Autumn Apple Bundt Cake

Today’s recipe comes straight from the vault of one of my best friends. Ana’s a star baker who always inspires me to step out of the box and try my hand at some new recipes, and this apple bundt cake was no exception! When she approached me with this idea to make her favorite apple bundt cake, I was super intrigued. I hadn’t really thought of putting apples into a cake, because once you put them in a pie you’ve kinda done it all, right? Nope. Not even close.

Apparently, Ana’s been making this apple bundt cake for years, and so she knew some tricks to make it just the way she likes it. We changed the original recipe a bit to include apple butter, because if there’s anything in this world that was sent directly from the gods, it’s apple butter. When I go to the orchards each year, I don’t really go for the apple picking. I go because it’s the best way to get my hands on the freshest apple butter. I’ve never had the kind that comes from a jar on the store shelves all year ’round, and I don’t ever plan on trying it to be honest. There’s just something about getting locally hand-made apple butter that tells you that fall is really here!

Beyond that little addition, we also chose to leave out a little of the sugar. By “we,” I mean that Ana was in charge and was already freaking out about using a whole stick of butter, so she made the executive decision to cut the sugar intake a bit. I agreed, because between the applesauce, apple butter, and apples themselves, there was more than enough natural sugar in this cake. In the end, it was perfectly sweet with a hint of fall spice from the cinnamon, so I really didn’t miss the sugar at all.

That brings up a super important point: any time you’re working with naturally sweet ingredients (basically, fresh fruit or fruit products), you can probably live with a little less added sugar. It helps cut down calories and the final product usually tastes way fresher without the mask that heaps of added sugar provide. Any time you’re making a recipe that calls for fruit and sugar, experiment a little with different amounts of the sugar. You may surprise yourself with what you don’t even miss!

One last tip – this was my first time using the butter-and-flour method of greasing a cake pan instead of using cooking spray. 10/10 would 100% recommend doing this always for bundt cakes. With a spray, I always miss the nooks and crannies, and taking the time to fill them just makes it too greasy. But using my hands to work the butter into every crease of the pan made all the difference, and our cake came out perfectly clean (thank God because even I can’t Photoshop away a broken-down cake).

I hope you all really enjoy this recipe. Fall is going fast, so make this cake ASAP and let me know how you like it! Before you know it, winter will be here and peppermint will be in everything (I’m actually already planning to post my favorite peppermint-flavored dessert soon…), so let’s enjoy the apple cinnamon times while we still can!

Autumn Apple Bundt Cake

Not your grandmother's apple pie, this cake takes the classic fall flavors of apple and cinnamon and puts a refreshing new spin on them.

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Prep Time 30 mins

Cook Time 50 mins

Total Time 1 hr 20 mins

Servings 12 slices

Ingredients

  

• 1/2 cup butter (softened)
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/3 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup applesauce (we used cinnamon flavored to get more of that spice kick)
• 1/4 cup apple butter
• 3 eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla (see recipe notes)
• 3 cups flour
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 apples (use your favorite baking variety)
• powdered sugar (for dusting)

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a Bundt pan (I used butter and flour rather than cooking spray), and set aside. Chop (peeling beforehand if desired) and core apples, then put them in a bowl and set it aside.
• In a large bowl, beat together the butter, vegetable oil, and sugar for about 2 minutes or until pale yellow. Add applesauce and apple butter and beat until combined. Add eggs one at a time, beating between each egg until it is incorporated. Add vanilla and beat one last time to incorporate.
• In a separate bowl, mix the cinnamon, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Remove two tablespoons of the mixture and mix it with the apples to coat them (this will prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the cake while it bakes). Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in three batches, mixing until combined after each batch. When that is fully incorporated, stir in the apples.
• Pour the batter into the prepared Bundt pan and bake for 50-60 minutes. Check the cake after 20 minutes and if it looks too brown, cover it with foil. Cool for 20 minutes after it leaves the oven, then gently invert the cake onto a plate. Dust with powdered sugar, slice, and enjoy!

Notes

• Recipe originally found here.
• We accidentally omitted the vanilla, and the cake tasted just fine! I would recommend remembering this step though, as it would probably provide an even richer flavor.
• If you think your cake isn't sweet enough and you totally hate me for telling you to reduce the amount of sugar, feel free to pile the powdered sugar on! This is your rodeo darlin', you add as much sugar as your lil blood vessels can take.