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“This Apple Cider Doughnut Cake is the most delicious cake I ever made — and I bake a LOT! I could have eaten the whole cake.” ~Carol
if you love fall, you’ll love apple cider doughnut cake!
I highly recommend this wonderful apple cider doughnut 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 gathering or party. It’s also ideal for housewarmings, new neighbors, new parents, or anyone who could use a little extra comfort or care.
This cake is not overly sweet, so it’s appropriate for breakfast or mid-morning, with a cup of coffee, tea, your pumpkin spice latte (or hot cider!)
more doughnut cake recipes
ingredients for apple cider doughnut cake
- all purpose flour + oat flour
- I use both all purpose and oat flour in this cake, which gives it a nice, tender crumb. Oat flour can be found in your supermarket baking aisle, and you can easily make oat flour at home.
- sugar
- cinnamon
- vanilla extract
- apple cider
- fresh apple cider is amazing, but you can use apple juice if necessary. Do not use apple cider vinegar!
- applesauce
- you might also try apple butter.
- vegetable oil
- butter
- eggs
- baking powder, baking soda, and salt
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!
how oat flour changes the texture of this apple cider cake
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 rolls.
Oat flour has a slightly higher moisture content than wheat flour, which helps keep cakes moist and tender.
Oat flour has a lovely nutty, earthy taste that adds depth to the flavor of this cake.
a basic bundt pan
This is a must in any kitchen. Recipes that call for bundt pans rely on the shape to bake the cake properly
Bundt pans come in all sorts of wonderful shapes and sizes, which is great, but if you only buy one, I like to use this one from Wilton. It’s a basic, all purpose pan that’s sturdy, nonstick, and a standard size. The simple fluted shape insures an easy release, and isn’t that what it’s all about? Click here for details.
check out the comments for great reviews and variations
I don’t expect you to read through 400+ comments, so here are some highlights!
- Karen and Susan get a gold stars for creating gluten free versions of this apple cider doughnut cake. Many used Bob’s Red Mill gf baking mix with great success.
- Karla makes her own gluten-free flour blend (rice flour, tapioca flour, coconut flour, millet flour, + sorghum flour)
- Jen drizzled the cake with a cider icing.
- Sandy added a cup of grated apples to the batter.
- Judy dusts her greased bundt pan with cinnamon sugar for an extra crunchy crust.
- Lorraine and Susan use boiled cider from King Arthur Flour.
- Linda substitutes butter for the vegetable oil.
- Anne made her apple cider cake flavored with a little apple brandy!
- Enid actually subs apple cider vinegar diluted with water for the cider and loves it.
- Amanda and Eyvonne made their own oat flour in the NutriBullet and food processor and it turned out perfectly.
- Dee turned the bundt cake into a layer cake.
- Bella adds a layer of cinnamon sugar to the bottom of the cake before flipping it over, which is genius.
- “A” made half of the recipe, and baked it in a 8X8 pan for 27 minutes. It was perfect.
- and that’s just a few of the great ideas you guys have come up with 🙂
more ways to cook with cider
Apple cider adds natural sweetness, flavor, moisture, and a pop of acidity to so many foods! I make it a point to keep a quart in the fridge all season long.
- Kale and Fall Fruit Salad with Cider Poppy Seed Dressing
- Baked Apple Cider Doughnuts ~ New York Times Recipe
- Homemade Apple Cider
- Apple Cider Doughnut Loaf Cake
- Hot Buttered Apple Cider
- Mulled Cider Jelly
- Slow Cooked Cider Brats with Apple Onion Relish
- Wild Rice Salad with Maple Cider Vinaigrette
- Hard Cider Braised Pot Roast with Fresh Sage
Apple Cider Doughnut Cake
Equipment
- standard bundt pan (10-12 cup capacity)
Ingredients
dry 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
wet ingredients
- 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
topping
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat 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, or 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.
Video
Notes
- 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.
Nutrition
Sweetened or unsweetened applesauce for the cake?
I use unsweetened, but if you’ve got sweetened, use it, the cake is not too sweet to begin with.
What kind of apples have people used for this?
The recipe as written just calls for cider and applesauce, but if you’d like to add fresh apples, Granny Smith or Honeycrisp would be nice.
Just coming through to say I live and die by this recipe!! I made it no less than 3 times last fall/winter since it was such a hit. I love the moistness the applesauce gives to the cake, it really sets it apart from other bundt cakes. I’ll be making it again tomorrow. Thank you so much for sharing!!
Thanks so much Tiffany ~ I hope you try my glazed gingerbread bundt cake next, I think you’ll love that too. Happy Thanksgiving!
What would happen if I added fresh cranberries, would I need to do anything extra? I am on a cranberry rampage.
No, I don’t think you’d have to change anything, just fold in the cranberries. You might want to run through them with a knife once or twice just to chop some of them in half. I love the thought of a cranberry rampage…been there myself 😉
My family has egg and dairy allergies. Any ideas for the best substitutes for this recipe to maintain the awesome consistency? I have made this with the regular recipe and it’s amazing!
I know Bob’s Red Mill carries an egg substitute you might check out. And you could sub in coconut oil or melted vegan butter for the butter.
I cut the amount of sugar to 1 cup and used unsweetened applesauce. I also cut the amount of sugar for the top to just a couple of tablespoons. I put slow cooking oats in the food processor to make the oak flour. Delicious! Just made a second one a day later since I wanted to use up the cider I had.
Good to know about the sugar, thanks Arna 🙂
The flavor is yummy! I had a problem with the butter soaking into the cake, the sugar soaked right in. I wanted it to look like your picture where you can see the sugar. Should I wait until the cake is cool, then brush with butter?
You can wait if you like, but what I do is brush in sections, and add the sugar immediately, that way it sticks well. I also go back and give it another generous sprinkle. You almost can’t over do the sugar coating since the cake isn’t super sweet on its own.
I am about to make this for the third time. Not changing a thing about the recipe as I think it’s perfect plus I am not much of a baker but this is so easy and hard to mess up! The question I have is, can I prep the batter ahead of time (night before) and bake later?
Hi Barbara, so glad this was a hit for you 🙂 I haven’t tried to store this batter overnight but I’ve been experimenting with muffins lately and having great success with overnighting the batter, I think it’s worth a try. Another option I love is to prep the wet and dry ingredients separately the night before, then combine and bake the next day.
GREAT RECIPE! I MADE IT IN A 13X9, USED APPLE JUICE BECAUSE THAT WAS WHAT I HAD ON HAND AND ADDED AN XTRA EGG. WE WERE RECENTLY IN SARATOGA SPRINGS NY AND HAD THE ACTUAL DOUGHNUTS MADE TO ORDER IN THE ORCHARD. THE CAKE TASTES PRETTY DARN CLOSE.
Love to hear that this works in a 9×13!
Can I use melted butter instead of oil? I only have a little olive oil and would prefer not to use it (still stocking my new kitchen!!)
Yes, go ahead and use butter. Olive oil would be too strong, anyway 🙂
Thanks Sue!!
can I use a 13 x9 pan instead?
I think that should be fine, just watch the cooking time so you don’t over bake.