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This Best Apple Cake Ever is super moist and delicious with the perfect amount of sweetness and spice!
If you’re still looking for an easy – and really delicious – dessert to serve over the holidays, have we got the recipe for you! My sister-in-law Pam shared this recipe with us over email with the subject line: “Best Apple Cake Ever!”
Pam celebrated her birthday last month, and a friend of hers showed up with this cake – the best apple cake ever. In fact – the cake was so good, the three of them ate the entire cake in about 24 hours.
Pam then made this apple cake for us for Thanksgiving – and it was so good, Jack and I immediately looked at each other and said, “We’re making this for our blog!”
This apple cake is moist and delicious with the perfect amount of sweetness and spice – plus large chunks of apple and chopped walnuts add great flavor and texture to the cake too. Once this apple cake comes out of the oven, a wonderful sweet buttery vanilla glaze is poured over the top which soaks in to make the cake even more delicious.
Not only is this apple cake really delicious – but it’s also very easy to prepare.
Can I make this cake in a 9×13-inch pan?
Yes – and this easy apple cake comes out just as moist and delicious. Click here to see the instructions for baking this apple cake in a 9×13-inch pan.
You may enjoy these other Bundt Cakes:
- Spiced Eggnog Chocolate Chip Cake
- Kathy’s Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cake
- Toffee Pecan Bundt Cake with Caramel Drizzle
- Chocolate Raspberry Bundt Cake
We love seeing what you made! Tag us on Instagram at @afamilyfeast or hashtag #afamilyfeast so we can see your creations!
Best Apple Cake Ever
This Best Apple Cake Ever is super moist and delicious with the perfect amount of sweetness and spice!
Ingredients
Baking spray with flour, or shortening and flour to grease the pan
For the Cake
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 3 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 3 large apples, peeled and cut into large pieces (Note: The original recipe calls for tart green apples, but we used some red Cortland apples we had on hand and it was delicious!)
- 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
For the Glaze
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 12-cup Bundt pan and set aside.
- In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Sift two additional times and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine oil and both sugars, and mix until well blended.
- Add eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Add vanilla and mix again.
- Add the sifted dry ingredients to the batter and mix thoroughly. By hand, fold in apples and walnuts and mix until evenly combined.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared bundt pan. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Remove cake from the oven and allow to cool in the bundt pan for 20 minutes.
- While the cake is cooling, prepare the glaze. In a saucepan, over medium heat, combine all of the glaze ingredients. Bring to a boil and allow the mixture to boil for 1 minute.
- Remove the cake from the pan, onto a serving plate. Spoon the glaze over the warm cake.
- Cool for a little longer before serving.
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This cake is addictive! It really is the best apple cake ever. Thank you for the recipe
You’re very welcome Karen – glad you enjoyed the cake as much as we do!
Hi Martha can I freeze this cake. I have to make a lot of desserts for Christmas and wanted something like this cake. Thank you
You should be able to Monica – I’d suggest freezing it without the glaze, then adding it after you’ve thawed.
I found your recipe today while looking for an apple cake similar to one my aunt used to make when I was a kid that I loved. Ingredients looked similar so I have it in oven now. Smells wonderful just like my childhood memories of fresh apple pound cake.
I hope our cake is half as good as the cake your aunt used to make Sue! 🙂
I have made this cake about a dozen times. People just go crazy over it. For the glaze, I add a bit of bourbon and that was well received. About 1/2 to a full tablespoon.
Great idea Scott!
I made this exactly like the recipe except I added some pears. I have gotten great review from my tasters.
Sounds delicious Danielle!
I really like making the apple cake.it is very easy to make
Thanks Rebecca! So glad you are enjoying this cake as much as we do!
Can this cake be made in something other than a bundt pan, I don’t have one? If so, what adjustments would have to be made and which type of pan would you suggest? It sounds very good and I would like to try it.
Hi Gary – We’ve only made the recipe as written, and without testing ourselves, I’d only be guessing at changes to the baking times for other baking pans. Having said that, since this is a very dense batter, you could try a 9×13 pan so that the batter is somewhat spread out. I also believe that in the reader comments, we had a reader share that they successfully made these as muffins too. Hope you enjoy the recipe!
Too oily and no flavor
Thanks for taking the time to leave your feedback Anne – we’re sorry you were disappointed in the recipe.
I would love to make this recipe for Thanksgiving. Can it be made in a springtime pan? I don’t have a Bundy pan. Thank you!
Hi Maggie – It’s a very dense cake batter, so I’m worried that the middle of the cake will not cook through in a springform pan – or if it is baked through in the middle, the outside might be overdone. I think a bundt pan is still your best bet – but if you can’t buy one, a flatter 9×13 baking dish might be a better choice so that batter is more spread out. Hope that helps! (Regardless of which you use – the baking time will need to be adjusted.)
This looks amazing. Do you think the recipe could be transferred to a layer cake?
Hi Sumeera – I suppose you could split the batter between two cake pans – but just know that this is a heavier, denser cake than the typical layer cake.