “You just stand by me and I’ll show you!” For another delicious apple dessert, try my Apple Crisp!
Apple Bundt Cake Ingredients
Apples: I love a good Granny Smith apple because it holds its shape and texture better than other varieties. You can certainly try other kinds of apples, but the texture of the cake may change.
Caramel Glaze: I topped this cake with a delicious caramel-flavored glaze. It gives you a hint of that classic caramel apple flavor that reminds me of fall! You could also serve it without the glaze if desired.
Best Apples for Apple Cake
It is important to use tart apples in order to get that tang that contrasts well with the buttery caramel topping in an apple cake. I recommend Honeycrisp or Granny smith.
- Honeycrisp- they are crisp and juicy with a honey-sweet and tart flavor
- Granny Smith- they are crisp and sour
- Golden Delicious – sweet
What’s the Best Bundt Cake Pan?
I recommend using a non-stick Bundt pan so the cake slides right out, and I use different pans depending on the size of the cake. For a 9-inch cake (like with this recipe), I use a Bundt pan from Anolon, which costs around $25 at Walmart. For a 10-inch cake, I go with this option from USA Pan, which is around $40.
How to Store and Freeze Apple Bundt Cake
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. To freeze this cake, I recommend not adding the glaze until you are ready to serve. Place the whole cake or individual pieces in an airtight container or freezer-safe sealable plastic bag. Try to remove as much air as possible. Be sure to label and date the container. The cake will freeze well for up to 3 months. When ready to thaw, remove the cake from the freezer and place it in the refrigerator overnight and allow it to come to room temperature before serving.
More Apple Desserts
Apple Bundt Cake
Equipment
- 9-inch Bundt pan I like this affordable nonstick pan!
- Small saucepan I recommend this one from Kitchenaid
- Hand mixer This is a good budget option from Hamilton Beach!
- Wire rack Like these cooling racks
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 cups (400 g) granulated sugar
- 1½ cups (327 g) vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 3 cups (375 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and diced
Caramel Glaze
- ½ cup (1 stick / 113 g) unsalted butter
- 2 teaspoons heavy cream, room temperature
- ½ cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 325°F. Lightly spray a 9-inch bundt pan with cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a hand mixer on medium speed, beat the sugar, oil, vanilla, and eggs until combined.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and blend until just combined.
- Gently fold in the diced apples by hand until just combined.
- Pour the cake batter into the prepared bundt pan.
- Bake for 55-70 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Allow to cool for about 15-20 minutes in the pan and then invert it onto a wire rack. While the cake is cooling, prepare the caramel glaze.
Caramel Glaze
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring the butter, heavy cream, and brown sugar to a gentle boil, stirring occassionally until the sugar is dissolved.
- Remove the pan from heat, and add vanilla. Stir to combine.
- Allow the caramel glaze to sit for 5-10 minutes to thicken.
- Drizzle over the warm cake and serve.
Video
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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Love this recipe! Everyone loves it when I make it! Simple ingredients too. Thank you for sharing!
This recipe is a winner! I have made it twice before as a bundt cake and another time today in a 9 inch wide 3 inch deep aluminum cake pan. This cake always turns well.
I have not yet made the caramel sauce though because I never have heavy cream on hand and sometimes don’t have brown sugar. I’m sure the caramel sauce would be amazing. What I use instead is either straight powdered sugar or a powdered sugar icing which is really good here.
I usually make this cake when I need to use up a few apples. The way I made it today, I shredded just 2 small apples and it still had enough apple flavor in my opinion.
I had no oil, so I subbed with 2/3 cup room temp butter cut into very small cubes.
No baking soda, so 2 TSP baking powder.
I was also low on granulated sugar, so to get to 2 cups sugar, I used 1/2 heaping cup of powdered sugar.
No eggs either haha, so in it’s place I used milk. I have read that to sub for egg, use about 1/4 cup of something else per egg. So I started with 3/4 cup milk and when the batter was still too thick, I ended up using 1-1/2 cups milk in total.
We buy whole wheat flour in bulk, so that is what I usually bake with. Wheat flour seems to absorb more liquid.
I have also found that it needs more salt for better flavor so I used 2 TSP salt.
We live at about 4400 feet in elevation, so to make adjustments for high altitude baking, that means less oil/butter and more water/milk. The measurements I listed here turned out so great for this cake!
I only have a countertop convection oven which can make baked goods tricky. I put this cake on the bottom rack with Turbo Convection at 325° for 1 hour (checking on it after 30 mins, then every 15 afterwards), then on the top rack for 15 mins with the Turbo turned off.
Turbo is great for making cakes fluff up, then to finish it off and get the top brown is why I turn off Turbo.
I was too impatient to wait 20 minutes for the cake to cool because we were hungry haha and wanted to enjoy the cake with coffee.
So I think the reason the cake stuck to the bottom a bit was because I didn’t wait long enough for it to cool. It might also help next time if I lightly dust the pan with flour after greasing it. I learned that trick from a recipe for cranberry lemon loaf; it really helped release the bread from the edge of the pan with no stick!
I hope my review helps someone else who needs substitutions and/or also uses a countertop oven.
Thank you Amanda for a great recipe!
I made this exactly as the recipe says except I baked it in a 9×13 pan. Absolutely delicious!
I folded in some chopped pecans into the batter along with the apples. SO DELICIOUS!!! Easy and tasty recipe.
Got to try this recipe thanks for the recipe
Thanks for sharing this recipe. If my math is correct, the total time should be 1 hour, 45 minutes. 15m (prep) + 20m (cool) = 35. One hour and 10 m (bake) + 35m = 1 hour, 45 minutes