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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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I know this is an older recipe,but I’ve made it many times,always delicious! Got all the ingredients on hand and my daughter n I are going to make this again tonight. ❣
I can’t think of a better way to spend your time Diane…hope you and your daughter stay safe!
Hello guys, i tried this recipe for the first time cause it looked so nice. I did everything according the instructions but it came out very oily…it even felt so when i was about to mix the oil with sugars…no the same as the video and couldnt understand why…i checked again details but didnt find any mistake there…please advice…
Thank you
Hi Andria – I’m sorry you had trouble with the recipe. It’s difficult to troubleshoot without being in the kitchen with you…did you swap in a different kind of oil or other ingredient? If not, I’m guessing there might have been a measurement mistake (either not enough flour or too much oil) along the way? Sorry I can be more help.
Can you make this in a muffin tin (cupcakes)? If so, how long would bake and what temperature?
Hi Mary Lou – We haven’t tried doing so ourselves so I don’t have advice as to the time and temperature. This article might help: https://www.thespruceeats.com/cake-baking-times-per-pan-305281
I suspect a muffin and cupcake would be similar, although this cake batter is very dense so it might differ. Please let us know how it comes out!
I had some apples to use up and came across this recipe. Didn’t change a thing, very moist I added lots of walnuts and we ate it without the glaze we thought it was sweet enough without it. Very good will make again 😊
Thanks Dawn!
Yummy!! It just got better as the cake sat. I did two things differently from the recipe. I substituted applesauce for half the amount of oil per previous reviews and comments. The second thing was I threw in about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of craisins as I thought they or raisins would make a good addition. Next time I might use even more craisins/raisins. I will definitely make this recipe again!!
Thanks Sheila! Great suggestions!
Just made this cake tonight and it’s delicious!! It’s definitely a keeper and I’ll make it again.
So glad you enjoyed the cake Lori!
I made this cake and it was AMAZING,similar to my mother in laws recipe from years back. My 16yr.old devoured it. I was wondering is there a way to convert to muffins.
Hi Indira – We haven’t tried it ourselves, but I believe somewhere deep in the comments, we did have a reader who did use it to make muffins. If you try it, please let us know how it comes out!
I am always looking for a yummy apple cake recipe, which is easy to make. This recipe looks very good, however, that is a LOT of oil in the recipe. Can something else be substituted for part of the oil? I would really like to make this recipe more healthy, as I feel that is way too much oil for one cake. Thank you!
Hi Karen – We’ve only made the recipe as written (and it is super moist thanks to the oil). I haven’t tried any substitutes but I suspect you could swap in some applesauce which people often use in recipes to replace some of the oil. Please let us know how it comes out if you try it!
This is one of the most delicious cakes ever! I made it exactly as written, omitting the nuts. It is truly the best still a little warm with the glaze fresh. My daughter just asked me to make it for her birthday and serve with vanilla ice cream. YES! I will have to make it the day before I serve it because will be out of town most of the day on her birthday for her gymnastics meet. Do you recommend still glazing it while warm, or waiting and putting the glaze on the next day a few minutes before serving? Thanks for a wonderful recipe!
Hi Jamie – I’d still glaze it warm out of the oven. Then, once cooled, cover with plastic wrap – using toothpicks around the cake to prevent the plastic wrap from sticking to the glaze. Happy Birthday to your daughter!
Just like everyone else says, this is a great apple cake. I followed the directions exactly as written. Everyone loves it. Take it to your next party or get together.
Thanks Barbara!