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?
Thank you for making my recipe! You took pictures, right? Well go ahead and post them on Instagram! Be sure to mention me @iambaker and use the hashtag #YouAreBaker.
Im drooling…do you know if you pour granulated sugar on a burnt tongue and let it melt….it removes the burn
Can’t resist a family recipe… Especially when it’s drizzled in homemade caramel sauce! This apple cake sounds wonderful – just the thing for the big bowl of apples in my kitchen!
Looks delicious! That seems like a lot of oil, though. I often replace all or part of the oil in baking with applesauce, which seems like it would be ideal in an apple cake. How much do you think I could get away with replacing in this recipe – half?
Definitely!
I use extra light olive oil in my baking, even in homemade pancakes.
Me, too!
Hi, Amanda! I am definitely going to try this. I just wanted to ask though if you have the equivalent measure of apples in weight? “Medium” in the US is usually much larger in my part of the world! Thank you.
Anywhere from 2 1/2 – 3 cups of diced apple. 🙂
Hi Amanda, the cake is wonderful but mine didn’t turn out as beautiful as yours. I thought I had greased my pan well enough, but it stuck terribly. Any tips? What did I do?
I cut oil back to 1C and added 1/2 C plain Greek yogurt. Also, only 1-1/2C sugar, I figured the glaze would be sweet enough. I used half and half as I didn’t have heavy cream to make the carsnel sauce.
This cake is in my oven as I type. I can’t wait to try it. I’m visiting my family tomorrow for Christmas. I may just end up making two 🙂 one for the in-laws as well.
Hi Amanda! I baked this cake yesterday and it was delicious, so moist and tasty. Caramel sauce made it even better! I will do it definitely again!
The cake turned out fantastic and almost too good to take to my coworkers! My caramel sauce was not so great though. Not sure what I did wrong but it was grainy. Any suggestions for my next attempt?
SO glad you liked the cake! I would try cooking the caramel sauce a bit longer to get rid of the graininess. Happy baking!
Hi, thanks for your recipe. I tried it just now with poor results. It’s not a complicated recipe and I followed it to a T. However, after 70 minutes of baking, I checked it and the toothpick came out clean (I had previously checked at 55 and 65 minutes). I took the cake out and set it to cool. As it cooled, it fell pretty badly on one side. It was as if the top had formed a hard crust and everything underneath was still way to moist, not baked. I’m an avid cook and baker, so I’m not really sure what went wrong. I re-read your recipe to double-check everything. The only slight issue I could see is that you have listed for baking temp 325F and say that the Celsius should be 175, However, 325F is actually 162C, (which is what I cooked mine at since I have a Celsius oven). So, maybe you actually wanted the cake to bake at 350F? That’s the only difference I could see. I have put the cake back in the oven after 15 minutes cooling hoping it might be salvageable. We’ll see!
Hi Karen! Thanks so much for the thoughtful feedback. SO SORRY there were any issues for you. When I list C baking temperatures I do it based on what the oven manufacturer recommends as I do not bake with Celsius. There could definitely be a disconnect in baking times based on the feedback you have provided. If you are able to make this recipe again with success I would be more than happy to add your notes (and of course your name!) to the recipe so that people will have the proper Celsius instructions. Thanks again!