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This apple cider donut bundt cake tastes exactly like the warm cinnamon sugar donuts you buy at the orchard after apple picking, except it bakes in one pan and skips the fryer completely. The crumb stays soft for days, the spice is warm without taking over, and the whole cake gets brushed in butter and rolled in cinnamon sugar while it is still warm so the coating sets into an actual crust instead of a glaze.
Here is what makes this one different from every other version out there: you do not have to reduce the cider first. Most recipes send you to the stove for half an hour to cook a quart of cider down to a cup. I built this around full strength cider and applesauce working together, so you get real orchard flavor without the extra step. If you want the smaller version, my baked apple cider donuts do use reduced cider, and that is exactly where that step earns its keep.
Quick Look At This Apple Cider Donut Bundt Cake
- 🍰 What it is — A full size bundt cake that eats exactly like a warm orchard cider donut.
- ⭐ Why it works — Cider plus applesauce carries the apple flavor, so no 30 minute reduction needed.
- 💛 Why you’ll love it — No frying, no yeast, no cider reducing, and it feeds sixteen from one pan.
- ⚠️ What to watch for — Coat it warm, not hot. A hot cake melts the sugar into a glaze.
- 🍳 Pan notes — Fits a 10 to 12 cup bundt. Works as mini bundts at 18 to 22 minutes.
- ❄️ Make ahead — Best the day you bake it. Freeze uncoated up to 2 months, coat after thawing.
Why This Recipe Works
An apple cider bundt cake, sometimes called an apple cider donut cake, is a fall cake built to taste like a cider mill donut without any frying. Real cider and applesauce go into the batter for moisture and apple flavor, then the baked cake gets a butter brush and a heavy cinnamon sugar coating, which is the part that actually makes it read as a donut. What separates this apple cider bundt cake recipe from most is that the coating goes on thick enough to crack slightly when you slice it, the way an old fashioned apple cider donut bundt cake should.
- Tastes like an orchard cider donut, but it is a stir and bake cake
- Soft, moist crumb with a genuine cinnamon sugar crust on the outside
- No frying, no yeast, no cider reduction on the stove
- Feeds sixteen from one pan, so it works for a crowd
- Uses up that half gallon of cider sitting in your fridge
Pair a slice with homemade apple cider from the Instant Pot for a full fall cafe moment, or serve it after brunch alongside small batch cinnamon rolls.
Table of Contents
Key Ingredients
- Apple cider, full strength and unfiltered. Not apple juice. Juice is filtered and sweeter, and it will not give you that tangy orchard flavor.
- Applesauce, which is doing the heavy lifting on moisture and apple flavor so the cider does not have to be reduced. Homemade Instant Pot applesauce works beautifully here.
- Neutral oil plus butter. Oil keeps the crumb plush after it cools, butter carries the flavor.
- Brown and granulated sugar together, for caramel depth plus structure.
- Warm spices, cinnamon and nutmeg at minimum. Homemade pumpkin pie spice is a fine shortcut.
- Room temperature eggs, so the batter emulsifies smoothly instead of splitting.
- Fine granulated sugar for the coating. Coarse sugar will not cling as easily.
Substitutions And Additions
- Skip the coating: brush with butter and dust with powdered sugar instead for a less sweet finish.
- No applesauce on hand: an equal amount of unsweetened apple butter works, though it is sweeter, so pull the granulated sugar back slightly.
- Want a stronger apple hit: you can reduce your cider first if you prefer. Simmer it down and still measure out the full cup the recipe calls for. Just know the cake does not need it.
- Spice it your way: a pinch of cardamom or allspice alongside the cinnamon and nutmeg is lovely, especially heading into the holidays.
- Add texture: fold in a cup of finely diced peeled apple, and add about five minutes to the bake.
Step by Step Instructions
- Prep the pan and the dry ingredients. Grease every groove of the bundt pan and flour it, or use homemade cake goop, which is what I reach for on a detailed pan. Whisk the flour, leavening, salt and all the warm spices together in a bowl and set it aside. Then brown sugar, granulated sugar and oil go into a large bowl together. Beat until the mixture loosens up and looks glossy rather than sandy.
- Add the eggs. Drop them in one at a time and whisk well after each, until the mixture is smooth and slightly paler. This is what gives the cake its structure, so do not rush it.
- Alternate the dry ingredients and the cider. Add the flour mixture and the cider mixture in turns, starting and ending with the flour, and stop the moment the last streaks disappear. This is the step where the cider goes in, and doing it in turns is what keeps the crumb tender without any reducing. Pour into the prepared pan.
- Fold in the dry ingredients, then pour into the pan. Add the flour mixture in two additions and stir only until the last streaks disappear. Overmixing is what makes a bundt tough. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake, cool, then brush with butter. Bake until a skewer in the thickest part comes out clean, then let the cake sit fifteen minutes in the pan before turning it out. Once it is warm rather than hot, brush every surface with melted butter and coat it generously in cinnamon sugar.
- Slice once the crust sets. Give it a few minutes for the coating to firm up, then cut in. You want to see a soft, spiced crumb under a crust that cracks slightly.
Expert Tips
- Do not skip greasing the detail work. Bundt pans fail at the grooves, not the flat parts.
- Coat the cake warm, never hot to keep the crunch of the sugar and keep it from melting into the cake.
- Go twice on the coating if you want a real bakery crust. Butter, sugar, butter, sugar.
- Do not open the oven before the forty minute mark or the center can sink.
Frequently asked questions – FAQ
No. This recipe was developed around full strength cider paired with applesauce, which is what keeps the crumb tender rather than dense. Reducing cider concentrates flavor, but it also concentrates sugar, and in a cake this moist that can tip the texture toward gummy. If you already have reduced cider or boiled cider concentrate on hand, use it, just measure the same one cup.
No, and this is the one substitution I would not make. Apple juice is filtered and sweetened, so it reads as generic sweet rather than tart and spiced. Fresh or refrigerated unfiltered cider is what gives you the cider mill flavor. Shelf stable juice labeled cider will not give you the same intense flavor either.
Yes, and it is my favorite way to serve it for a party. Fill each cavity about three quarters full and start checking at eighteen minutes, up to about twenty two. You will get roughly twelve mini cakes. Coat them the same way, and because there is more surface area per cake you end up with an even better sugar to crumb ratio.
Temperature is everything. A hot cake melts the sugar into a wet glaze, and a fully cold cake will not hold the butter. Let it cool until it is just warm to the touch, brush on melted butter, and coat right away. Use fine granulated sugar, since coarse crystals slide off.
It is genuinely best the day it is baked, because the cinnamon sugar crust softens as it sits. Keep it in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two days and warm slices for ten seconds before serving. For longer storage, freeze the cake uncoated for up to two months, then thaw, warm, and do the butter and sugar coating right before it hits the table.
More Cake and Donut Recipes
If you make this apple cider donut bundt cake recipe 🌟, leave a star rating and tell me how it went in the comments. I read every single one, and your questions are usually what shape the next update to this post.
Apple Cider Donut Bundt Cake
Ingredients
- 3 cup AP flour
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp cardamom
- 1/4 tsp all spice
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 cup apple cider
- 3/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
- 2/3 cup oil
- 2/3 cup dark brown sugar
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
Cinnamon sugar coating
- 5 tbsp butter melted
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar Mix this with the cinnamon
- 1 tbsp cinnamon Mix this with the granulated sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F and generously grease a 10 cup or standard size bundt pan, getting into every groove. I use my own cake goop recipe and the cake releases every time.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, allspice, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside.3 cup AP flour, 2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1/2 tsp cardamom, 1/4 tsp all spice, 1/2 tsp salt, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda
- In a large measuring cup, stir the apple cider and applesauce together. Set aside. No reducing needed, the applesauce is what carries the moisture here.1 cup apple cider, 3/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
- In a large bowl, beat the oil with the brown sugar and granulated sugar until the mixture loosens and looks glossy rather than sandy.2/3 cup oil, 2/3 cup dark brown sugar, 1 cup granulated sugar
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each, then beat in the vanilla until the mixture is smooth and slightly paler.2 tsp vanilla extract, 2 large eggs
- Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the cider mixture into the sugar mixture, beginning and ending with the flour. Stop as soon as the last streaks disappear. Do not overmix.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake 40 to 50 minutes, until a wooden skewer inserted in the thickest part comes out clean.
- Cool in the pan 10 minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack set over a baking sheet. While the cake is still warm but no longer hot, brush every surface with melted butter and coat generously in the cinnamon sugar. Let the crust set a few minutes before slicing.5 tbsp butter, 3/4 cup granulated sugar, 1 tbsp cinnamon
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This is delicious!! Perfect, moist cake. Tastes just like an apple cider donut. You can slightly change the taste based on the kind of apple cider and applesauce you use. I will definitely make this again !
I love the tip! Thanks for the nice review 🙂
what is your recioe for the “goop” you mentioned for preparing your cake pans for perfect release?
I look forward taking this recipe!
Here is the Goop recipe I use!
This was great! Realized I didn’t have a Bundt pan (right before baking 🙄) so used two loaf pans and still turned out really well. Want to make again as mini muffins!
Mini muffins would be a great idea for this!
Delicious cake recipe and flavours very well balanced, not too sweet and just the right amount of apple and spice flavour! My whole family absolutely loved it.
That’s awesome! Thank you so much!
This cake is a “repeat” for sure! I made it and took some to work and shared with my family. Everyone was asking for more. I really think it was better the second day. The butter and topping set in more. It was heavenly!
That’s awesome Kimber! Thank you for making the recipe!
I made this for company tonight. We all enjoyed it! I think it is the perfect amount of spices and flavor. I can’t wait to enjoy tomorrow with a cup of coffee. Thank you for a great recipe. I will be trying more of yours. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻✅❤️
So happy to hear this Debra! 🙂
Such a good, comfort food type cake! I made the cake with two packets of apple cider mix in one cup of water to give it a little more apple taste and it was divine. Thinking about when I make this again to add some diced apple.