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Slice of Glazed Apple Cider Bundt Cake on a ceramic plate with black forks, rest of cake in the background with a few fresh apples.

Glazed Apple Cider Bundt Cake

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.
Yield: about 12-16 servings
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours

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
  • ⅓ 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
  • ⅛ 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.