I've never made apple cider donuts - instead, I make Apple Cider Donut Cake. It's just as moist and delicious, with the subtlety and flavor of apple cider donuts, without the hassle of frying.
Apple Cider Donut Cake at a Glance
- ⏱ Prep Time: 30 minutes
- 🔥 Cook Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
- ⏳ Total Time: 1 hour 55 minutes
- 👪 Serves: 12
- 🍽️ Calories: 350
- 🍎 Main Ingredients: Flour, sugar, brown sugar, apple cider, apples, butter, vegetable oil, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg
- 👌 Why You'll Love It: A tender cake that tastes like an apple cider donut, topped with cinnamon sugar - no frying necessary.
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I first made this recipe in fall 2012, after my apple-loving friend Jen sent me a recipe from Serious Eats; I finally had apples, cider, and a reason to make it when I took it to a party celebrating the end of National Novel Writing Month (RIP). I dusted it back off in 2018 and have continued to make it every fall since, with few changes.
Like with most apple cider donut recipes, you reduce cider to concentrate its flavor - but we keep this step much faster since we simmer it with apples. Thanks to thorough mixing, the cake is fluffy and light, whereas donuts can sometimes be very dense. The cake is only lightly spiced with nutmeg - great for me since I don't like heavy autumn spices - but you coat the still-warm cake with lots of cinnamon sugar for a delicious crunch.
The cake is sweet but not incredibly so; I eat its leftovers for breakfast with coffee, just like I would apple donuts. If you love apple cider donuts but don't want to fry anything, this cake is for you.
I love having cake for breakfast. If you do too, check out my Sour Cream Coffee Cake (clearly a cake for breakfast) and St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake, a layered yeasted treat that I love having for brunch.
Jump to:
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- 🍎 Lots of apple cider donut flavor, without the hassle of frying.
- ☁️ Fluffy and moist - thorough mixing makes for a very light, tender texture, rather than a heavy treat.
- 🥯 Nutmeg in the batter is the secret ingredient that flavors donuts - and this cake.
- ✨ Cinnamon sugar on the outside makes the cake both tasty and pretty.
Key Ingredients
Apple cider and apples: Reducing apple cider concentrates its flavor. This recipe doesn't reduce it as much as other recipes, but simmers it with apples for extra flavor. Choose flavorful, preferably tart, apples to make the cake appley. (Since I have extra apple cider and apples, I usually make my Slow Cooker Apple Butter the same week as I make this cake!)
Butter and vegetable oil: Butter adds flavor and tenderness, while oil makes the cake extra moist. While you could use just one, the texture wouldn't be the same.
Nutmeg: The spice in donuts that I couldn't place for the longest time. Pre-ground nutmeg is often flavorless, so choose and grate whole nutmeg. Substitute cinnamon in a pinch, but the flavor won't be quite the same.
Cinnamon and sugar: Coats the outside of the cake - just like an apple cider donut! Don't skip this topping. Cinnamon also loses flavor over time, so be sure yours is fresh.
How to Make Apple Cider Donut Cake
One: Combine chopped apples and cider in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 10-12 minutes, until apples are tender. The mixture may foam up.
Two: Use an immersion blender to puree the mixture until smooth. If you need to use a regular blender, let the mixture cool somewhat first. (These two steps can take me up to 35 minutes, mostly hands off, from cutting the apples to blending the mixture.)
Three: Mix 1 cup of the apple puree with the milk, and set aside. The milk will curdle.
Four: Cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
Five: Add the eggs one at a time, mixing for 1 minute after each. Then add oil and vanilla, and mix for one minute more.
Six: Stir together the dry ingredients. Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the apple-milk mixture, with 3 additions of flour and 2 additions of liquid. Scrape down the bowl after each addition.
Seven: Scrape the bottom of the bowl, and beat the batter for another 10 seconds, until light and airy.
Eight: Scrape batter into a VERY WELL GREASED 10-inch, 12-cup Bundt or tube cake pan.
Nine: Bake for 35-50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
Ten: Cool for 10 minutes, then invert the cake onto a cake plate or serving platter.
Eleven: Mix together the cinnamon sugar, and immediately coat the warm cake with it, section by section. The cinnamon sugar will stay mostly on the top; less will stick to the sides. Let the cake cool for at least another 45 minutes before cutting and serving.
Serving and Storage
Once the cake is cooled, slice into large slices when ready to serve. I typically top each slice with the cinnamon sugar that's fallen off the cake. I like having cake with coffee or milk for an afternoon snack.
Don't cover the cake before it's completely cooled. Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature. It'll stay moist and delicious for up to three days; however, the cinnamon sugar can dissolve somewhat due to the moisture in the cake. Sprinkle with extra cinnamon sugar before serving if you want leftovers to look prettier.
Tips for Success
🥣 The extensive mixing in this recipe gives you a very light, fluffy batter than bakes into a light, tender cake. Don't be tempted to shorten it.
🥮 Lighter colored pans bake better than dark pans - I recommend using something metal and shiny, lighter in color than those in my photos. I don't have good luck using silicone bakeware. If you don't have a Bundt pan, use a 12-cup tube cake pan; it bakes the same, but unlike with a Bundt pan, flip the cake so the baked top still faces up.
🧈 Grease your cake pan very, very well to ensure the cake comes out easily. You may still want to use a chopstick or rubber spatula to gently loosen the edges and center before attempting. If any cake pieces stick, carefully pry them from the pan and place them on the cake.
🍏 The extra cider mixture you have leftover may be liquidy, or it may be the consistency of applesauce. Eat it like applesauce, or mix it into oatmeal or a smoothie.
Apple Cider Donut Cake FAQs
Apple cider is unfiltered, unpasteurized apple juice, usually made by pressing unpeeled apples. It's less sweet and a little tangier or sharper than apple juice. Use apple cider that you get in a refrigerated section in your produce aisle; shelf-stable unfiltered apple juice or "cider" isn't as good.
Definitely. Reduce the apples and apple cider, blend them, and store in a glass container in the refrigerator. Measure it and let it come to room temperature while you soften the butter. Check the cake for doneness at the normal time, but the cake may need a couple of extra minutes baking time.
In part, how long the cake bakes depends on how much liquid cooks out of the apple cider mixture on the stove. Also, some Bundt cake pans are heavier than others and will affect how long the cake needs to bake.
In addition to drinking apple cider outright, and using it to make Apple Cider Donut Cake, you can:
☕Make a quick mulled apple cider by adding ground cinnamon and nutmeg, then heat for about a minute in the microwave.
🍸Use it as a base for a cocktail.
🍯Reduce it on the stove over low heat until it's thick and syrupy. Store in the refrigerator and use as a simple syrup.
🍎Make my No-Sugar-Added Slow Cooker Apple Butter!
🍬Smitten Kitchen also has a delicious recipe for apple cider caramels.
More Apple and Cinnamon Treats
I hope this becomes a recipe you'll return to. If you try it, a star rating below helps others find it - and I'd love to hear how yours turns out in the comments! 💕 Questions or trouble? Drop a note, and I'll do my best to help.
📖 Recipe
Apple Cider Donut Cake
Equipment
- Microplane zester (affiliate link)
Ingredients
Apple Cider Mixture
- 1 large or 2 small tart apples (227 grams/8 ounces)
- 1 ½ cup apple cider (360 grams)
- ½ cup milk (120 grams)
Cake Batter
- 2 ½ cups flour (300 grams)
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg (freshly grated is best!)
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick/ 113 grams), softened
- ¾ cup sugar (148 grams)
- ½ cup brown sugar (105 grams)
- 3 eggs
- ¼ cup vegetable oil (56 grams)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla (5 grams)
Cinnamon Sugar Topping
- 6 tablespoons sugar (75 grams)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
Apple Cider Mixture
- Peel, core, and chop your apples. Combine with apple cider in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then simmer over medium heat for 10-12 minutes, until apples are tender. The mixture may foam up when it boils.
- Cool for 5 minutes, then puree, preferably with an immersion blender (affiliate link). Reducing the cider may take 35 minutes, from chopping to pureeing. Your puree may be liquidy.
- Combine 1 cup (about 236 grams) of apple mixture with milk. The milk will curdle like buttermilk.
Cake Batter
- Combine flour, baking powder and soda, salt, and nutmeg in a mixing bowl. Set aside.
- Cream butter with sugar and brown sugar in stand mixer on medium speed using the paddle attachment for 3 minutes, until light and fluffy.
- Add eggs, one by one, mixing for 1 minute after each addition.
- Add oil and vanilla, and mix for another minute, until well mixed.
- Alternate adding the flour and apple mixtures in batches, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Scrape the bottom of the mixer bowl to make sure butter and sugar isn't stuck there (like it was in mine). Mix for 10 more seconds to make sure everything is airy and light.
- Pour batter into an extremely well greased 12-cup Bundt cake pan (affiliate link) and bake at 350F for 35-50 minutes.
- Cool cake in the pan for 10 minutes, then invert onto cake platter. I had a piece stick to my cake pan the first time I made it, so be sure you've greased it really well.
Cinnamon Sugar Topping
- Combine sugar, and cinnamon. Coat cake with cinnamon sugar, patting it on the top and sides by hand.
- Cool completely (or at least 45 minutes) before cutting. Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Leona Konkel says
One of my favorite apple desserts! I love how tender and moist it always is. I hope you love it as much as we do. Let me know how it turns out!
Jenn says
I made this last night and it was a hit! Super soft and fluffy and delicious! Mike said it is his favorite dessert ever (second only to cheesecake). It's on our Thanksgiving menu now too!
Leona Konkel says
I'm so glad you guys liked it! (Now I can be known as the cheesecake and apple donut cake lady!!)
Brittany says
Ohh yum. This looks so fluffy and delicious.
Leona says
Thank you! It was amazing.