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With sweet cinnamon swirls and grated tart apples, this delicious Cinnamon Apple Bundt Cake is a perfect dessert for fall. It’s moist and light and full of rich fall flavor.
Table of Contents
Key Ingredients
This apple cinnamon bundt cake has sweet and tart apples and lots of warm cinnamon flavor. It’s tender and moist and just melts in your mouth. The ingredients are mostly basic pantry ingredients that you’d expect for a cake like eggs, sugar, oil, butter, and flour.
- Apples – I like to use a few different varieties when I bake, but the best apples for baking are crisp and tangy, like Granny Smith, Braeburn, Honeycrisp, Pink Lady and Jonagolds.
- Butter and Vegetable Oil – I use both because they each offer something different to the texture and flavor of the cake. Butter gives you that rih, buttery taste, while oil keeps the cake tender and moist.
- Sugar – For the cake itself, I added granulated sugar, but I used brown sugar for the swirl. So the cake is sweet and the swirl has that distinct warm molasses flavor.
- Other Cake Ingredients – Flour, baking powder, salt, eggs, vanilla and ground cinnamon.
How to Make Cinnamon Apple Bundt Cake
This apple cake is pretty straightforward and simple, albeit with a number of steps.
I used Granny Smith apples, but any tart, crisp apple would work; Grannies are just the most readily available. Chop them up into very small chunks – large enough that you can see them, but not so big that they won’t soften while the bundt cake is baking. Or ideally, grate them with a larger grater.
Combine the flour and all the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt) in a bowl. Then in another bowl the butter, oil, vanilla and sugar. The sugar melts into the butter and oil, which is why it’s considered a “wet” ingredient in this recipe. The two are mixed until “well combined,” meaning the flour is no longer visible and the batter is formed. Fold in those apples you chopped up, then layer half of the batter, a cinnamon-sugar mixture, and the remaining batter. More cinnamon sugar goes on top of that, and then everything is swirled together to get that delicious cinnamon flowing throughout the cake, and that nice pretty ribbon swirling through the middle.
Bundt Cake Tips and Tricks
Bundt cake recipes are often misunderstood as difficult when really, they just *look* hard. Getting that warm cake to release from a bundt cake pan can be a challenge, but if you prep it right, you’ll do just fine.
- Start with Nonstick. Use a nonstick pan that is free of any scratches as that can mean that the pan is no longer as “nonstick” as it once was.
- Grease it. The key to getting your apple cake (or any bundt cake) to release easily from the pan is is greasing your bundt pan quite generously, with nonstick cooking spray or melted shortening.
- Flour it. Flours, or even granulated sugar, I’ve found to be helpful in preventing sticking.
- Release warm. Releasing the cake when it’s warm (not hot) can aid in an easy release. As the cake sits, the oils around the pan solidify and hold the cake in there. While still warm (but after sitting and resting for 10-15 minutes), invert the bundt cake onto a plate, let it sit for another 10 minutes, then give it a gentle shake and it should slip right out.
More Apple Recipes
- Snickerdoodle Apple Cobbler
- Classic Apple Pie Recipe
- Apple Crumble Recipe
- Apple Oven Pancake
- Pumpkin Apple Bread
Tools Used
- Bundt Cake Pan – Nothing super fancy, but nonstick is a must for this kitchen tool.
- Box grater – This is perfect for getting large grates of the apples without them getting mushy.
- Nonstick cooking spray – I love the baking version of the Pam nonstick spray.
- Round Cake Plate – A flat service is a must when plating a cake. Having a cake plate on hand like this one with a dome lid, is helpful.
Cinnamon Apple Bundt Cake
Ingredients
- 4 eggs
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup oil
- 1/2 cup softened butter room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 cups peeled and grated apples granny smith, pink lady or honeycrisp work best
- 4 teaspoons cinnamon
- 4 tablespoons brown sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Sift flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt together in a small bowl and set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat eggs, butter, oil, vanilla and granulated sugar until creamy and smooth.
- Stir in flour mixture until well combined.
- Stir in apples gently until combined.
- In a separate small bowl, stir 4 teaspoons cinnamon and 4 tablespoons brown sugar together and set aside.
- Grease a bundt pan generously with nonstick cooking spray. Coat with granulated sugar if desired.
- Pour half of the cake batter into the prepared bundt pan. Sprinkle half of the brown sugar and cinnamon mixture evenly over the cake batter and swirl through with a knife. Repeat with the remaining cake batter and brown sugar mixture.
- Bake in a 350 degree oven for 50-60 minutes. Top will be golden brown and sides will pull away from the pan.
- Allow to cool 10-15 minutes completely before turning out on a round cake plate. If the cake does not release immediately, let sit another 10 minutes, then give a gentle shake.
- Once cake is completely cooled, top with a sprinkling of powdered sugar, or a vanilla glaze, if desired.
- Slice and serve.
Notes
- Start with Nonstick. Use a nonstick pan that is free of any scratches as that can mean that the pan is no longer as “nonstick” as it once was.
- Grease it. The key to getting your apple cake (or any bundt cake) to release easily from the pan is is greasing your bundt pan quite generously, with nonstick cooking spray or melted shortening.
- Flour it. This is a step that I don’t often use, as flour can cause an extra layer of white stuff stuck to the top of your cake. Nut flours, or even granulated sugar however, I’ve found to be helpful in preventing sticking.
- Release warm. This actually goes against what I used to do, but releasing the cake when it’s warm can aid in an easy release. As the cake sits, the oils around the pan solidify and hold the cake in there. While still warm (but after sitting and resting for 10-15 minutes), invert the bundt cake onto a plate, let it sit for another 10 minutes, then give it a gentle shake and it should slip right out.
Nutrition
I’ve baked this cake at least 5 times. It has been requested for birthdays and holidays. I add walnuts, top it with a cream cheese drizzle and sprinkle walnuts on top. It’s been demanded that I bring it to Thanksgiving again this year. Thank you for the recipe!
You are so welcome Megan! Love the feedback, thanks for stopping by.
This cake is fabulous. My family loved it. I’ll be making it for thanksgiving this year. If you like apples this cake will make you happy. I sprinkled it with powdered sugar, I think a glaze may have been a little sweet, the cake is sweet enough on its own. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
You are so welcome Janet! Love the feedback, thanks for stopping by.
Made this twice already. I used a small Bundt pan so cut the ingredients in half. It came out perfectly and is absolutely delicious ! It’s incredibly moist and the light sugar coating on the outside is just right. I made a caramel drizzle to go with it but it didn’t need it.
I will make this many more times.
Thank you !
You are so welcome Vicki! Awesome feedback, thanks for stopping by.
musT be a misprint. 4 tsp baking powder is WAY TOO MUCH. Cake had metallic aftertaseertast
It’s not a misprint, but I’m sorry you didn’t like the cake.
Hi, the cake looks delicious, but I’m wondering if it’s possible to put apples/brown sugar/cinnamon in the bottom of the bundt pan before adding the batter the way you do for an upside down cake? We have a GS that loves anything apple/cinnamon and I thought adding more apples/sugar on the bottom would satisfy him 🙂 Thanks!
Hi Valerie, I haven’t tried it that way. It’s worth a try, but I can’t say whether or not it would work. Try this (keeping in mind that I haven’t tested it) Mix together 4 tablespoons of melted butter, 1/3 cup brown sugar and 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon and pour it into the bottom of the bundt pan. Peel and thinly slice 1 medium apple and arrange the slices over the butter in the pan. Mix the batter and pour that in slowly over the apples so they don’t move around, following the recipe from this point with the cinnamon sugar middle layer. If you try it, let me know how it comes out.
I will be making this cake again- great recipe! I used half wheat flour and half white flour, reduced the granulated sugar by 1/4 cup and topped with a simple vanilla icing. Delicious- thank you!
You are so welcome Karen! Love the feedback, thanks for stopping by.
Hi can this be made without eggs and butter?? If so what can these two be swapped with
If you have swaps that you typically use, you could try those. But this is a cake recipe and since I’m not a dairy-free blogger I can’t say what the best swaps would be. I highly recommend checking out makeitdairyfree.com.
Been trying to duplicate my mother-in-law’s cake for years and this comes really close as-is. The second time I made it, I left some of the apple in larger chips and added a handful of walnuts to the brown-sugar cinnamon mix and it is just about a perfect replica of hers. (Mine will never be completely perfect, as I lack the apparent sainthood of my MIL. RIP)
Thanks for great setup.
Cheers
You are so welcome John! Fantastic feedback, thanks for stopping by.
Can you tell me if the nutrition label readings are per slice ?Or readings for 8 servings ?Thank you so much
It’s for the number of slices. You could certainly get more slices though.
Hello- This is the second time I am making this cake, I love it so much, and the house smells like fall, apple and cinnamon! Thank you for the recipe:)
You are so welcome Noosh! Love the feedback, thanks for stopping by.
We had a bag of particularly tart honeycrisps and they were begging for a baking project. I followed this recipe almost exactly… except I accidentally added the entire brown sugar mixture to the middle of the cake. It still turned out great! We will definitely make this again in our home!
Awesome feedback Christine! Thanks for stopping by.
Hi Kristen! How long can this cake sit at room temp? I want to make it and have to transport it. Thanks for all your wonderful recipes!
Hi Debra, you can leave the cake at room temp and store it that way for up to 3-4 days.
I have made this recipe several times and it is always a HIT!!! Best recipe for any occasion.
LOVE LOVE IT!!
That’s awesome Kara! Thanks for stopping by.
K.
I cut the granulated sugar in half, as I do for all of my baking, and only used 3 tablespoons of brown sugar… it turned out amazing, very moist. This will be made again.
Love the feedback Michaela! Thanks for stopping by.
K.
I followed this recipe exactly, with no substitutions, and it turned out great! It was really moist and flavorful. I’ll definitely make this one again. Thanks for the recipe!
You are so welcome Carl! Thanks for stopping by.
This cake was so easy to make and it came out perfect. I used honey crisp apples and I prepped the pan with canned spray oil and granulated sugar instead of flour. Note: the sugar makes it sweeter so just be mindful.
Awesome feedback LaTonya! Thanks for stopping by.
What size Bundt pan 10 or 9 inch?
Hi Millie – 10 inch is the standard size.
I made this cake and it is the most moist, delicious and flavorful cofee cake I have made. I followed your clear instructions and had no problems. This cake keeps for days and stays moist. I’m going to make this again as the centerpiece for a brunch I am hosting.
Nice! Thank you for the awesome feedback LindaF.
I was looking on line for an apple cake my mom would make and your Apple Bundt Cake was so familiar, only missing the sour cream my mom used. I made your cake (with sour cream of course in honor of my mom) and it is absolutely delicious!! Thank you for posting and bringing back lovely memories for me. I will definitely try some of your other recipes. Merry Christmas!
You are so welcome Ann! Thank you for stopping by. Merry Christmas.
I also want to incorporate sour cream in the recipe – how would you recommend doing this? And how much?
While I have not tried this myself, you could try replacing the butter with sour cream.
Love your response Kristen.You are absolutely correct.