I've never made apple cider donuts. Instead, I make this Apple Cider Donut Cake. It's moist and delicious, with the subtlety and flavor of apple cider donuts, without the hassle of frying.
The cake is fluffy and tender from butter and oil and lots of mixing, just like a good apple donut. It's light, whereas donuts can sometimes be very dense. The cake itself is simply spiced with only nutmeg, but you coat the cake, while still warm, with lots of cinnamon sugar for a tasty crunch.
The cake is sweet but not incredibly so; I eat its leftovers for breakfast with coffee, just like I would apple donuts.
I first made this recipe in fall 2012, after my close friend Jen, an apple lover, sent me the recipe; I finally had the apples, cider, and a reason to make it when I took it to a party celebrating the end of National Novel Writing Month. I dusted it back off in 2018 and continue to make it once every fall!
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Ingredients
This cake takes the usual cake ingredients, with the addition of apples, apple cider, and nutmeg.
- Apples
- Apple cider
- Flour
- Baking powder, baking soda, and salt
- Nutmeg and cinnamon (not pictured)
- Milk and vanilla
- Butter and vegetable oil
- Sugar and brown sugar
- Eggs
Every apple cider donut recipe I've seen has included boiled, reduced apple cider, which concentrates its flavor. This recipe reduces it for less time, but adds apples for extra flavor. Choose flavorful, preferably tart, apples to enhance how appley the cake is.
(Since I have extra apple cider and apples, I usually make my Slow Cooker Apple Butter the same week as I make this cake!)
The apple cider, apples, and brown sugar are acidic, so we include baking soda with the baking powder to provide leavening.
Freshly grated nutmeg flavors the cake. Nutmeg is the spice in donuts that I couldn't place for the longest time. Pre-ground nutmeg is often flavorless, so I always grate a whole nutmeg.
The cake takes both butter and vegetable oil. Butter adds flavor, and while it's mostly fat, it also includes water. Oil adds extra moisture to cakes, while reducing the amount of water that needs to bake out of the cake.
After the cake bakes, you coat it with a large quantity of cinnamon sugar!
Equipment
An immersion blender (affiliate link) is an efficient way to blend the apple cider-apple mixture. A potato masher (affiliate link) isn't as efficient. You can also use a conventional blender; let the mixture cool before transferring it from the pan and blending.
A Microplane zester (affiliate link) is the most effective tool to grate a nutmeg.
You need a 10-inch, 12-cup Bundt cake pan (affiliate link) to make this cake. I recommend using something metal and shiny - lighter in color than what I used in these photos. Lighter colored pans bake better than dark pans. I don't have good luck with using silicone bakeware. You can also use a 12-cup tube cake pan.
Instructions
I adapted this Apple Cider Donut Cake recipe from Serious Eats. Like all other apple cider donut recipes, you start by reducing apple cider to concentrate its flavor. This process is faster since we simmer it with apples.
- 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.
- Use an immersion blender (affiliate link) to puree the mixture until smooth. If you need to use a regular blender, let the mixture cool somewhat first.
Preparing the apple cider mixture takes me about 30-35 minutes, mostly hands-off, from starting to cut the apple to when I blend the mixture.
Mix 1 cup of the apple puree with the milk, and set aside. The milk will curdle, and this is okay.
You'll have some extra cider mixture in the end, which may be liquidy, or may be the consistency of apple sauce. It will be delicious for mixing into oatmeal or a smoothie, or drinking on its own.
- Cream the butter and sugars with an electric mixer or in a stand mixer, until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs one at a time, mixing for 1 minute after each. Then add oil and vanilla, and mix for one minute more.
- 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, scraping after each addition.
- Scrape the bottom of the bowl, and beat the batter for another 10 seconds, until light and airy.
- Scrape batter into a VERY WELL GREASED Bundt or tube cake pan.
- Bake for 35-50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
- Cool for 10 minutes, then invert the cake onto a cake plate or serving platter.
- Mix together the cinnamon sugar, and immediately coat the 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.
Hint: Grease your Bundt cake pan (affiliate link) very, very well to ensure that the cake easily comes out of the pan. You may still want to use a chopstick or rubber spatula to gently loosen the edges and center from the pan before attempting. If any pieces of cake stick, carefully pry them from the pan and place them on the cake.
Serving and Storage
Cool the cake completely before slicing into large slices. I typically top the slices of cake with the cinnamon sugar mixture that's fallen off the cake. I like having cake with coffee or milk for an afternoon snack.
Cake should be cooled completely before covering. Store leftover cake in an airtight container at room temperature. The cake should stay moist and delicious for up to 3 days. Be aware, however, that the cinnamon sugar can dissolve somewhat, and the cake won't be as pretty. Sprinkle with a little extra cinnamon sugar before serving if this will bother you.
Top Tip
The key to this cake is the extensive mixing. This gives you a very light, fluffy batter than makes a light, tender cake.
Recipe FAQ
Apple cider is unfiltered, unpasteurized apple juice; it usually is pressed using unpeeled apples. It's less sweet and a little tangier or sharper than apple juice. I've seen apple juice in the juice aisle labeled "cider," and I've seen unfiltered apple juice there as well; it's not nearly as good as fresh apple cider. Use apple cider that you get in a refrigerated section in your produce aisle.
You can definitely reduce apple cider in advance before you make apple cider donut cake. Reduce the apples and apple cider, and blend it. Store it 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.
Other Apple and Cinnamon Treats
Here's some of my other favorite apple and cinnamon recipes!
Interested in other recipes? I save and share recipes I like or want to try on my Pinterest page - follow me there! You can also check out my Facebook page for more recipes and helpful tips. I'm also happy to try to help troubleshoot my recipes there.
Have you tried this recipe? Or have a question about it? Rate it or leave a comment below! (PS: rating my recipes helps other people find them, too!)
📖 Recipe
Apple Cider Donut Cake
Equipment
- Microplane zester (affiliate link)
Ingredients
Apple Cider Mixture
- 1 large or 2 small apples (227 grams/8 ounces) (use anything with a lot of tart flavor)
- 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 will foam up when it boils.
- Cool for 5 minutes, then puree, preferably with an immersion blender (affiliate link). Reducing the cider takes me about 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
- 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 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 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
- Combine sugar, and cinnamon. Coat cake with cinnamon sugar, patting it on the sides by hand
- Cool completely (or at least 45 minutes, as I did) before cutting.
Notes
[Originally posted December 2, 2012 and rewritten in October 2018. Restructured and updated in September 2025.]
Brittany says
Ohh yum. This looks so fluffy and delicious.
Leona says
Thank you! It was amazing.
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!!)
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!