It’s time to cozy up for fall with all things apples, cinnamon, and spice, and we’ve got just the cake to kick things off: our Apple Cinnamon Bundt Cake! It’s impossibly moist with crisp edges (there’s a secret ingredient responsible for this!) and has the added bonus of swirls of salted caramel. To say it’s irresistible would be an understatement.
What Is A Bundt Cake?
A bundt cake is any cake recipe that is baked in a bundt pan. These are the pans with a hole in the center that look like a giant ring.
They come in all shapes in sizes, with fun molds and designs that vary their final appearance. The beauty of baking a bundt cake is that more batter has direct contact with the pan and therefore has an overall crispier exterior relative to the center of the cake.
Given the close contact with high heat that results from baking bundt cakes, these usually benefit from having a moist batter. Which is why I thought salted caramel would be a very welcome addition to this recipe!
Love fall baking? Be sure to check out all of our easy dessert recipes, including our easier-than-pie Rustic Apple Galette with Salted Caramel Sauce, Salted Caramel Apple Slab Pie, or our Rich, Creamy Cookie Butter Cheesecake Bars.
Ingredient Notes
Let’s talk apples: First, what type to use? For this cake recipe, we like Honey Crisp apples. They’re sweet, juicy, and hold their shape when baked. As far as texture, you’ve got a few options: you can grate the apples, cut into chunks, or thinly slice. Our vote is for grated. You get the undeniable flavor of apples without biting into large pieces of the fruit. In fact, the added bonus is that there’s an even distribution of apple flavor in every single bite!
Grated apple helps to keep the bundt cake incredibly moist. Sure, you could use small chunks of apple (think ¼-inch dice), but that would definitely change the texture.
Bake Time For Apple Cinnamon Bundt Cake
Bundt pans are tall and thick. They require a longer than usual cooking time relative to other cake recipes. This apple cinnamon bundt cake needs a full 1 hour to bake, and possibly a little longer.
To remove the cake from the bundt pan: Allow the apple cake to res for 10 minutes in the pan before inverting onto a wire rack. If you’ve coated your pan generously with nonstick baking spray or rubbed it with butter and a dusting of flour, the cake should come out easily.
Let cool on the wire rack completely – about 1 hour – before adding any confectioner’s sugar, otherwise the sugar will melt.
Can You Freeze Bundt Cake?
Yes! Bundt cakes are totally freezer friendly. You can do this one of two ways.
- Freeze the entire cake whole. Let the cake cool completely on a counter, then wrap the entire cake in plastic wrap 2x. I then wrap the cake in aluminum foil to help protect it further.
- Freeze the cake in individual slices. Once the cake has cooled completely, cut it into 10-12 slices, then wrap each individually as instructed above. This is the best option for being able to thaw individual slices versus a whole cake.
A whole cake will need 6-8 hours at room temperature to defrost fully.
Pro tip: write the date (and name of recipe!) on the outer layer of aluminum foil in Sharpie so you know what’s in your freezer!
Can This Recipe Be Used For Mini Bundt Cakes?
Yes! A standard bundt pan holds about 6 cups of batter. I use this Nordic Ware Heritage Bundt Pan (love it!) which has a 10-cup capacity. A standard sheet cake recipe — calling for a 9″ x 13″ pan — will fit perfectly in here.
If you have mini bundt pans and would like to make this cake into smaller bundts, no conversion is necessary. Simply fill the pans leaving about 1 1/4″ to the rim (see unbaked cake photo above for reference) and keep an eye on the clock.
Mini bundt cakes will cook much quicker than a standard size bundt, so begin checking for doneness after 25 minutes.
The verdict? This is outrageously good.
Apple cinnamon bundt cake, we’d love you even if you weren’t so pretty, but damn! You are the actual best!
How To Serve
We often serve this dessert on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, but this would be a fantastic and easy way to end Thanksgiving, Christmas, or any fall meal.
It’s sweet enough on its own without adding whipped cream or ice cream. A quick dusting of powdered sugar is all you’ll need! Though we’ll never say no to a slice of cake with a cup of coffee or hot tea.
I just know you’re going to love this bundt cake! It has the most amazing texture, will make your kitchen smell amazing, and is pretty foolproof. If you make my Apple Cinnamon Bundt Cake, please let me know by leaving a review below!
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For more fall desserts, check out the following recipes:
- Chocolate bourbon pecan pie
- Salted caramel apple slab pie with cinnamon whipped cream
- Creamy dulce de leche cheesecake with chocolate chip cookie crust
- Flourless chocolate cake
- Tiramisu cream puffs
Apple Cinnamon Bundt Cake Recipe with Salted Caramel Swirl
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3¼ cups (390g) cake flour
- 1½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp Kosher salt
- 1 cup walnuts finely ground
- 1¼ cups vegetable or canola oil
- 2 cups (416g) dark brown sugar
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup (140g) Greek yogurt whole milk or reduced-fat
- 2 Tbsp salted caramel store-bought or homemade
- 2 cups apple peeled, finely grated (~2 large apples), such as Honeycrisp
- Confectioner’s sugar optional for serving
Instructions
- Prepare the bundt pan. Preheat oven to 350F. Coat a standard 12-cup bundt pan with nonstick baking spray.
- Mix the dry ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together 3¼ cups (390g) cake flour, 1½ tsp ground cinnamon, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp Kosher salt, and 1 cup finely ground walnuts.
- Mix the wet ingredients. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat together 1¼ cups canola oil and 2 cups (416g) packed brown sugar until well mixed, about 1 minute on medium speed. Add 3 eggs, 1 tsp vanilla bean paste, and ½ cup (140g) Greek yogurt. Continue mixing on medium speed for 2 minutes, scraping the sides halfway through.
- Fold together gently. Gently fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients until only a few streaks of flour are remaining. Add grated apple, then fold until just incorporated.
- Assemble the cake. Pour batter into prepared bundt pan until about ⅔ full. Pour caramel sauce evenly on top, then swirl into cake batter using a butter knife. Top with remaining batter, smoothing the top with a spatula.
- Bake for 60-70 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the cake comes out with only a few moist crumbs. Let cake cool for 10 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack. Enjoy warm or at room temperature. Serve with a light dusting of confectioner’s sugar (optional).
Video
Notes
- In our old home, this cake baked in exactly 1 hour. In our new home (and oven), it takes slightly longer. Make sure to use a cake tester or toothpick to test that the cake is fully cooking in the center. Only a few moist crumbs should remain.
- To freeze cooked cake: once cool, wrap whole or sliced cake pieces completely in plastic wrap. Next, wrap each piece (or whole cake) fully in aluminum foil. Cake can be stored directly in freezer or placed in an airtight storage bag. Either defrost overnight in a refrigerator or remove foil and plastic wrap, then reheat on medium heat in a microwave until soft and tender, about 1-2 minutes.
Just wow!! This is a must make. I subbed cake flour for Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 GF flour and it turned out perfectly. I’ll definitely be making this again soon!
Oh, I’m so glad the 1:1 GF flour was a good substitute!! I’m sure that’s going to be helpful to others, and I rarely bake GF so wouldn’t have tested this myself. Thank you so, so much for sharing feedback. Super helpful! xo, Ari
I substituted melted and cooled butter for the vegetable oil and this was divine! I love the taste of apple, but not big chunks of cooked apple, so incorporating it finely grated made this a perfect fit. MmmmMMM! The apple and cinnamon was just wanted I needed to start off Autumn!
Yesss!! We love it so much, glad you did too! xo, Ari