Your perfect fall bake is here: made with sweet apple cider infused with warm autumn spices and studded with fresh apple chunks, this sour cream-enriched apple cider bundt cake is simply packed with apple flavor. Cozy and comforting, it’s like the cake equivalent of sweater weather.
Fall is cider season, and this year has been more fruitful than most! I wanted to pack in as much apple flavor as I could into one cozy cake, with sweet apple cider (reduced for extra flavor), fresh chunks of apple (tossed with cinnamon and sugar), plus a cider-infused glaze that’s (literally) the icing on the cake.
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It’s an apple cider autumn, apparently. Pumpkin, who’s she? I’m still in full on apple mode.
This cake you see here? Version 7. Up until this point I’d been making it in an 8×8 square pan, as a somewhat adapted version of my sour cream coffee cake, but skewed more to the dessert cake than breakfast cake. I knew I wanted a noticeable apple cider flavor, with fresh apple chunks mixed in as well.
The problem was it kept sinking on me in the middle. It tasted delicious, but I just couldn’t figure out how to get the center to stay risen.
Like my grandpa always said, if you can’t solve the problem, change the problem. And you know what has no center? A bundt cake. I simply scaled up the proportions from my last 8×8 bake by 150%, and voila! Perfect bundt cake, with no center and thus no sinkage. Brilliant!
Since we’re talking about apple cider here, know that I’m referring to what’s called soft or sweet cider. Not hard apple cider, and not apple cider vinegar. PLEASE don’t make that mistake or you’re in for a rude surprise.
The apple cider I used was fresh, unpasteurized cider from a local orchard; this kind of cider requires refrigeration and can turn quickly, so I recommend using it within a few days (or freezing it if you can’t use it right away).
In a pinch you could use unfiltered (ideally unsweetened) apple juice instead, though just know the apple flavor won’t be quite as fresh or strong.
If your cider already has spices in it you can omit the whole spices in the cider reduction, and/or adjust or reduce the spices in the cake itself, depending on how much spice you like.
Here’s how to make it:
The first step in the process is reducing the cider.
Reducing the cider first allows us to concentrate the flavors, infusing more of the cinnamon flavor into the apple cider, and more apple flavor into the cake without adding additional liquid.
Here I’ve reduced 2 cups of cider down to just over 1/2 cup (leave a tablespoon or two aside for your glaze if you want it). This can be done ahead of time, then refrigerate and store your cider reduction in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
If you want, you can replace 1-2 tablespoons of the reduced cider with boiled cider or apple cider concentrate, which is even more intensely flavored, with a bold, underlying spice that permeates the cake beautifully. But this is totally optional, you’ll still end up with a delicious fall cake with just the reduced apple cider.
For the glaze, I used some of the reduced apple cider I had left; you could also use fresh (unreduced) apple cider, or just milk if you’d like (the glaze will crust over if made with milk, compared to a cider glaze that will always stay a little bit sticky). Adding a tiny pat of melted butter and a pinch of sea salt helps cut the sweetness of the powdered sugar, and voila! A super simple, elegant glaze for a fabulous fall cake.
I also think this cake would be lovely with a dusting of powdered sugar or even a cinnamon sugar coating like an apple cider donut, if you prefer to go that route instead of the drizzly glaze.
I really loved the flavor and texture of this cake. Without the chunks of fresh apples studded throughout it might be a bit on the boring side, though the cake itself is quite lovely and moist, with a subtle spice that lingers after the bright flavor of the fresh apples on the front-end.
When you get a perfect bite with a chunk or two of fresh apple, a hearty forkful of the moist and tender crumb, plus a little bit of the sugary apple cider glaze on top, the flavors and textures come together in perfect harvest harmony.
The moisture of this cake comes from the sour cream (full fat, please!) but also the oil, which adds a liquid fat that, in addition to the butter, helps the cake stay moist and rich. Imagine that oil wrapping the dry ingredients in a warm and cozy blanket, both adding richness and preventing moisture loss, and you’ll see why cakes often have some liquid fat in addition to butter.
Ingredient Notes & Substutions
Apple cider: sweet, non-alcoholic apple cider. NOT hard cider. NOT apple cider vinegar (please please please don’t make this cake with vinegar). The best is if you can find fresh pressed apple cider from a local orchard (check in the refrigerated section as it’s usually unpasteurized and thus requires refrigeration).
If fresh sweet apple cider is nowhere to be found, you can use unfiltered, unsweetened apple juice in a pinch, though it won’t be as strong a flavor in the final cake.
If your cider already has spices in it, you can skip the spice-infusion when you reduce the cider, and/or adjust the spices in the cake itself to taste.
Apples: You’ll need 2 large or 3 small apples for this recipe, peeled, cored, and chopped into 3/8-inch pieces (you should have about 2 cups of chopped apples). I recommend a crunchy, sweet variety of apple like honeycrisp or pink lady that will hold their structure well when baked.
Sour cream: adds richness, flavor, and fat (and when it comes to cakes, fat = moisture + flavor). Full fat sour cream, always. Full fat Greek yogurt would work in a pinch, but the cake will not be as rich or moist.
Vegetable oil: any neutral flavored oil such as canola, grapeseed, avocado, or even light olive oil would work well here. We want this liquid fat in addition to the butter to help keep the cake moister longer.
Spices: I’ve used a mix of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves, which are the main spices I associate with apples (apple pie spice just feels different to me than pumpkin spice, which is why I opted to skip the ginger and other spices you often see in the latter). But feel free to adjust or add spices to your liking!
Powdered sugar: if you aren’t a fan of the cloying sweetness of conventional powdered sugar, try organic. For some crazy reason it doesn’t have the same harsh sweetness that conventional does. The color of the glaze will be more muted white, not bright white (I did use conventional sugar in the cake in these photos), but the flavor is much more pleasant.
One thing to remember: always sift your powdered sugar! I know you’ll be tempted to skip it, but I always regret it when I do. ESPECIALLY if you use organic powdered sugar which is even clumpier than the regular stuff.
Glazed Apple Cider Bundt Cake
Ingredients
For reduced cider:
- 2 cups / 480 g sweet apple cider, (NOT hard cider or apple cider vinegar)
- 1 whole cinnamon stick
For apple mixture:
- 2 large or 3 small apples, cored, peeled, and cut into a 3/8" dice (about 2 cups diced)
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon / 12 g light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon / 8 g all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
For cake:
- ½ cup / 113 g (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ¾ cup / 150 g granulated sugar
- ¾ cup / 155 g packed light brown sugar
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- ¾ cup / 180 g sour cream, at room temperature
- â…“ cup / 68 g vegetable oil, or other neutral flavored oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 2 ¾ cups / 340 g all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- â…› teaspoon ground nutmeg
For glaze:
- 1 cup / 120 g powdered sugar, sifted
- 2 tablespoons / 30 g reduced apple cider (reserved from step 1) or milk, more or less as needed
- 1 teaspoon / 5 g melted butter
- pinch fine sea salt
Instructions
- In a saucepan, heat 2 cups apple cider with cinnamon stick until lightly simmering. Continue to gently simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 30 minutes or until volume has reduced to just over 1/2 cup. Remove from heat and let cool; measure out exactly 1/2 cup of cider for the cake itself, reserve any leftover for the glaze if desired. You can make the cider reduction ahead of time and refrigerate for up to a week.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a standard size 10 to 12 cup bundt pan with baking spray (I like the kind with flour). You can also grease the pan with butter or shortening, then coat with a light layer of flour, tapping out any excess.
- Toss cubed apples with lemon juice until evenly coated. Sprinkle over flour, sugar, and cinnamon and toss to coat apples evenly. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter, sugar, and brown sugar together until lightened and fluffy, 4 to 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
- Mix in sour cream and vanilla until incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl and paddle as needed.
- With the mixer running on low, slowly drizzle in vegetable oil. When all the oil has been added, increase speed to medium and mix for another minute until fully incorporated.
- In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices until evenly distributed.
- Add half of the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl with the butter/sugar/egg mixture and mix on low speed until mostly incorporated, Add half of reduced cider, slowly drizzling it in with the mixer on low speed the whole time. Scrape down the sides of the bowl well, then repeat with remaining dry ingredients, followed by remaining apple cider.
- Add apple chunks, folding gently until evenly distributed throughout the batter.
- Pour batter into the prepared bundt pan, distributing the batter evenly around the entirety of the pan and using the back of a spoon or spatula to even out the top.
- Bake for 45 to 55 minutes or until top is golden brown and a toothpick or skewer inserted in the deepest part comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached, no gooey batter.
- Place pan on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Run a thin spatula around the inner and outer edges to release, then invert onto a wire rack to release the cake. Let cool completely before glazing.
- To make the glaze, sift powdered sugar into a bowl (don't skip the sift or you will have a chunky glaze). Add 2 tablespoons of apple cider or milk and whisk until smooth. If needed, you can add more liquid, 1/2 teaspoon at a time, until you get your desired consistency. The glaze, if you lift and drizzle a bit from your whisk over the bowl, should absorb back into itself in 5-7 seconds; any quicker than that and the glaze is too thin, you can add more powdered sugar.
- Pour glaze over completely cooled bundt cake. I recommend doing this over a cookie sheet or a piece of parchment paper to catch any messy drips. Let glaze set for at least 15 minutes before slicing and serving
- Cake will keep, covered in an airtight container, for up to 5 days. You can also freeze the unglazed cake, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap or foil and then bagged, for up to 2 months; let thaw completely in the fridge overnight, then glaze before serving.
