Apple Cider Donut Cake tastes like the warm apple cider donuts from the orchard. This homemade bundt cake is moist, tender, and fluffy—flavored with apples, spiced cider, and warm baking spices, then finished with a cinnamon-sugar coating. A perfect fall dessert.
Apple Cider Donuts
In many regions fall means apple orchards, festivals, and fresh cider donuts. Traditional orchard donuts are often fried, but at home I like baked versions that capture the same warm, concentrated apple flavor in a lighter, easier-to-make form.
There’s something irresistible about warm, spiced apple cider doughnuts in autumn—portable, comforting, and full of apple flavor. This cake captures all of that but in a sliceable bundt form.
Apple Cider Donut Cake
This Apple Cider Donut Cake is soft, velvety, and more moist than a typical donut while still delivering that familiar donut flavor. Baking it in a bundt pan gives it the classic ring shape and makes multiple servings easy to share.
The cake is made from scratch using real apples and apple cider, plus a blend of butter and oil for flavor and moisture. When it comes out of the oven, it’s brushed with melted butter and rolled in a spiced sugar for a delightful finish—use cinnamon or apple pie spice depending on how warm you want the spice profile.
Ingredients
To prepare this cake you will need the following key ingredients:
- 1 large Honeycrisp apple (Pink Lady or Ambrosia work well)
- Spiced apple cider (not plain apple juice)
- Milk (whole preferred)
- Neutral oil (canola or vegetable)
- Vanilla extract
- Unsalted butter
- Light brown sugar
- Granulated sugar
- Large eggs
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder and baking soda
- Salt
- Apple pie spice (or cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice)
Note: Exact measurements and step-by-step instructions are included in the recipe card below.
Make the Apple Cider Reduction
Start by simmering the diced apple with the spiced apple cider until the apples are very tender and the liquid reduces. Mash the mixture until it resembles a loose applesauce. This reduction concentrates the cider and spices and is the flavor backbone of the cake. Aim for 1 cup of the mashed apple-cider mixture; if it reduces too far, add more cider, or continue simmering if you have more than a cup.
This mixture is not the same as plain store-bought applesauce—the cider reduction adds a brighter, spiced apple flavor. If you prefer to skip this step, a spiced apple butter can be used as an alternative.
Prepare the Liquids and Dry Ingredients
- Combine 1 cup of the apple-cider mash with the milk, oil, and vanilla. Stir well and set aside.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and apple pie spice in a separate bowl and set aside.
Make the Apple Cider Cake Batter
With the dry and wet components ready, prepare the cake batter:
- Cream the room-temperature butter with both brown and granulated sugars until light and fluffy.
- Add eggs one at a time, mixing until incorporated and scraping the bowl as needed.
- Alternate adding the dry ingredients with the apple-cider liquid mixture, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Mix on low and stop as soon as each addition is incorporated—do not over-mix.
- Spray a 10-cup bundt pan with nonstick spray and pour in the batter, smoothing the top with a spatula.
- Bake at 350°F for 35–45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
- Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 5–10 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack to cool further.
- For the coating, mix granulated sugar with apple pie spice or ground cinnamon.
- While the cake is still warm, brush it with melted butter and press the spiced sugar onto the buttered surface in sections so the coating adheres well. Work over a rimmed baking sheet to catch excess sugar.
Serving and Storing
Slice and serve warm for the best experience. Leftovers keep well: store the cake in an airtight container at room temperature for 3–5 days. It makes a delightful breakfast or afternoon treat the next day.
More Apple Desserts
If you enjoy fall baking, try other apple-based treats such as apple hand pies, Irish apple cake, caramel apple cheesecake bars, apple-cranberry pie, or an apple sheet cake.
Apple Cider Donut Cake
Ingredients
- 1 large Honeycrisp apple, peeled, cored, and diced
- 1 1/2 cups spiced apple cider
- 1/2 cup milk (118 ml)
- 1/4 cup oil (59 ml)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (300 g)
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp apple pie spice
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter (113 g), room temperature
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar (150 g), gently packed
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar (100 g)
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
Coating:
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar (68 g)
- 1 tsp apple pie spice or ground cinnamon
Equipment
- Masher or fork for mashing apples
- Stand mixer or electric mixer (optional)
- Spatula
- 10-cup bundt pan
- Wire cooling rack
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
- Combine diced apple and apple cider in a saucepan. Simmer over medium-high heat until the apple is soft and the cider reduces, about 15 minutes. Mash until fine. Make sure you have 1 cup of the mixture; add or reduce cider as needed.
- Add milk, oil, and vanilla to 1 cup of the mashed apple-cider mixture. Stir and set aside.
- Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and apple pie spice. Set aside.
- Cream the butter and both sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing to incorporate.
- Alternate adding the dry ingredients with the apple-cider liquid, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Mix on low and avoid over-mixing.
- Spray a 10-cup bundt pan with nonstick spray. Pour batter into the pan and smooth the top.
- Bake 35–45 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs. Cool in the pan 5–10 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack.
- Mix granulated sugar and apple pie spice for the coating. While the cake is still warm, brush with melted butter and press the spiced sugar onto the cake in sections. Work over a rimmed sheet to catch excess.
- Slice and serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
- Apple pie spice substitute: for 1 tsp blend 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, and 1/4 tsp allspice.
- Use spiced apple cider for the best flavor, or fresh refrigerated cider when in season.
- To skip the reduction step, 1 cup of spiced apple butter can be used instead of making the apple-cider mash.
- Store leftover cake in an airtight container at room temperature for 3–5 days.
Nutrition
Calories: 323 kcal |
Carbohydrates: 52 g |
Protein: 5 g |
Fat: 11 g
Disclaimer: Nutritional values are estimates.
Sharing this recipe with a link is encouraged. Content and photographs are copyright protected.