Caramel Apple Bundt Cake
This caramel apple bundt cake is the culmination of all things to love about fall. It is also simple in preparation and actually tastes better the second day!
When it comes to a glorious, awe-inspiring cake like this, all I can really say is: Um, For All That is Good and Righteous About Cakes, Make This Now. How’s that for awe-inspiring?
Seriously, this cake (perfected by my crazy awesome brother, who made it for me before we moved from Wisconsin) is the culmination of all things to love about the fall season.
The perfectly spiced, moist cake is studded with bits of juicy apple while ribbons of sweetened cream cheese swirl throughout. Drizzled with a creamy glaze and caramel sauce and you have me sitting here wondering why on earth this cake is not sitting in my kitchen right now. Let me amend that: I’m wondering why this cake is not sitting in my belly right now. (Jeez, not the whole thing, people, just a slice or three.)
I will be rectifying that immediately. And so should you, if you want my humble opinion.
Don’t be put off by the long list of ingredients – this cake is quite simple in preparation and the beauty is that it actually tastes better the second day. So a huge bonus for me and you!
It can be made ahead of time for those times when you need/want a stellar dessert but the only time available to make it is 24 hours before you actually need the darned thing. Awesome!
One Year Ago: English Muffin Bread
Two Years Ago: Baked Southwest Egg Rolls with Creamy Chipotle Dipping Sauce
Three Years Ago: Coconut and Cashew Granola
Caramel Apple Bundt Cake
Ingredients
Cake:
- 3 cups (426 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 medium apples, for about 3 cups chopped
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla, divided
- 1 ¼ cups vegetable or canola oil
- 2 cups (424 g) granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
Cream Cheese Layer:
- 8 ounces (227 g) cream cheese, room temperature
- ⅓ cup (71 g) granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 1 large egg
Glaze:
- 2 tablespoons (28 g) butter
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons white sugar
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- ½ to 1 tsp vanilla
Caramel Sauce:
- 4 tablespoons (57 g) butter
- 1 cup (212 g) firmly packed light brown sugar
- ½ cup half-and-half or whipping cream
- Pinch of salt
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
Instructions
- Generously grease and flour a 9 or 10-inch bundt pan. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Set aside. Peel, core and dice 3 cups of apples. Toss the apples with the tablespoon of lemon juice to keep from browning. Add the dark brown sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla and toss to combine. Set aside.
- Using a handheld electric mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer, blend the oil, sugar, and vanilla until well mixed. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the dry ingredients until just incorporated. The batter will be quite thick. Drain any excess liquid from the apples (if any) and stir the apple mixture into the batter. Don’t overmix! Pour the batter evenly into the prepared pan.
- In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese just until smooth. Add the 1/3 cup sugar, vanilla and egg and beat on medium speed until creamy and smooth.
- Using a spoon or butter knife, make a trench in the center of the cake batter (going around in the circular shape of the bundt pan) about 1-inch deep (just scoop the excess batter to either side. Spoon the cream cheese mixture into the trench. Try and keep the cream cheese mixture in a ring in the center of the cake so it has cake batter on either side around the circle. Once the cream cheese mixture is in place, use a butter knife to swirl the cream cheese mixture into the surrounding cake batter.
- Bake the cake for 1 hour and 15 minutes (checking often as you may need to decrease or increase time based on your pan and exact oven temperature). Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with only a few moist crumbs.
- While the cake is cooling, mix the ingredients for the glaze in a small pan over medium high heat. Allow the ingredients to come to a boil and boil for one minute, stirring constantly. Pour the glaze over the cake while the cake is still in the pan. Let the cake cool in the pan before removing. Turn the cake out onto a serving plate and store covered in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Serve chilled or at room temperature, drizzling caramel sauce over each piece.
- For the caramel sauce, mix the butter, brown sugar, half-and-half or cream, and salt in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook while whisking gently for 5 to 7 minutes, until thickened slightly. Add the vanilla and cook another minute to thicken further. Turn off the heat and pour the sauce into a jar. Refrigerate until cold (or use slightly warm but not hot). If the caramel sauce has cooled in the fridge long enough to harden, warm slightly before drizzling on cake.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: from my brother, Nate, who has made this recipe many, many times, perfecting it along the way
94 Comments on “Caramel Apple Bundt Cake”
Still trying to find the perfect thanksgiving dessert and knew this was the place to be. Not a fan of pumpkin pie at all lol. My boyfriend loves pecan pie but I’ve been trying for like 7 years and I’ve never really mastered it so I told him I had to try something new. This is definitely it ! Have you ever poked holes in the cake and poured the caramel sauce directly into it ? I think I’ll do that but probably just leave it in the Bundt pan. I just saw Pioneer woman make a pumpkin Bundt cake with rum sauce she soaked the cake in and I can’t stop thinking about it. I don’t even drink but I have a bottle of rum in my fridge, I have no idea how it got there lol probably someone gave it to us. I’m using some to make vanilla bean extract and thought this cake would be dynamite with caramel rum sauce ! You always have a recipe for whatever I need, Mel ! About five of my family’s “must haves” over the holidays are from you. Love your guts ! Oh I just remembered…it’s been soooooo long since we had a holiday Sugar Rush..I miss those lol. Maybe you could do a mini one..wink wink..jk jk.
Made this for the second time today. It was just as good as the first. Followed the recipe but excluded the Carmel topping. LOVED IT! Thank you!
So good! I failed at the trenching and it ended up all on top. I made the glaze which I think added a lot to the texture. The Carmel sauce was fantastic but you really didn’t need a lot since the cake was so good. I would definitely make again, but follow the reviews that said to layer the cream cheese instead of trenching.
Made this. So good! Will definitely repeat!
Hi, does anyone else have issued with the Caramel Sauce. I’ve tried 2x to make it and every time coming out of the refrigerator, transfered into a pan. It was too Chrystalized. I packed the brown sugar both times. I didn’t cook the 2nd batch as long as the 1st one. Time was the only thing changed. Help!
I ended up making two of these today, and I’ve discovered a good way to deal with the cream cheese layer. I tried doing the tunneling thing, but I wasn’t quick enough to get it in there before the batter closed back up. The second time, I pushed spoonfuls of the cream cheese batter into the cake batter then swirled it. That worked well.
Great tip! Thanks for sharing!
I made this to take to dinner with friends, and kids and adults loved it alike. I followed the advice of some of the reviews and tried layering the cream cheese layer and then top it with the rest of the batter. I found that to be hard, since the cream cheese layer was thin and the batter was so thick, and I didn’t save enough batter out. Next time (I’m going to make it again today for a potluck after church tomorrow) I’ll follow the recipe instructions. As a note to some of the reviews’ critiques: the glaze on the bottom of the cake is a caramel glaze, but it gives a nice crunch to the bottom of the cake, and I wouldn’t leave it out. I do agree that it probably could just go on top if you want after flipping. My cake did not stick to the pan with the glaze on the bottom of the cake, and I waited long enough to flip it that the glaze didn’t really stick too much to the serving plate. The cake was not too oily, as one commenter mentioned. The caramel sauce is awesome, and you definitely could make that well ahead of time. My cake was done in 60 minutes. Great recipe. Thanks, Mel.
I made this tonight to test the recipe for Thanksgiving. I skipped the glaze and subbed some of the oil for butter (7/8 c. oil, 1/3 c. softened butter). It’s one of the best cakes I’ve ever had. I was worried I’d messed it up because the batter really is thick, but it is awesome. (It also baked 15 minutes fast, so keep a close eye on that).
Great recipe.
I am an advocate for butter in my bundt cakes , can I substitute the oil for butter and what cup measure would you advise ? Thank you Mel Going to make this for Thanksgiving, sounds divine, always looking for new classics!
Hi Lyn, you can, but sometimes subbing all butter for the oil in cakes will change the texture (or make the cake a tad bit less moist), but it’s definitely worth a try!
I don’t even like caramel and I’m obsessed with this cake! It’s got a fair amount of steps so it isn’t your simple dump-and-go cake, but it is WELL worth the effort and just like everybody else has said, not at all difficult. THE CARAMEL SAUCE!!! Nothing like any sort of store bought stuff, it’s liquid gold ♥️ Thank you for a new family favorite!!
This was delicious even though I think we overbaked it by a few minutes.
Only question is why the glaze goes on the bottom instead of drizzling it on top after taking it out of the pan? Still tasted good, but it stuck to the serving plate a little.
Good question, Kami – I think it’s mostly to help the cake stay moist and so the glaze doesn’t run off (which can happen if it’s out of the pan). But if you make it again, you could definitely try adding the glaze on top of the cake after it’s out.
Does the Carmel glaze stick to the plate? I make Bacardi rum cake and thought the glaze would soak into the cake. I bake every day so tomorrow I’m making the apple cheesecake bars. So glad I found you! This is my third apple cake this week.
Me again! Do you think that Baileys apple pie glaze (instead of Bacardi rum glaze like in Bacardi rum cake glaze)would work well instead of the Carmel glaze!
I haven’t tried that type of glaze so I’m not sure, but you could definitely experiment!
Don’t sleep on this cake—it’s AMAZING. It isn’t as labor-intensive as you think it’s going to be. Mine was done about 10 minutes before the suggested time, so keep an eye on it. Also—if you can, be sure to make the glaze AND the caramel sauce. The glaze makes a delicious crunchy-sugary coating on the cake. I pour it down the sides of the pan, then wait about 10 minutes after the glaze goes on to flip it over—it’s important to get it out of the pan before it completely cools! The caramel sauce is the chef’s kiss to the whole shebang. Thanks for another winner, Mel!
Absolutely wonderful!! New family favorite.
Absolutely fabulous! My husband is dying for me to make it again because I took it to a family dinner and not much left to bring home! It was a huge hit! Took a little time to make much well worth the effort! Thank you for posting it on Printrest! Thanks to some other posts about freezing it because the two of us could never eat all of it!
Can you make this with bob red mill gf baking flour instead of all purpose flour?
I haven’t tried a gluten free version so I’m not sure – sorry!
If you try a GF version and it turns out please let us know!
I used Gala apples. I like lots of apple, so I used more than 3 cups. I took some to work, it was a hit. Very moist!
Question: what do you use to grease the bundt pan?
Nonstick cooking spray can work if it’s well greased or shortening or butter could work, too.
I am joining a long list of people who love this cake. I chose to make it without the glaze because I was afraid it would stick to the pan. It turned out perfectly and was a big hit. I am sure I will be making this fantastic cake often.
My dinner guests loved this dessert! I froze the leftovers and 2 weeks later, it’s just as good!
That’s awesome that it froze so well!
my family absolutely loved this cake, will make this one of our favorites, thank you for sharing.
Delicious cake. It was gone within 3 days. Thank you for sharing your recipe
Hi Mel, I’m going to make your cake tomorrow. You call for white sugar in the glaze. What do you mean by white sugar: granulated or powdered?
Granulated sugar. 🙂
Hello can you use can apples?
I haven’t tried that but you could experiment.
Made this using some “unknown” apples given to me. Absolutely amazing and delicious!