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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
This cake was delicious! I couldn’t find the oat flour…if you want to try the oat flour in it, you can just whizz up some good old-fashioned oatmeal in a food processor for a few seconds. I also add a cup of grated apples to the mixture. It reminded me of a Amish cake that I used to get when we lived in Maryland and would go to Pennsylvania Amish country. This is definitely a keeper.
This recipe is awesome!! Would love to make it in 2 loaf pans. Do you recommend?
You could try that but I would recommend using my cider doughnut loaf cake recipe, it’s awesome.
Sue, after spending much time reading all the reviews for some of your other popular recipes, and seeing multiple repeat questions answered with grace & patience by you, I apologize in advance for not having read the pages of reviews on this recipe. For years I’ve had a 6-section individual small bundts pan that this recipe is calling to inaugurate! Plan is to use the full recipe ~ so, fill each 1/2 -3/4 full? & bake it 35 min, then test? & freeze after wrapping each, if any, unconsumed cool & not topped ‘mini’ cakes tightly? Thank you! I look forward to this!
I do think this recipe would do well as mini bundts. It’s never an exact science translating a recipe from one pan to another, but I would fill your minis about 3/4 full and check, at least through the oven window, at 20 minutes. I’m not sure what size your minis are, so it’s hard to say on baking time.
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. Making tonight for my son in laws birthday.
I had high hopes for this recipe. I loved the idea of a baked apple cider donut cake and the fact that the flour was almost half oatmeal flour. I even made homemade apple sauce and used fresh pressed apple cider. The cake baked up beautifully, but it tasted very bland. There was no apple cider tang that I’m familiar with cider donuts. I was missing the slight acidity that could’ve given brightness to every bite. My solution was to top the cake with some tart berry jam. That improved it a bit, but I don’t think I will make this again.
So good, we love this cake! I often make it for company and they love it too.
I don’t have oat flour. What can I substitute?
You can just use all purpose, or cake flour instead.
If you want to try oat flour in it, you can just whizz up some good old-fashioned oatmeal in a blender for a few seconds. I keep one carton of oatmeal for breakfast and one for baking any recipe that calls for oat flour. It’s great in bread and cookies too!
I’ve made this cake many times, and I absolutely love, love, love it! I sub in ACV for the apple cider, and it gives it a wonderful tang. It tastes like a cake doughnut, and is also yummy with a thin frosting dribbled on!
Do you replace all the apple cider for ACV? I think the tang from the vinegar would replicate an apple cider doughnut but I’m not sure how much to use.
Made this yesterday. Love it! Used butter, reduced cider, and some nutmeg. Nice crumb and great flavor
Loved the recipe. Easy to make and it was a light airy cake. Would make it again. Added some cut apple pieces too.