• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

The Midnight Baker

Easy to make main meal and dessert recipes.

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Home
  • Recipes
  • Text Index
  • Subscribe
  • Recipe Box
  • About Me
    • Media/PR
    • Cookbooks
      • The Classic Slow Cooker
      • The Cupboard To Table Cookbook
    • Contact
    • Privacy
Home » Cakes » Apple Cider Donut Cake

Apple Cider Donut Cake

October 21, 2018 by Judith Hannemann

Pin
Share
Tweet
Share

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

If you love apple cider donuts, you’ll flip for this cake!

Apple cider donuts are a fall treat. Now you can have the same taste in a cake!

Great Donut Taste In A Cake

This cake tastes exactly like apple cider donuts! It’s probably less fat too–although I’m not entirely sure.

I consider myself somewhat of an expert on apple cider donuts as I used to make them commercially at one time. Background here is that my late husband was recovering from open-heart surgery so he couldn’t work; I had to. Anyway, as there were no local jobs in engineering and I needed specific hours that I could be home for him, I took a job as a baker at a local supermarket. Yeah, I know–a real career change!

Anyway, the cider donuts were a fall staple at that store so I improved on the standard recipe. All the customers said those donuts hit the jackpot. The truth is, they started with a mix where I doctored the spices.

Apple cider donuts are a fall treat. Now you can have the same taste in a cake!

Mace:  A Donut Essential

This spice is essential for donuts. It gives them that donutty taste.

For those who don’t know this little factoid, mace is the outer covering of nutmeg. I never knew that until very recently and it was Clarissa from Two Fat Ladies who informed me (and millions of other viewers too).

You also need nutmeg in equal portions to the mace. It’s a one-to-one ratio.

The other secret to the great taste here is the fresh apple that’s cooked in the cider itself. Essentially, you’re making applesauce, but it’s an applesauce with a lot of kick. You cook it down until the cider is reduced–and reductions have intense flavor. Where you may be tempted for convenience sake to substitute store-bought applesauce–don’t. It’s worth the time to do the apple/cider reduction.

Apple cider donuts are a fall treat. Now you can have the same taste in a cake!

The Crowning Glory

You’ll love the sugar coating for this cake. It’s not merely cinnamon sugar because there’s yet another hint of nutmeg. There’s a bit of salt too, which is strange at first, but many people actually put a pinch of salt on an apple because it brings out a lot of flavor.

The Recipe

 

Apple cider donuts are a fall treat. Now you can have the same taste in a cake!
Print Recipe Add to Recipe Box Go to Collections Pin Recipe

Apple Cider Donut Cake

If you love apple cider donuts, you’ll flip for this cake!
Prep Time30 mins
Cook Time45 mins
Total Time1 hr 15 mins
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: apple cider, apple cider donuts, cheesecake recipe, fall desserts
Servings: 12
Calories: 358kcal
Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

For the Cake:

  • 8 tbs unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 1 large Granny Smith apple about 8 ounces, peeled, cored, and roughly chopped
  • 1 1/2 cups apple cider
  • 1/2 cup milk at room temperature
  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp ground mace
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 3 eggs at room temperature
  • 1/4 cup oil
  • 1 tsp vanilla

For the Sugar Coating:

  • 6 tbs sugar
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/8 tsp salt

Instructions

  • Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a bundt pan with non-stick spray.
  • In medium saucepan, bring chopped apple and cider to boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until most of the cider has been absorbed and apples are easily smashed with a fork, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove pan from heat, cool 5 minutes, and mash with the back of a spoon. Measure out 1 cup apple mixture and stir in milk; set aside.
  • In medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and mace; set aside.
  • In large bowl, beat butter, sugar, and brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add oil and beat until incorporated, about 1 minute.
  • Decrease mixer speed to low and add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with apple mixture, scraping down sides and bottom of bowl with rubber spatula as needed. Increase speed to medium and beat mixture just until combined, about 20 seconds. Add vanilla and beat once more, just to combine, about 10 seconds.
  • Scrape batter into prepared pan. Bake until cake tester inserted in cake comes out clean, rotating cake halfway through baking, 35 to 45 minutes. Transfer cake to cooling rack set inside baking sheet and cool in pan 10 minutes, then invert directly onto cooling rack.
  • For the Cinnamon Sugar Coating: Combine sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in small bowl. Sprinkle warm cake with cinnamon sugar, using fingers to rub it onto sides.
  • Cool cake completely, about 1 hour.

Video

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 358kcal | Carbohydrates: 54g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 62mg | Sodium: 297mg | Potassium: 181mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 33g | Vitamin A: 325IU | Vitamin C: 1.2mg | Calcium: 64mg | Iron: 1.6mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @midnitebaker or tag #midnitebaker!

*Adapted from Serious Eats

Apple cider donuts are a fall treat. Now you can have the same taste in a cake!
Pin
Share
Tweet
Share

Filed Under: Cakes, Desserts Tagged With: apples, autumn, cakes, fall

You May Also Like

Victoria sponge
Victoria Sponge
Peach upside down dessert cake
Peach Upside Down Dessert Cake
New York crumb cake
New York Crumb Cake
Previous Post: « Chocolate Tartlets
Next Post: Chili Garlic Dry Fried Beans »

Reader Interactions

Copyright © Judith Hannemann aka The Midnight Baker 2022. All Rights Reserved. No part of this website may be reproduced without The Midnight Baker's express consent.

Comments

  1. J says

    October 21, 2018 at 5:41 pm

    This looks like a yummy cake to bake Judith when you’re not pressed for time! Would you please share the easy cider donuts recipe cuz sometimes I still use cake mixes…less dishes to wash by hand. Lol. Everytime I have gone apple picking, they are always sold out of their cider donuts. I got to try them only once! 😢
    My son had to move far away to get a good job in engineering…nothing around here.
    Have a great week coming up!

    • Judith Hanneman says

      October 21, 2018 at 10:26 pm

      I generally don’t bake from scratch anymore either–this is a cake for when you have the time to do it!!! You’ll like my Easy Apple Cider Donuts because it starts with Bisquick and there’s no shaping because they’re just dropped from a spoon–like donut holes.

  2. Erin mckain says

    October 30, 2018 at 3:21 pm

    You add the milk to the one cup of apples?

    • Judith Hanneman says

      October 31, 2018 at 2:41 pm

      Yes Erin, after you make the reduction though–you stir it in the “applesauce” that was made.

      • Dusica says

        November 8, 2018 at 1:55 pm

        Can you tell me the size of cups?

        • Judith Hanneman says

          November 8, 2018 at 3:09 pm

          For fluids, a cup is 8 fluid ounces. For dry measure–flour in particular–the weight varies by how you fill the cup. Flour lightly spooned into a cup or sifted then spooned into a cup is around 4 ounces.

  3. Elaine Clemmer says

    November 1, 2018 at 6:26 am

    I would like the recipe for apple cider donuts also

    • Judith Hanneman says

      November 1, 2018 at 10:38 am

      Here you go—Easy Apple Cider Donuts

  4. Etta Tarver says

    November 4, 2018 at 10:45 pm

    Thinking of making this early for Thanksgiving. Would this freeze well?

    • Judith Hanneman says

      November 5, 2018 at 1:28 am

      I haven’t tried that but the cake has a good solid texture so I would say it would freeze well.

  5. Elisabeth Wallace says

    November 5, 2018 at 6:03 am

    I just made this cake tonight, and it taste just as good as it looks. cant wait to try another recipe.

    • Judith Hanneman says

      November 5, 2018 at 7:35 am

      Glad you liked it! I don’t ordinarily bake from scratch anymore, but this one is sure worth it!!!

  6. KATHY LAWSON says

    November 12, 2018 at 8:18 pm

    I’m going to make this cake for Thanksgiving, so do you think baking it the day before would be okay? Actually, I’d like to bake it as far in advance as possible, without resorting to freezing it. Thanks!

    • Judith Hanneman says

      November 13, 2018 at 4:18 am

      I think it would be better made the day before, Kathy. The full flavor will really be there when the spices totally infuse.

      • KATHY LAWSON says

        November 14, 2018 at 7:23 pm

        Thanks! Do you think making the cider and apple reduction ahead of time would be okay? (And if so, how would I store it?) I’m just a bit worried about having so many steps to do…but not making this cake is NOT an option! LOL

        • Judith Hanneman says

          November 14, 2018 at 7:55 pm

          Sure it’ll be fine–if you can stop from eating it!!! It tastes fantastic!!

  7. Vicki says

    November 17, 2018 at 3:14 am

    I made this tonight for a Festival of Lights parade tomorrow night. Hubs asked me to make another for a wild game feed tomorrow afternoon so number 2 is in the oven now. A small piece broke off the edge, oh my, you can taste the butter and the spices are perfect. I’m sure there won’t be any left from either functions.

    • Judith Hanneman says

      November 17, 2018 at 1:20 pm

      I don’t often bake from scratch anymore, but this cake is well worth the effort!!! Everyone will love it, I’m sure!

Primary Sidebar

Now Available

bakeatmidnite
ALSO AVAILABLE bakeatmidnite

Follow by Email! Get the e-Cookbook

“Must Try” Recipes

Delicious shrimp with a florentine flairthat's easy and economical enough for a mid-week mea..

Shrimp Florentine

Bruschetta Chicken

Chicken Bruschetta

Surprise ingredient flavors these soft sirloin patties and the savory gravy too.

Chopped Sirloin Patties with Savory Gravy

Roasted Rosemary Buttermilk Chicken

bakeatmidnite

Footer

bakeatmidnite
my foodgawker gallery Certified Yummly Recipes on Yummly.com
bakeatmidnite
COPYRIGHT © 2023 • BAKEATMIDNITE.COM • PRIVACY POLICY