Originally published in 2014, this deliciously moist and spiced apple Bundt cake is smothered in a buttery brown sugar glaze. Use your favorite apple variety such as Granny Smith or Honeycrisp. It’s like a denser, more cinnamon-y (technical terms!) version of this fresh apple cake.
I love old-fashioned desserts. The kinds of desserts grandmas make so well, often memorized in their heads. Like buttery homemade caramel corn, banana bread, and apple pie. Or peach cobbler, cornbread, and teeth-rotting sweet chocolate fudge. Yum.
Today’s recipe is just that. It’s like a big, sweet hug from grandma’s kitchen.
If you’re a regular reader, you know what my favorite dessert is. Do I talk about it all the time? Probably too much. Apple pie, apple pie, apple pie. And I’ve even written extensively about the pie crust that accompanies this holy grail of desserts.
Let me continue. Today’s apple Bundt cake was inspired by my Brown Sugar Glazed Apple Bread recipe in my cookbook. The first recipe in my cookbook because it’s the best. Soft, dense, and absolutely packed with apples. It’s the kind of bread you bake on lazy Sundays not only because it’s so good but because it makes your house smell so good.
And this cake is exactly like it. It’s a combination between buttery pound cake and apple pie. It is, simply put, the quintessential recipe to make in the fall season. Sweetened mostly with brown sugar, this cake will melt in your mouth. Cinnamon spice and apple chunks are in every bite. Seriously, I do not skimp on apple chunks in my apple dessert recipes. They’re the best part, yes? The cascade of brown sugar glaze was an afterthought, but might just be the best decision I’ve ever made.
Because the Bundt cake is so large, it will take a good amount of time in the oven. Larger recipes like this have bake times that vary greatly between ovens, but I find 1 hour and 10 minutes is the perfect number. Your bake time may be higher or lower and that’s normal, so don’t get discouraged as you watch the clock.
What Kind of Apples to Use in Apple Bundt Cake?
You can use your favorite apple variety in this apple Bundt cake. Some friends and I went to the apple orchard a couple weeks ago and picked some juicy Jonagolds and Granny Smiths. If they had Honeycrisps available that day, I would absolutely have made this cake with those. All hail the Honeycrisps! For a detailed list of my favorite apple varieties, and when to use each, you can visit my post on the best apples for baking. If you find yourself with a plethora of apples like I did, you should also make these apple cinnamon scones for breakfast.
Enjoy, my fellow apple dessert lovers. See all my apple recipes and a list of 30+ fall cake ideas.
More Bundt Cakes to Love
- Peach Bundt Cake
- Lemon Berry Yogurt Cake
- Chai Cinnamon Swirl Bundt Cake
- Pumpkin Bundt Cake
- Chocolate Marble Banana Bundt Cake
- Hummingbird Bundt Cake
Glazed Apple Bundt Cake
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
- Yield: serves 10-12
- Category: Cake
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Tender and moist homemade apple Bundt cake smothered in a buttery brown sugar glaze. Your new favorite cake for the crisp fall weather.
Ingredients
Apple Bundt Cake
- 3 cups (375g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 and 1/4 cups (300ml) vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup (120g) plain yogurt or sour cream, at room temperature
- 1 and 1/4 cups (250g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract (yes, 1 full Tablespoon)
- 3 cups (360g) peeled and chopped apples, about 2–3 large apples
Brown Sugar Glaze
- 1 cup (200g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (4 Tbsp; 56g) unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup (120ml) heavy cream
- 1/2 cup (60g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F (163°C). Spray a 10-to-12-cup Bundt pan with nonstick spray. Set aside.
- Whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt together in a large bowl until combined. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk the oil, yogurt, brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, and vanilla together until combined and creamy. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and slowly whisk until no large lumps remain. Try to avoid over-mixing. Carefully fold in the apple chunks. If you feel 3 large apples is too much, feel free to cut down to 2 apples. I like a lot of apple chunks in my cake!
- Spoon/pour the thick batter into the prepared bundt pan. Bake for 55–75 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean. The baking times may vary depending on your oven, if you used a 10 cup bundt pan or 12 cup, or if you used less apple chunks. Keep your eye on the cake after 55 minutes. Feel free to cover the cake loosely with aluminum foil about halfway through to prevent heavy browning on top. Allow the cake to cool in the pan set on a wire rack, then invert onto a serving plate once cooled and ready to serve.
- Make the glaze: As the cake cools, prepare the brown sugar glaze. Combine the butter, brown sugar, and heavy cream in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly until the butter has melted, and then stop stirring and let the mixture come to a rapid boil. Boil for 1 minute. Turn the heat down to low, give it a quick stir, and let simmer for 1 minute. Remove from heat and whisk in the sifted confectioners’ sugar. Allow glaze to cool and slightly thicken for at least 10 minutes. Spoon glaze over the cake right before serving. (Cake can still be warm when glazing.) If your glaze thickened up too much as it cooled, warm in the microwave for 15 seconds and stir until smooth.
- I like this cake warm, at room temperature, and even cold. Cover leftovers and store at room temperature for 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Flavor is outstanding on day 2!
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: Cake freezes well up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature before serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 10- to-12-Cup Bundt Pan | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Rubber Spatula | Cooling Rack | Saucepan | Fine Mesh Sieve
- Nuts: For some texture, add 1 cup of your favorite chopped nuts like pecans or walnuts.
- Yogurt: I prefer plain Greek yogurt here, but regular plain yogurt or sour cream works as well.
- Apples: I prefer a mix of tart and sweet in my apple dessert recipes. Here are the best apples for baking.
- Sheet Cake or Cupcakes: Try my similar recipes for apple cake or apple spice cupcakes.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Hi from France,
I looooooove this recipe !!!! it’s one of my favourite during the winter season. You have a ” 1 batter for infinite muffin recipes” and do you have a ” 1 batter for infinite bundtcake recipes” ? I’d like to make differents bundtcakes but I don’t find a basic recipe for that. Wish you could help me !!
Thank you for the amazing recipes !
Hi Emilie, we don’t have an infinite Bundt cake batter at this time, but you can find all of our Bundt cake recipes here. Lots of different flavors and combinations to work with! Let us know if you give any others a try.
I made this recipe but su substituted the sour cream/yogurt for cream because I didn’t have anything else. It turned out amazing, plus I added pecans and lov 3 cups or more of apples. It was a hit in my house. Making it again today with sour cream, can’t wait to try.
I have made this cake a few times…..in fact it’s in the oven as I type. Everery time it’s a hit. Definitely my personal favourite. Your recipes are always my go to. Thanks for all of them!
Consistently reliable and super tasty recipes! I’m often whipping things up the day of an event and am wary of trying new recipes that could flop. Yours always turn out! Brought this into work for a coworkers last day today and everyone loved it! THANK YOU for the amazing recipes 🙂
Thank you! And for the recipe as well! The glaze is amazing!!
Where oh where did you find that beautiful cake stand?
Hi! This was from Pier 1 a few years ago. I know World Market has something similar if you search “Wood Slice Pedestal Stand” 🙂
Here’s my contribution to what is now a staple in our house: Into a large covered skillet, pour 1/4 cup of Apple Pie Moonshine to cover bottom, add all the diced apples into an even layer. Cook on low heat until most of the ‘shine is absorbed. Sieve apples and reserve liquid. Fold apples into batter. You’ll know what to do with the remaining liquid.
Def. want to do this for Thanksgiving. I’d like to add a spiced rum to the glaze, what do you think?
Hi Ellen, You could certainly try replacing some of the heavy cream in the glaze with it. Enjoy!
Hi! I haven’t tried this recipe yet but I’m just wondering if it would work to bake in mini loaf bans as opposed to bundt?
Hi Priya, Yes, We’re unsure exactly how long mini loaf cakes would take to bake. We would start checking on them around 20 minutes in, depending on how large your pans are. Use the toothpick test to check for doneness. Enjoy!
Can I aubstitute mayonnaise for sour cream? My sour cream is past its prime.
Hi Nora, we don’t recommend it — yogurt would be the best replacement for sour cream here.
I didn’t have sour cream or yogurt, so I used coffee cream and soured it with lemon juice. Appears to have the right consistency but will let you know how it tastes. I also added pecan. Keeping my fingers crossed.
Do you use full fat Greek yogurt or non fat Greek yogurt?
We enjoy full fat greek yogurt in this recipe, but any will work!
I’ve made this cake several times and it’s always delicious! However my glaze never turns out like the cake pictured. This weekend I made it for a party. I made the glaze the night before and refrigerated it. I let it sit out before pouring over the cake but it still needed to be microwaved a bit in order to have a “pouring” consistency. I did let it cool after microwaving, and stirred it real well. But it just oozes down the sides and puddles into the center hole. It always tastes good but a little granular. And the color is a dark brown, not that beautiful shiny, golden color. Yes, I sifted the confectioners sugar, and I always weigh my ingredients. Any thoughts? I will continue to make this, but I’d love for it to look as pretty as it tastes!!
Hi Cathee, We are thrilled that you enjoy this cake so much! If your glaze is a bit grainy you may simply not be cooking the brown sugar for long enough. Next time cooking it for even a minute longer should help (this will help it thicken up also). The glaze will certainly thicken as it cools and especially if it was refrigerated overnight, but a few seconds in the microwave will help.
Hi – I am dying to make this cake for a party after my nephew’s football game. I have a few Bundt Cake pans. The one I want to use is the “stadium shape.” Do you think the recipe would work for this? It is Bundt, just not round! Thank you!
Hi Erlinda, We use a 10-12 cup capacity Bundt pan, if your’s has the same capacity then this batter should work. If it’s smaller, then you will have some batter leftover and the bake time may be shorter. Let us know if you give it a try!
Always a showstopper. I’ve played around with times and 57 mins is the optimum for my oven. Even grainy sugary icing mishaps are delicious. So moist and decadent. Everyone thinks I am a baking goddess when I serve this one up. Thanks so much!
Help! What did I do wrong? I so wanted this to be good, but it was dry and crumbled apart. I made recipe as written…
Hi Anna! Careful not to over-bake the cake, that is the most common culprit for dry cakes. Also, how are you measuring your flour? Make sure to spoon and level instead of scooping to avoid packing in too much flour (which can also lead to dry cake).
I have always “scooped, then leveled” the floor. You are saying spoon the floor into the measuring cup and THEN level??
Hi Anna, correct — you’ll want to spoon the flour into your measuring cup and then level. Scooping packs in the flour and often leads to adding too much, which can dry out baked goods. You can see Sally demonstrate the spoon and level method in this post. Hope this helps!
This is the best apple cake I have ever made. It is easy and delicious! Usually apple cakes that have oil in the recipe can be vert heavy and denese…..this cake is not heavy at all….. light, delicious, and so flavorful. Totally worth the effort to chop apples, etc. SO GOOD!!!
Would this work well with gluten-free flour? I am newly diagnosed as gluten intolerant and trying to learn how to adapt recipes.
Hi Jamie, We do not have much experience using gluten free flour. Although some readers report using an all purpose 1:1 gluten free flour in many of our recipes with success, you should expect slightly different results. Here are all of our naturally gluten free recipes.
I made this for a group riding in the Apple Cider Century in Michigan last weekend! It was so wonderful I made it again this week. And that frosting was just WOW
I usually love your recipes, but have to say this one was not one of my favorites. To my surprise, the cake was a bit dry, and tasted a bit too sharply of the cinnamon. I would have liked a different spice mix. I will say the glaze is killer!
Questions, why do you say to put the glaze on right before serving, does it make the cake soggy? Can the glaze be put on the cake and be left to sit?
Yes, you can add the glaze in advance. I only recommend glazing the cake close to serving so it tastes its freshest. Feel free to do it ahead of time though!
Good day! Have not tried recipe yet. Am wondering if it’s ok to use home canned apples…. Thank you in advance Sally!
If they’re particularly wet, they may change the cake’s texture. The cake could, overall, turn out wet instead of moist. For best results, I recommend fresh apples.
Can I use oil and melted butter instead of jus oil⁇
Without a doubt this is an outstanding recipe.
My husband is not a “cake” person but he
loves this recipe and requests it when we go
apple picking.
Thank you for sharing
I’m not one to post reviews but this was deserving.
1) had a bundt pan for 16 years and never used it. Today I did- slightly nervous.
2)day of, turned out great and dense and moist and chunky with apples. Hope tomorrow is better as others have said. Didn’t stick, was cooked thru but not overdone.
3) my glaze was still grainy/sugary, like the first time I made pralines. I think it needs to cook a little longer but it was still amazing.
4) meant to add pecans I had and forgot. Would be amazing with them.
Can this recipe be used for mini bundt cakes?
Definitely! We’re unsure exactly how long mini Bundt cakes would take to bake. We would start checking on them around 20 minutes in, depending on how large your pans are. Use the toothpick test to check for doneness. Enjoy!
Can I grate the apple instead of cutting in small chunks?
Hi Isabel, You could certainly try but the cake will be a different texture than intended. Shredded apples will add more moisture likely making the cake more dense, and of course you will miss bites with the apple chunks. Let us know if you give it a try!
Once again….a delicious concoction!! Another cake I know I’ll be making a lot. I’ve done many, many of your recipes, by now. Each is perfect and delicious. I never leave reviews, anywhere…..and, I think this is the third one I’ve left you. I, obviously, will be purchasing your cookbook. You rock!
Can I substitute the yogurt/sour cream for apple sauce?
Hi Kathy, we don’t recommend it. The yogurt or sour cream helps create a moist, but also sturdy, Bundt cake, and we fear it might taste a bit rubbery with the apple sauce in its place. For best results, we recommend using the yogurt or sour cream!
Can I use a 9 x 13 glass baking dish for this? And can I replace half of the oil with applesauce?
I have made so many of your recipes and they have all turned out wonderfully! Thank you. You are my “go to” cookbook now.
Hi Mary! Absolutely, bake time in a 9×13 will be similar to our spice cake recipe, about 45-50 minutes. We haven’t tested replacing half the oil with applesauce, but the texture could change significantly. Let us know if you give it a try!
This cake was a winner! I used 2 large honey crisp apples. It tasted quite moist without being dense at all. 60 minutes was the right amount of time in my oven. Thank you for the successful recipe!
I’ve made this recipe before for Thanksgiving(it was fantastic btw) and I want to make this again, but on a smaller scale. Is it possible to use this same recipe for mini bundt cakes? I would just need to know how long they’d take to bake.
Hi Brooke, we’re unsure exactly how long mini Bundt cakes would take to bake. We would start checking on them around 20 minutes in, depending on how large your pans are. Use the toothpick test to check for doneness. Enjoy!
Wow! My first time to bake an apple cake and it was a huge hit! Everyone loved it! Such an easy, simple recipe. I did add extra powdered sugar to the glaze as I prefer it a little thicker. And it is definitely better the next day! This will go into my favorites folder. Thank you Sally!!