With its moist texture, soft crumb and depth of apple flavor, this apple bundt cake is perfect for any occasion. I like to use a variety of fresh apples in this cake such as Honey Gold, MacIntosh, Haralson and Prairie Spy. Drizzle with a simple honey cider glaze and serve!
I grew up in New England and the apples from my childhood were MacIntosh. They are deliciously tart and have a soft flesh that practically turns to applesauce on a hot day. It wasn’t until I moved to Minneapolis that my apple horizons were broadened and now I am spoiled by the riches of so many local varieties of apples.
This is a cake I have made for Rosh Hashanah for decades. It has evolved over the years and uses both shredded and chunks of apples to get the most flavor. I have a list below of the apples I like to use.
You can watch me make this cake on my TV show, Zoë Bakes (season 1 – apple episode) and I chatted with Jenn White on the NPR show 1A about fall baking and all things apples. Listen to the episode here.
More Favorite Apple Recipes
- Check out my list of 19 apple recipes for even more sweet, tart and flavorful fall favorites!
- No list of apple recipes is complete without the perfect apple pie.
- Apple Tarte Tatin is a classic a surprisingly simple French pastry and one of my favorites.
- You can keep things simple and classic with a homemade applesauce.
Best Apples for Apple Bundt cake
I always use at least a couple different kinds in a recipe. You’ll have your local favorites, but keep the flavor and texture profiles in mind:
- Honey Gold: Sweet
- Harlason: Tart
- MacIntosh: Saucy
- Prairie Spy: Firm
Infusing apples with a golden honey-cider caramel is like matchmaking two friends. Honey as a basis for caramel is a bold and absolutely spectacular flavor shift.
Grating the apples into this apple cake also retains the moisture, packs in the flavor, but also adds a measured consistency of apple throughout the cake that I just love.
Apple Bundt Cake Ingredients
- Apples: choose from the varieties above to add different flavors and textures.
- Hard Apple Cider: just a few tablespoons for a little extra spiced kick
- Honey Glaze: the glaze adds just the right amount of sweetness
Ingredients
Apple Cake
- 1 1/4 cups (300ml) mild-flavored oil
- 1 1/2 cups (300g) granulated sugar
- 2/3 cup (130g) lightly packed brown sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp hard apple cider or bourbon (see notes for non-alcoholic option)
- 3 eggs at room temperature
- 2 cups (300g) packed grated apples, plus 2 cups (300g) apple chunks about 4 medium apples
- 2 cups (240g) all-purpose flour, plus 1 tbsp. for tossing with apple chunks
- 1 cup (130g) whole wheat flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 3/4 tsp kosher salt
Honey Glaze
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 3 tbsp honey
- 2 tbsp hard apple cider see notes for non-alcoholic option
- 1/4 cup (60ml) heavy whipping cream
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- pinch kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F / 165°C. Generously grease and flour a 12-cup / 2.8L Bundt pan. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the oil, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, hard cider, and eggs with a spoon. Stir in the grated apples.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the 2 cups / 240g all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add dry ingredients to the apple mixture and mix only until it all comes together in a smooth batter.
- Toss apple chunks and 1 tablespoon flour, then fold the apples into the batter.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Gently tap the pan on the counter several times to make sure the batter has fully settled into the nooks of the Bundt.
- Bake for about 1 hour 15 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then turn out onto a serving plate.
Honey Glaze
- Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to simmer for 2 minutes.
- Drizzle with half of the glaze over the still warm cake. Save the remaining glaze to drizzle over the cake when it is fully cooled and ready to serve.
Rate and Review!
- If you've made this recipe, please leave a rating and review! I love to hear how you've adapted my recipes to your own tastes, so please share how it went for you. It helps other people find my recipes. Thank you!
This cake was fantastic and earned rave reviews. I didn’t have whole wheat flour so I just used all-purpose and it came out amazing. I used a smoked maple bourbon I had (yum!) and I accidentally dumped all the glaze on the cake instead of reserving half and it was still perfect.
This recipe is an absolute keeper! The cake comes out moist, rich, and perfectly balanced every time. I swapped the bourbon glaze for caramel icing, and it was just as amazing. Everyone who’s tasted it raves about it!
I wanted to follow-up now that I made the cake for a friends dinner party and I was in charge of dessert. I didn’t have a bundt pan so I used two 9″ round pans and cooked them for less time, closer to 45ish minutes at the same temperature because the pan was less dense from splitting the batter. I used hard sparkling cider as it was the only thing I had, I would love to try this next time with calvados! Only other change I made to the recipe was adding some cardamon which was an excellent choice.
I received so many compliments, everyone loved the cake and I can’t wait to make it again for any occasion, especially in the fall or winter!
love this cake first time celebrating Rosh Hashanah and this will now be our yearly cake!! Beautiful texture and wonderful apple taste best apple cake recipe that I have tried
I LOVE this cake! I am generally not an apple pie person (maybe because I haven’t had a good one), but this cake made me fall in love with apple-baked goods. I have made it twice, once for a neighborhood potluck, and it was a big hit, and once for my college students, and everyone loved it. So moist and flavorful. I love using a Bundt pan. 🙂
This was a huge hit with requests to keep the recipe in my rotation.
Very easy. I love not having to drag out the KitchAid.
Temped to 200° and it was perfectly baked. Very moist.
so so delicious with lots of great apple chucks and flavor. I didn’t have hard cider so used squeezed lemon juice on the apples instead in the cake recipe. I also used lemon juice and a table spoon of apple butter for the honey drizzle sauce… yum! this recipe is a keeper and will be used for years to come. thanks zoe!
Delicious and moist apple cake. I also added
cardamom, cloves and allspice. I’ll make it again!
I just made this today and it was delicious! Unfortunately, I used Apple Cider Vinegar for the Bundt and Glaze in lieu of the hard cider (my mistake) and it still came out delicious.
So glad to hear it still came out delicious! Thank you so much for coming back to rate and review the recipe. We appreciate it!
Most delicious moist apple cake. I will make it again and again.
This cake is very flavorful and very moist. My family and friends love it.
I have made this incredible cake twice and received raving reviews. It is easy to make and turns out great every time. I will be making again in the near future. Bourbon yes!!!
Is it ok to use all AP flour as that’s all I have on hand now?
Hi Kara, you can use all AP flour, but you may need to add a tbsp or more of extra flour to accommodate for the change. Enjoy!
The cake on its own is delicious! I love a good cake glaze and find it usually adds good flavor and moisture, but I found this cake became cloyingly sweet with the glaze. I think I’d make it again, but without the glaze.
I must disagree. The glaze was amazing based on everyone that tasted it.
I made the bourbon version of this cake from Zoë Bakes Cakes and, like all of the other recipes I’ve tried, it is perfection. I made it dairy-free by using vegan butter and full-fat canned coconut milk for the glaze and it did not disappoint! I highly recommend any version of this cake! Delicious and absolutely packed with apple flavor.
Excellent cake — the grated apples really keep it moist. I shared it with family and friends and one guy grabbed the extra pieces I brought and put them in his lunch box, saying this is Awesome! I didn’t even get my piece! But excellent testimony to its goodness. Thanks
This is a terrific recipe! It’s the first time I’ve encountered WW flour in a cake, so wasn’t sure what to expect, but it turned out very well :-). My only modifications were to use pumpkin pie spice instead of cinnamon (which is its primary component, anyway) in the cake, and to thicken the glaze (which I tripled) to more of a sauce (after drizzling the original glaze on the warm cake). I added more unsalted butter, cider (which I mixed with about two tsp. of cornstarch), and brown sugar, as well as the finely grated rind of a lemon, and juice of that lemon. Brought it to a slow boil for a minute or two, stirring constantly, and then took it off the element and added a few tbsp. of honey-spiced Canadian whiskey. I think the lemon and whiskey takes it to a whole new level of deliciousness. Served the cake warm, with Tahitian vanilla ice cream and a generous amount of warm sauce — rave reviews! Thank so much for sharing the recipe!
Hi! I don’t have heavy cream or hard cider, I’ve tried making the glaze just now with half and half and regular non-alcoholic cider and it curdles. Is this normal? Am I doing something wrong? Otherwise the cake looks absolutely gorgeous I can’t wait to dig in.
Delicious! I have a picky daughter, she loves it. She’s been asking me to make it again.