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
Best Apple Cake Ever
This Best Apple Cake Ever is super moist and delicious with the perfect amount of sweetness and spice!
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 1 hour 15 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 10–12 servings 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
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.
I have made that cake in it tastes delicious
Thanks Don!
My Mom has been gone for over 8 years and I never got her apple cake, so I found the swans down flour and am going to try to make a apple cake the picture looks like my Mothers apple cake) HOPEFULLY it will taste as good as Mama’s……cause I if it does alot of people in my family will be happy!
(Will be back after Thanksgiving for my review of the Apple Cake)
We hope our cake is just as good – or at the very least, a close second! (Mom’s cakes are always the best!) Happy Thanksgiving Faith!
18 Nov 2018
The cake is a great recipe and very happy i found it. I did however make 2 small changes. Instead of 1 1/2 c of oil I used 1 c of buttermilk and 1/2 c of oil. I also cut the sugar to 1 1/2 c and used 3/4 cup of each brown and white. Because I used 2 honey crisp (& 2 granny smith, 4 c total) i believe i could have used even less sugar. This recipe was divided into 2 small bundt cake pans baked 45 min @ 325* an turned out PERFECT. The glaze and pecans make this cake extra special. Thank you.
Sounds delicious Dee!
Would u be able to use Apple pie canned filling in place of apples?
Hi Lisa – No – I don’t think so. The apple pie canned filling is already cooked and has a lot more liquid/sugar. You would have to completely revise the recipe to accommodate the canned apples. Sorry!
This is the best apple cake EVER.
Thanks Tanya!
Can you possibly add cranberries to this recipe to give it an added sweet tartness to an already perfect sounding cake?
Hi Naomi – Yes, I think you definitely could add some fresh cranberries to the batter. Great idea! The baking time may increase a bit. Let us know how it comes out!
To help those who have a cake that sticks, I have found this works well for me. 1) Grease every nook and cranny of the bunds pan. 2) Sprinkle flour and roll around the pan. Dump out excess flour. 3) Spray with cooking spray. 4) After baking take a kitchen towel and soak it. Without wringing it out, place the hot bunt pan directly on the wet towel. Let the cake cool there. 4) Before removing the cake, take a knife and slide it down the outside and inside walls of the bundt pan to loosen the cake.
This has worked well for me.
Thanks for the suggestion Deena!
Ive made several apple cakes, following the recipes Ive found on the net. The others were DELICIOUS! !! This best apple cake ever, NOT!!!! It tasted like veg. oil and flour. The WORST cake ever. I don’t mean to step on any toes.but it is, what it is. But, thanks for posting the recipes tho. ENJOY.
Thanks for taking the time to share your feedback Lennie! We’re sorry you were disappointed.
This is the best cake that i have ever baked .. super soft and moist 👍
Thanks Sania – so glad you enjoyed the recipe!
i want to bake this for my Quaker meeting tomorrow-i have to transport it via bus and subway and i want to avoid it becoming a gooey mess-is it alright if i keep the glaze separate and pour it on the cake when i get there? we set up the potluck table 2 hours before worship
Hi Richard – Yes – The glaze will set up a bit as it cools so if you have a way to warm the glaze up a little before pouring it on the cake, that should work fine. Hope you enjoy the cake!