Apple Cider Doughnut Cake ~ a warm cinnamon apple bundt cake that tastes just like Fall’s iconic apple cider doughnuts. It’s basically everything you love about the season, baked up in a pan.
I highly recommend this wonderful apple bundt cake, it’s pretty much everything you want in an easy Fall treat. There’s nothing fancy or fussy about it, but it’s soft and tender, with a thin cinnamony-sugar crust just like those cider doughnuts you get when you go apple picking. The aroma is intoxicating, and it’s the perfect thing to take to a Fall gathering or party. It’s also ideal for housewarmings, new neighbors, new moms, or anyone who could use a little extra comfort or care.
I attribute the pillowy texture of this apple cider doughnut cake to the applesauce and the oat flour in the recipe. Oat flour is readily available in most large grocery stores, and Bob’s Red Mill makes a good one, but it’s essentially oats that have been ground into a fine powder, so if you don’t have any on hand you can actually process rolled oats in a food processor or high speed blender, like a Vitamix, to make your own. For more details, check out my post on how to make your own oat flour!
Oat flour gives baked goods a nice soft texture and a little extra flavor. I love it to add it to regular flour in lots of different types of recipes. It does wonders for my IRISH OATMEAL SODA BREAD and my QUICK WHOLE GRAIN OAT ROLLS.
This cake is not overly sweet, so it’s appropriate for breakfast or mid-morning, with a cup of coffee, tea, or hot cider.
TIP: I recommend serving this cake fresh from the oven, if possible. If you do make it ahead, store the cake on the counter, loosely covered with foil, or under a cake dome.
kitchen tool spotlight: a great basic bundt pan
Bundt pans come in all sorts of wonderful shapes and sizes, which is great, except that you never know how your pan is going to work with a specific recipe. I like to use this one from Wilton which is a basic, all purpose pan that’s sturdy, nonstick, and a standard size.
*The View from Great Island is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program ~ Your cost is the same, but I earn a small commission from Amazon which helps keep tvfgi in the kitchen!
Cider is a wonderful ingredient to experiment with in Fall, here are some fun ways to use it ~
- Slow Cooked Cider Brats with Apple Onion Relish
- Hard Cider Braised Pot Roast with Fresh Sage
- Brussels Sprout Slaw with Maple Cider Vinaigrette
- Baked Ham with Apple Cider Maple Glaze
- Maple Cider Glazed Turkey
- Apple Cider Pancakes with Caramel Syrup
*I’ve adapted this recipe from Martha Stewart
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups oat flour
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup apple cider
- 3/4 cup applesauce
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil (I use safflower)
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Set oven to 350F
- Generously butter and flour your bundt pan, making sure to get into all the nooks and crannies. Don't skip this step!
- Whisk the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.
- Whisk the wet ingredients together in a another bowl.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk until just combined, don't over mix.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45-50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out without wet batter clinging to it. Set the pan on a cooling rack for 15 minutes.
- Stir the sugar and cinnamon together for the topping.
- Invert the cake onto a plate. Brush with the melted butter, and sprinkle generously all over with the sugar.
Make it your own ~
- Sub cardamom for cinnamon, yum.
- Fold in some finely diced fresh apple for texture.
- You might use apple butter instead of applesauce.
- Instead of the sugar coating you could make a simple glaze out of cider and powdered sugar to drizzle (liberally!) over the cake.
Don’t forget to pin this Apple Cider Doughnut Cake!
113 Comments
Cheryl
September 16, 2018 at 5:09 pmDo i have to use Oat flour?
Sue
September 16, 2018 at 8:23 pmNo, you can use all regular flour, it just won’t be as tasty ;)
Debra Eldridge
September 16, 2018 at 3:55 pmWhat are the dry ingredients.
Sue
September 16, 2018 at 4:10 pmThe recipe is toward the end of the post Debra, and the dry ingredients are:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups oat flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
Nancy
September 21, 2018 at 8:54 amCan I grind up rolled oats to substitute for the oat flour
Sue
September 21, 2018 at 9:42 amYes, absolutely, I’ve got a whole post to show you how, here.
Melanie
September 16, 2018 at 9:16 amOne and a half cups of sugar and you’re saying this recipe isn’t overly sweet?! This looks delicious but I’m going to cut the sugar in half. I’m sure the cake will taste just fine with “only” 3/4 cup of organic cane sugar.
Sue
September 16, 2018 at 9:32 amLol, I guess when I say that I’m really referring to the taste of the cake, Melanie, but I’ll be interested to hear if you have success lowering the sugar, I assume that will work.
Nancy
September 16, 2018 at 8:44 amAny idea if this recipe will bake properly at high altitudes? I just moved from 14 ft above sea level to 5518 ft above sea level.
Lisa
September 15, 2018 at 2:27 pmHave this in the oven now. Thank you!
Alice
September 15, 2018 at 12:37 pmApple Cider goodness is in the oven!!! Made my own Oat flour, thank you for the tip!
Sue
September 15, 2018 at 1:26 pmHooray, hope you like it.
Glazed Old Fashioned Buttermilk Doughnut Bundt Cake | Good Cookery
September 14, 2018 at 8:18 pm[…] got going ~ doughnut inspired bundt cakes ~ what do you think, isn’t that going to be fun? My Apple Cider Doughnut Cake started it all off and I’ve got plans for a few more besides today’s recipe. Can’t […]
Patricia Bailey
September 14, 2018 at 6:09 pmCan I use regular butter instead of unsalted ?
Sue
September 14, 2018 at 8:01 pmThat should be ok as long as you leave out the salt in the recipe.
Anne
September 12, 2018 at 4:34 pmHow can I make this gluten free? It sounds great but I have celiac and have to be gluten-free.
Sue
September 12, 2018 at 4:43 pmI would try a good quality gf baking mix, for starters, and then you might want to add a little xanthan gum, and maybe an extra egg, but I haven’t experimented with a gf version of this cake yet, Anne, so it will probably be trial and error.
Jill
September 12, 2018 at 3:41 pmI don’t have oat flour. What else can I use?
Sue
September 12, 2018 at 3:45 pmYou can use all regular flour Jill, no worries.
joan
September 12, 2018 at 8:20 amSounds so yummy. Can you use a spring form pan???
Sue
September 12, 2018 at 8:30 amI haven’t tried Joan, so I’m not sure. It’s a pretty large amount of batter, so it would have to be a larger spring form pan.
Vic Monson
September 10, 2018 at 12:45 pmI have been cooking and baking for fifty years and I’ve never heard of oat flour, and neither have the folks at the three grocery stores that I asked about it. They can’t even find it available from their distributor. Is there some suitable substitute?
Sue
September 10, 2018 at 1:07 pmYou can use all regular flour if you like Vic. oat flour is just processed oats, so you can also make it yourself in a food processor. Bob’s Red Mill and Arrowhead Mills sell oat flour, but you might need to visit a health food type store to find it in your area.
Janice
September 9, 2018 at 9:20 pmI have a few things to purchase but trying this tomorrow! Supper excited! Love all things Fall, especially apple cider donuts!!!
Maryanna Morrow
September 9, 2018 at 8:30 pmI can`t wait to make this cake. I think my guys will like it at break time.
Sue
September 9, 2018 at 8:45 pmLet us know how it goes for you :)
Paula B.
September 9, 2018 at 1:14 pmHow fun, this recipe sure gets me in the mood for fall. At the same time your recipe showed up in my Facebook feed, I saw one from Martha Stewart. Hers called for whole wheat flour and natural cane sugar. This must be a very popular cake. It looks delish no matter what the special ingredients may be.
Diana
September 9, 2018 at 5:59 amCould you possibly cut down the sugar somehow? Maybe use maple syrup, or maybe natural stevia?
Sue
September 9, 2018 at 8:02 amYou can cut the sugar by as much as one third in most baking recipes, but after that the balance of ingredients gets thrown off, Diana. I’m sure there’s a way to make this lower in sugar but it would take some trial and error. When you substitute Stevia for sugar you’ll need to add a ‘bulking’ agent to make up for the lost mass, so in this case it might be applesauce or yogurt.
Sheila Haynes
September 7, 2018 at 5:58 pmCan I use all purpose flower instead of using oat flower? I can’t find it at my local gracery.
Sue
September 7, 2018 at 9:24 pmYou can use all regular flour Sheila, that works too.