I love Bundt cakes but for some reason I rarely make them. What’s not to love about the Bundt? They serve a lot of people, like a layer cake, but without all of the splitting of layers and messy frosting. I was inspired to make a Bundt earlier this week by Mary of The Food Librarian. She is the Bundt queen and is currently in the midst of posting 30 straight days of Bundt cakes! I had already decided on the apple-cinnamon Bundt from Everyday Food before I realized that Mary had also tried this recipe a while ago. She’d given it a thumbs-up so I felt even more hopeful as I pressed forward.
I adapted this recipe just a bit in an effort to make it healthier. It called for 2 sticks of butter, which seemed like a lot to me, so instead I used 1 stick of butter and substituted unsweetened applesauce for the remaining butter. I thought the substitution worked well. The cake was extremely moist and flavorful – I didn’t miss the butter a bit! There are a lot of apples in this cake, perhaps too many, though I think I’d have to make it again to decide for sure. I enjoyed the prominent apple flavor but just found myself wishing for a higher ratio of cake to apples. I might try dicing the apples next time instead of slicing them. I used milk instead of water in the glaze and needed almost the entire 2 tablespoons to make the glaze thick and pourable. This cake gets even better as it ages and the flavors develop. Give it a shot this weekend and if there’s any left you can bring it to work Monday 🙂
Apple-Cinnamon Bundt Cake
adapted from Everyday Food
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup natural (unsweetened) applesauce
1 1/2 cups packed light-brown sugar
4 large eggs
6 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons milk
Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray 12-cup Bundt pan with cooking spray.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.
In a large bowl, combine butter, applesauce, brown sugar, and eggs. Whisk until smooth. Gradually whisk in dry ingredients just until combined (do not overmix). Using a rubber spatula, fold in apples. Spoon batter into prepared Bundt pan, and smooth top. Bake until a tester inserted in cake comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes. Cool in pan on rack 15 minutes; invert onto rack to cool completely.
To make the glaze: Whisk together confectioners’ sugar and enough milk to form a thick yet pourable glaze. Set rack with cake over a piece of wax paper (for easy cleanup); drizzle cake with glaze, and let set before serving.
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Tracey.. this sounds perfect for a crowd. Love lotsa apples, Ill have to give this a shot for my hubbys co workers(hungry firemen!)
YUM!
mmmmmm. i realized how much i LOVE apple bundt cake when i made that banana apple bread for SMS. this sounds fantastic, as i am a lover of more apple to cake ratio!! i’ll bookmark it and give it a try.
i really need to find an apple orchard around here 😉
Beautiful! I think bundt cakes are so pretty.
Good to hear it turned out well with your substitutions.
It looks great, Tracey!
This bundt cake was delicious! Moist and flavorful and I loved the big chunks of apple! It was even better the second day. Thanks again, Tracey!
Thanks for the preview on this as I am going to make this tomorrow for Sunday, I think letting it sit a day is the way to go also. Also going to dice the apples as those slices look very large to me and will just encourage the guys to cram way too much in their mouths at one time (important factor in feeding teenage boys). It’s hard to explain how this will make a difference, but believe me, it will. Your cake looks wonderful and very pretty. Now, the only question remains: leave in all the butter and be judicious in serving slices or not? Tough call.
Looks great, Tracey. So fun to be seeing all of Mary’s 30 bundts! I made one yesterday–chocolate pumpkin. Lovin’ fall!
You did it again with another great use of fall ingredients. How a would love a piece with hot chocolate right now!!
This bundt sounds and looks delicious. I was inspired to make a bundt because of Mary too!
That is a lotta apples, but it looks good. I’ll bet you had some happy co-workers on your hands!
The more baking I do, the better bundt cakes seem! What’s not to like about a moist cake that’s easy and feeds an army? Your apple bundt looks fab, and I’m really glad to know the substitution worked (2 sticks is a LOT of butter!)
I’m a huge fan of subbing applesauce for butter in bundt cake recipes – I think it actually keeps them more moist! Gorgeous bundt cake – such a beautifully fall spiced cake!
Looks great! After last week’s SMS, I’m a little afraid of my bundt pan… This looks so tasty, though, I may just have to give the thing another shot!