This Apple Bundt Cake is the perfect dessert to make when you don’t feel like messing around with anything complicated! It comprises chunks of tender apples, chopped walnuts, cinnamon, and applesauce. And while it’s still warm, drizzle this decadent brown sugar glaze over the top!
Table of Contents
Recipe Overview
For this apple bundt cake with brown sugar glaze recipe, I used Granny Smith apples which are excellent for baking! You could also use McIntosh, Jonagold, honey crisp, or pink lady. And the chopped bag of walnuts I bought from Giant, but you can find them just about anywhere.
The star ingredient of this apple bundt cake recipe, besides the apples, is the applesauce! This, along with the oil, makes for a very moist cake! And we can’t leave out the cinnamon and nutmeg, which helps to round out this bundt cake’s yummy fall flavors!
The brown sugar glaze part comes together super quickly and tastes so good over the warm apple bundt cake. You can always forego the glaze though, if you’d like, but you’d be missing out!
How to Make
Here’s a super quick overview of how to make this apple bundt cake! For the full detailed recipe, scroll down to the recipe card.
Whisk the Dry Ingredients. This includes all-purpose flour, baking soda, ground cinnamon, salt, and ground nutmeg.
Peel and Cut the Apples. I prefer to do this next because then I add them to the whisked dry ingredients to give them a good coating. This will help prevent them from sinking to the bottom during baking. Go ahead and add in the chopped walnuts at this time too.
Mix the Wet Ingredients. You can use your hand mixer or stand mixer for this part if you would like, but a whisk and mixing bowl will be just as easy and less to clean up after! For this part, you will need granulated sugar, vegetable oil, eggs, applesauce, and vanilla extract.
Fold the Dry Ingredients into the Wet. This part can be done just using a spatula, mixing everything together until just combined. Spoon or scoop the batter into the bundt cake pan.
Bake, then Cool. The recommended bake times for this apple bundt cake recipe are 55-70 minutes at 325ºF or until golden brown. For reference, mine came out at 60 minutes. Ensure you have an oven thermometer to ensure your oven is calibrated to the correct temperature.
When the apple bundt cake is done, place it on a wire cooling rack for roughly 10 minutes. Gently slide a small pairing knife down the sides a little to loosen the bundt cake. Then carefully invert the bundt cake onto the wire cooling rack. I like to have a sheet of parchment paper or wax paper between the cake and cooling rack so I can easily transfer it to a serving plate.
Add the Brown Sugar Glaze. You can choose to cool the cake completely before adding the glaze, or (my favorite) you can drizzle it over the cake while it’s still warm.
Recommended Baking Tools
For the best bundt cake-baking tools, scroll through the carousel below.
Helpful Tips for Baking the Best Bundt Cake!
Baking a bundt cake successfully can sometimes be tricky—at least the releasing of the cake from the pan part. Here are some helpful tips before you get started baking this apple bundt cake recipe!
If you have any bundt cake-baking tips, I’d love to hear them in the comments!
Determine the size of the bundt cake pan. First things first—make sure you’re using the correct bundt cake pan size. If you’re unsure of what size bundt cake pan you have, you can fill it with water one cup at a time, or you can always use a 2-cup glass measuring cup to check.
For this apple bundt cake recipe, you’ll need a 10-cup size bundt pan. I only fill it to about 7-8 cups with batter, so it doesn’t spill over while baking.
Grease that bundt pan! You may see this recipe instruction often, but it is an important step, especially when using bundt pans! Doing this will help the release of your bundt cake come out super nice and clean.
Check for doneness. The best way to check for doneness with a bundt cake is to stick a toothpick in at different spots of the cake. It should come out clean and not have any batter or cake sticking to it. The cake should be a nice golden brown, too.
Let the bundt cake cool. Allow the bundt cake to cool for roughly 10 minutes before removing it from the pan. Removing it too soon could result in a cake that can fall apart. Leaving it cool for too long means it could stick to the pan.
Loosen the edges. If the bundt cake is done, the edges of it will have pulled away from the sides a little. Even so, a good way to help the release of the bundt cake go well is to gently run a butter or table knife down the sides. It doesn’t have to go all the way, but just a little bit to give it a little push.
Properly Greasing a Bundt Cake Pan
Flour-Based Baking Spray Method. The best one I can recommend is Baker’s Joy. It is honestly the best kind of flour-based baking spray out there to use—and I’m not even being paid to say that! It has yet to fail me or my bundt cakes! So if you see it in your grocery store, I seriously encourage you to buy a can or two. You can thank me later!
Grease and Flour Method. You can use softened or melted butter or vegetable shortening. Apply it with either a pastry brush or a paper towel, then apply a somewhat generous coating of all-purpose flour over the top.
Regardless of what method you choose, don’t forget to spray or grease and flour the center tube!
Recipe FAQs
You will need a 10-cup size bundt cake pan. I recommend any bundt cake pan from Nordic Ware! The one I used specifically is the Nordic Ware® Bavaria Bundt Pan.
You can use Granny Smith, McIntosh, Jonagold, Pink Lady, or Honey Crisp apples. Or you can use a combination of them.
Yes! If you don’t own a bundt cake pan, you can also make this in a 9u0022 x 13u0022 cake pan. Make sure to grease this pan as well and bake at 300ºF for 50-60 minutes.
More Apple Dessert Recipes
Apple Bundt Cake
Ingredients
apple bundt cake
- 3 cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Ground Nutmeg
- 2 cups Granulated Sugar
- 1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 2/3 cup Unsweetened Applesauce
- 2 Large Eggs, room temperature
- 3 cups Granny Smith Apples, or 3 large apples, peeled and chopped small
- 1 cup Chopped Walnuts
brown sugar glaze
- 1/2 cup Unsalted Butter
- 2 tsp Heavy Whipping Cream
- 1/2 cup Light Brown Sugar, lightly packed
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
Instructions
apple bundt cake
- Adjust the oven rack to 2nd level position (just above center) and preheat the oven to 325ºF.
- Generously coat your 10-cup size bundt pan with a flour-based baking spray. Alternatively, you can grease and flour the pan. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking soda, ground cinnamon, salt, and ground nutmeg. Set aside.3 cups All-Purpose Flour, 1 tsp Baking Soda, 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon, 1 tsp Salt, 1/2 tsp Ground Nutmeg
- Peel and chop your apples into small chunks then add them into the whisked dry mixture to coat. Add in your chopped walnuts at this time too.3 cups Granny Smith Apples, 1 cup Chopped Walnuts
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the granulated sugar, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract. Then add in the applesauce and eggs until well blended.2 cups Granulated Sugar, 1/2 cup Vegetable Oil, 2/3 cup Unsweetened Applesauce, 2 Large Eggs, 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- With a spatula, fold in the dry ingredients (with the chopped apples and chopped walnuts) mixture until just combined.
- Scoop your batter into the prepared bundt cake pan then give the pan a few light taps to remove any air bubbles that may have crept into the batter.
- Place in the oven and bake for 55-70 minutes at 325ºF or until golden brown (mine came out at 60 minutes). Additionally, you can check for doneness by inserting a cake tester into different parts of the cake. It should come out clean, with no cake batter or wet crumbs sticking to it.
- Remove from the oven and place on wire cooling rack for roughly 10 minutes. Gently slide a small pairing knife down the sides a little to loosen the bundt cake.
- Invert the bundt cake onto a wire cooling rack, then carefully remove the pan. You can choose to cool the cake completely before adding the glaze or (my favorite) you can drizzle it over the cake while it's still warm.
brown sugar glaze
- In a medium-size saucepan over medium heat, combine the unsalted butter, heavy whipping cream, light brown sugar, and vanilla extract.1/2 cup Unsalted Butter, 2 tsp Heavy Whipping Cream, 1/2 cup Light Brown Sugar, 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- As you continue to stir, bring the mixture to a boil to make sure the brown sugar has dissolved completely.
- Remove from the heat and let it sit for 10-15 minutes to thicken.
- Pour over top of your warm apple bundt cake and enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Note: Apple Bundt Cake video shows chopped walnuts being added after the dry ingredients instead of along with the chopped apples as written in the recipe instructions. Either method is fine.
- Apple Bundt Cake recipe adapted from A Taste of Bedminster Elementary cookbook.
- Brown Sugar Glaze recipe adapted and inspired by I Am Baker.
Nutrition
Nutritional information provided above is an estimate only and will vary based on specific ingredients used. See Nutritional Disclaimer for more info.
It was very easy to make and came out great thanks for a great bake dish
So glad you loved it, thanks Susi!
This was an amazing cake. My husband and I loved it. We have it with vanilla ice cream. I made a glaze for it.
I didn’t have applesauce, but made my own with the sliced apples I prepared in the freezer for pies etc. from an orchard I went to.
Super easy recipe. Please try this… you will not be disappointed !
I’m so glad you and your husband enjoyed the recipe!
I baked this as written except only used 1 1/2c sugar as 2 cups seemed excessive. The glaze recipe made a lot more than I needed, so I’ll cut back on the amounts for that next time. Also the glaze did not thicken as expected. The cake has a wonderful flavor and is great with a scoop of ice cream. However, it did not hold together and did crumble. I wonder if it would have cut easier after sitting for a day. I will definitely make this again.
I took this to a potluck last night and every drop was gobbled down. It was SO GOOD! A keeper!
Thank you so much, Mary! I’m glad it was a winner!
can you make without applesauce??
I did not test it without it so I can’t say if that’s possible.
This is the 2nd time that I made this scrumptious cake and I followed the directions almost completely. The only differences between my first try and today’s masterpiece is I used Pink Lady apples with the first and Granny Smith apples this time. I also baked it about 5 minutes more than the first (a total of 65 minutes). Today’s result was the better of the 2. Though it dirties 3 bowls, the result is perhaps the best cake ever baked.
Thank you so much Michelle for this review! I’m so glad you love it!
Thanks so much this was amazing – HEADS UP – Dairy and egg free version if you have allergies, I used two tablespoons ground flaxseed and 5 tablespoons water, let that sit for 10 min then added that in place of the eggs, and for the cream i omitted that and used some coconut condensed milk, and the cake came out amazing!
Thank you so much for your review and for including the subs you made! That’s incredibly helpful!
I’m about to make this cake. thank all of you who made the cake based on the recipe given. I wanted a complete review, not a review where others put their spin on it.
First I want to thank you for your method of listing the ingredient measures under the instruction step that the ingredient gets added. Soooooo easy to follow. Second, I made this recipe yesterday and it came out perfectly and is delicious. I was very surprised that the cake itself is not too sweet even though the recipe calls for 2 cups of sugar. This cake recipe is perfect.
I’m so happy you loved the recipe, Michelle! And thank you for the feedback on the recipe format!
Just made this and it came out perfect. I always cook my fruit down before using it for baking but honestly I don’t think it would have been necessary here. Also added some brandy to the glaze and torched it which played really well with the apple and cinnamon
The addition of brandy to the glaze sounds wonderful!