Irresistible Glazed Apple Cider Bundt Cake: Your Go-To Fall Dessert Recipe

As the leaves begin to change and a crisp coolness fills the air, there’s nothing quite like the comforting aroma of fall baking to warm your home. This incredible glazed apple cider bundt cake recipe is poised to become your absolute favorite autumn dessert! It’s a moist, flavorful cake infused with the quintessential taste of apple cider, crowned with a sweet cider glaze, and finished with a decadent caramel drizzle. Get ready to embrace the true essence of the season with every delightful slice.

When it comes to celebrating the autumn harvest, apple recipes are simply unparalleled. Their natural sweetness and versatility make them a staple in fall baking. Today, we’re thrilled to share this truly delicious and easy-to-follow apple cider bundt cake recipe that embodies everything we love about Fall. It’s not just a cake; it’s an experience, bringing warmth, spice, and apple goodness directly to your table.

This magnificent bundt cake also makes a truly perfect and impressive centerpiece for your Thanksgiving dessert spread. Its festive appearance and comforting, familiar flavors are sure to impress your guests and swiftly become a new family tradition that everyone will look forward to year after year.

Why This Apple Cider Bundt Cake Will Be Your Favorite Fall Dessert

If you’re a fan of those beloved apple cider doughnuts, then prepare to fall head over heels for this apple cider bundt cake. Imagine all the warm, spiced goodness of a classic apple cider doughnut, but in a grander, more shareable, and utterly delectable cake form! It’s basically one giant, glorious apple cider doughnut that’s perfectly moist and packed with autumn spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Yes, it’s as heavenly as it sounds, offering a sophisticated twist on a classic fall treat.

Bundt cakes are fantastic for their elegant presentation with minimal effort, and this recipe is no exception. Its distinctive fluted design makes for a beautiful dessert without needing elaborate frosting techniques. It’s surprisingly simple to make, yet yields a show-stopping dessert that’s ideal for gatherings, potlucks, or simply a cozy evening at home. For fellow bundt cake enthusiasts, you might also enjoy exploring our other popular recipes like the vibrant moist lemon bundt cake, the rich chocolate coconut bundt cake, and the sweet peach bundt cake recipes. But for now, let’s dive deeper into the apple-infused magic!

What truly sets this apple cider bundt cake apart is the harmonious blend of textures and flavors. The cake itself is incredibly moist, infused with real apple cider and a medley of warming spices that evoke all the best feelings of autumn. It’s then generously topped with a sweet, tangy apple cider glaze, made from reduced cider to deliver an extra concentrated punch of apple flavor. To complete this autumnal masterpiece, a luscious caramel sauce is drizzled over the top, adding another layer of rich sweetness and creating a truly unforgettable dessert experience that tastes as good as it looks.

Essential Ingredients for a Perfectly Glazed Apple Cider Bundt Cake

Creating this spectacular bundt cake requires a selection of common baking ingredients, thoughtfully chosen to maximize flavor, enhanced by the star of the show: high-quality apple cider. Here’s a quick look at what you’ll need, along with a few notes on why each component is essential for achieving the best results.

Granulated Sugar: Provides essential sweetness to the cake and helps create that desirable tender crumb.
Unsalted Butter (Room Temperature): Crucial for creaming with sugar, adding unparalleled richness, and contributing significantly to the cake’s delicate structure. Using unsalted butter gives you control over the overall saltiness.
Large Eggs (Room Temperature): Act as a vital binder, add moisture, and contribute to the cake’s leavening. Ensuring they are at room temperature is key for better emulsion with the butter and sugar, leading to a smoother batter.
All-Purpose Flour: The primary structural component of the cake, providing body and substance.
Salt: A small but mighty ingredient that balances the sweetness and enhances all the other wonderful flavors of the cake.
Baking Powder: Our primary leavening agent, ensuring the cake rises beautifully and achieves a light, airy texture.
Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Ground Cloves: The quintessential trifecta of Fall spices that imbues this cake with its signature warm, inviting aroma and deeply comforting taste. These spices are non-negotiable for that authentic autumn feel.
Apple Cider: The defining ingredient! It provides natural apple flavor and moisture to the cake batter and forms the concentrated base of our reduction glaze. Opt for good quality, unsweetened apple cider for the purest and most intense apple flavor.
Vanilla Extract: Enhances the overall flavor profile, adding a layer of depth and warmth that complements the apple and spices perfectly.
Powdered Sugar (Confectioners’ Sugar): Essential for creating the smooth, sweet, and pourable apple cider glaze. Its fine texture dissolves easily, ensuring a silky finish.
Caramel Sauce: For that final touch of decadent richness and an extra layer of autumn flavor. Both store-bought high-quality caramel sauce or homemade caramel work wonderfully to elevate this dessert.

Essential Kitchen Tools for Your Apple Cider Bundt Cake

To ensure a smooth and enjoyable baking process for your apple cider bundt cake, having the right kitchen tools at hand makes all the difference. Beyond your basic kitchen essentials, these items will be particularly helpful in bringing this delicious recipe to life:

Stand Mixer or Handheld Mixer: Either tool is perfect for efficiently creaming butter and sugar and blending the batter to the right consistency. A stand mixer offers hands-free convenience, while a handheld is great for smaller batches or if kitchen counter space is limited.
Mixing Bowls (various sizes): You’ll need at least three – one for dry ingredients, one for the wet apple cider mixture, and a large one for combining everything seamlessly.
Measuring Cups and Spoons: Accuracy in baking is paramount for consistent results, so precise measurements for all your ingredients are crucial.
Bundt Pan: The star of the show for achieving that signature ring shape and elegant presentation. Make sure it’s a good quality pan and that you prepare it well to prevent sticking.
Whisk: Useful for thoroughly combining dry ingredients and later for achieving a smooth consistency for the apple cider glaze.
Saucepan: Essential for simmering and reducing the apple cider, both for intensifying its flavor in the cake batter and for creating the delicious, concentrated glaze.

Step-by-Step Guide: How to Make This Delicious Apple Cider Bundt Cake with Cider Glaze

Follow these detailed steps to create a show-stopping apple cider bundt cake that will delight your senses and impress your guests. Precision and patience are your best friends in baking, ensuring every component contributes to a perfect outcome!

Preheat Your Oven and Prepare the Bundt Pan: First, ensure your oven is accurately preheated to 325°F (160°C). A properly preheated oven allows the cake to bake evenly from the moment it enters. For your bundt pan, generous coating with non-stick spray is absolutely crucial, followed by a light dusting of all-purpose flour. This two-step process helps prevent the cake from sticking to the intricate crevices of the pan and ensures a clean release, preserving its beautiful fluted shape.
Combine Dry Ingredients: In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together all your dry ingredients: the measured flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ground cloves. Whisking ensures these ingredients are thoroughly combined and evenly distributed throughout the batter, which is essential for uniform flavor and leavening. Set this mixture aside.
Prepare Apple Cider and Vanilla Mixture: In a separate small bowl, combine the fresh apple cider and vanilla extract. This flavorful wet mixture will be incorporated into the main batter later, adding essential moisture and a concentrated apple taste. Set it aside with your dry ingredients.
Cream Butter and Sugar: In a large mixing bowl (using either a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or a handheld mixer), beat the granulated sugar and softened unsalted butter until the mixture is light, fluffy, and noticeably pale yellow. This crucial creaming process incorporates air into the fat, which contributes significantly to the cake’s tender and airy texture.
Add Eggs Gradually: With the mixer on a low speed, begin adding your large, room-temperature eggs one-by-one, beating well after each addition. This slow incorporation ensures that each egg is fully emulsified into the butter-sugar mixture, creating a smooth and cohesive batter that prevents curdling.

Alternate Wet and Dry Ingredients: This is a key step for developing a tender cake crumb. Begin by adding about one-third of the dry ingredient mixture to the large bowl, mixing on low speed until just combined. Then, add half of the apple cider and vanilla mixture, again mixing until just incorporated. Continue to alternate between the dry and wet mixtures, always ending with the final portion of the dry ingredients. Be careful not to overmix the batter; mix only until the streaks of flour disappear to avoid developing excess gluten, which can lead to a tough cake.

Bake the Cake: Carefully pour the prepared cake batter evenly into your thoroughly greased and floured bundt pan. Gently tap the pan on the counter a few times to release any trapped air bubbles, ensuring a smooth top. Bake for approximately 65-75 minutes, or until golden brown. To check for doneness, insert a cake tester or a clean toothpick into the thickest part of the cake; if it comes out clean, the cake is ready. Avoid opening the oven door too frequently during baking, as this can cause the cake to sink.

Cooling Process: Once baked, remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool in the bundt pan for 15-20 minutes. This crucial step allows the cake to set and firm up, making it much easier to remove without breaking or tearing. After this initial cooling, carefully invert the cake onto a wire rack or a beautiful serving plate/cake stand and allow it to cool fully and completely. Glazing a warm cake will only result in the glaze melting off and creating a sugary puddle, rather than a beautiful, set coating.
Prepare the Apple Cider Glaze: While the cake is cooling, it’s the perfect time to make the rich and flavorful apple cider glaze. In a medium-sized saucepan, bring 1 cup of apple cider to a boil over medium heat. Once it reaches a rolling boil, reduce the heat to low and allow the cider to simmer gently for about 10 minutes, or until the liquid has reduced by approximately 50%. This reduction step is vital as it intensely concentrates the apple flavor.
Finish the Glaze: Remove the reduced cider from the heat. Carefully stir in the softened butter, a pinch of cinnamon, a dash of salt, and 1/2 cup of powdered sugar. Continue stirring vigorously until the mixture is completely smooth and well combined, with no lumps of powdered sugar remaining. If the glaze appears too thin for your liking, gradually stir in additional powdered sugar (you can add up to 3/4 cup total) until you achieve your desired thick, yet pourable, consistency.
Glaze and Serve: Once the bundt cake has fully cooled to room temperature, pour the prepared apple cider glaze evenly over the top, allowing it to drip beautifully down the sides and into the flutes of the cake. For an extra touch of indulgence and visual appeal, generously drizzle store-bought or homemade caramel sauce over the glazed cake. Allow the glaze to set for a few minutes, then slice and serve this utterly delightful Fall treat to your eager guests!

Expert Tips for Apple Cider Bundt Cake Perfection

Achieving a bakery-worthy apple cider bundt cake is easier than you think with these simple tips:

Room Temperature Ingredients are Key: Always ensure your butter and eggs are at room temperature. This allows them to cream together more easily, creating a smoother, more emulsified batter. A well-emulsified batter traps more air, resulting in a finer-textured, more tender cake.
Avoid Overmixing the Batter: Once you start incorporating the flour, mix the dry and wet ingredients only until they are just combined and no streaks of flour remain. Overmixing develops the gluten in the flour excessively, which can lead to a tough, dry, and dense cake rather than a light and fluffy one.
Proper Bundt Pan Preparation: Thoroughly grease and flour every crevice of your bundt pan. Use a good quality baking spray with flour, or apply softened butter meticulously with a pastry brush and then dust with flour, tapping out the excess. This step is absolutely critical for preventing the cake from sticking and ensuring a perfect release.
Don’t Skip Reducing the Apple Cider: This step, for both the cake batter and especially the glaze, is non-negotiable. Reducing the apple cider concentrates its natural sugars and flavors, making the apple taste much more prominent and delicious in the final product.
Accurate Doneness Check: While baking time is a guideline, ovens vary. Always use a cake tester or a clean toothpick inserted into the thickest part of the cake (usually near the center hole). If it comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs attached, it’s done. An instant-read thermometer should also read around 200-210°F (93-99°C) in the center.
Cool Completely Before Glazing: Patience is a virtue here! Always let the cake cool completely on a wire rack before applying the glaze. A warm cake will simply melt the glaze, causing it to run off and create a sticky, messy puddle instead of a beautiful, set coating.

Serving and Storage Suggestions for Your Bundt Cake

This glazed apple cider bundt cake is absolutely delightful on its own, its rich flavors needing no embellishment. However, you can elevate the experience with a few simple additions. Serve it warm or at room temperature with a dollop of freshly whipped cream, a scoop of creamy vanilla bean ice cream, or simply a warm cup of coffee or spiced tea. It’s also fantastic as part of a larger dessert platter for holiday gatherings or a festive brunch.

To store any delicious leftovers, wrap the cooled cake tightly in plastic wrap or place it in an airtight container to prevent it from drying out. It will stay wonderfully fresh at room temperature for up to 3-4 days. If you want to keep it longer, you can freeze individual slices (or the whole cake, well-wrapped) for up to 2-3 months. Just be sure to wrap it well in multiple layers of plastic wrap and then foil to prevent freezer burn. Thaw at room temperature before serving for the best texture and flavor.

More Delicious Apple Desserts for Fall

If you’re like us and can’t get enough of apple desserts during the glorious Fall season, here are a few more recipes from our collection that are perfect for celebrating the harvest and enjoying the bounty of apples:

Salted Caramel Apple Crumb Cake: A truly decadent and comforting crumb cake bursting with irresistible apple and luscious caramel flavors.
Copycat Cracker Barrel Fried Apples: A classic side dish or dessert that’s incredibly simple to make and evokes feelings of warm, Southern comfort.
Glazed Soft Apple Cookies: Chewy, perfectly spiced apple cookies topped with a sweet, delicate glaze, perfect for a casual treat or lunchbox snack.
Apple Pie Filling Dump Cake: An incredibly easy and delicious dessert that tastes just like traditional apple pie, but without all the fuss of making a crust from scratch.

Recipe

Recipe

4.88 from 8 votes

Apple Cider Bundt Cake

Author: Jaclyn

Prep: 20 minutes

Cook: 1 hour 10 minutes

Total: 1 hour 30 minutes

This delicious apple cider bundt cake topped with apple cider glaze and caramel drizzle will become your favorite Fall cake recipe.

Servings: 16

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Ingredients

For the Cake:

▢ 3 cups all-purpose flour
▢ 1/2 tsp salt
▢ 1/2 tsp baking powder
▢ 1 tsp cinnamon
▢ 1/2 tsp nutmeg
▢ 1/8 tsp ground cloves
▢ 1 cup apple cider
▢ 1 tsp vanilla
▢ 3 cups granulated sugar
▢ 3 sticks unsalted butter room temperature
▢ 6 large eggs

For the Glaze:

▢ 1 cup apple cider
▢ 2 Tablespoons butter
▢ 1 tsp cinnamon
▢ dash of salt
▢ 1/2 – 3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
▢ 1 bottle of caramel sauce

Instructions

Prepare the Cake:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Coat bundt pan with non-stick spray and set aside.
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Set aside.
In a small bowl, combine apple cider and vanilla. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add eggs one by one, beating after each addition.
Alternate adding small amounts of the dry ingredients and the apple cider vanilla mixture to the large bowl with your butter, sugar, and egg mixture. Continue to mix until blended.
Pour batter into the pan and bake for about 65-75 minutes. Test for doneness with a cake tester or toothpick: Insert in the center of the cake, if it comes out clean the cake is done.
Allow the cake to cool in the cake pan for 15-20 minutes before transferring to a plate or cake stand.

Prepare the Glaze:

In a medium saucepan, bring apple cider to a boil over medium heat. Once it reaches a boil, reduce the heat to low allowing it to simmer until the amount of cider has been reduced by half (about 10 minutes).
Carefully add the butter, cinnamon, salt, and 1/2 cup powdered sugar to the saucepan, stirring well to combine. Stir in additional powdered sugar if needed to thicken the glaze.
Pour glaze over fully cooled bundt cake. Top with a drizzle of caramel sauce.

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Pin this Delicious Apple Cider Bundt Cake Recipe for Later!

Don’t let this incredible recipe get lost in your endless scrolling! Save it to your Fall Desserts board on Pinterest, or any baking board, so you can easily find it whenever the craving for a warm, spiced apple cake strikes. It’s truly a recipe you’ll want to revisit and cherish year after year, becoming a treasured part of your autumnal baking repertoire.

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We truly hope you enjoy baking and sharing this delightful Glazed Apple Cider Bundt Cake as much as we do. It’s the perfect treat to usher in the glorious autumn season, fill your home with comforting aromas, and create lasting, sweet memories with your loved ones. Happy baking, and enjoy every spiced, apple-infused bite!