I absolutely love fall and all the things that come with it – cooler temperatures, beautiful foliage, pumpkin patches and warm drinks, but I get most excited about everything apple!
There’s the signature Apple Pies in cast iron skillets that we make at The Chopping Block for Lincoln Square’s Apple Fest, hot apple cider, and warm Journeyman OCG, apple pancakes, apple bread pudding, apple whiskey bread, of course… apple cider donuts.
Let’s be honest, apple cider donuts are the real reason that most of us go apple picking. These spiced donuts are often made with apple cider that’s been boiled down to make it more concentrated, warm spices like cinnamon and nutmeg, and they’re leavened with baking powder. Once fried, the donuts are dusted in cinnamon and sugar that sticks to the outside and gets all over your face and clothes, so you can forget about denying that you ate one!
While making donuts is really fun (and delicious), I didn’t feel like frying recently, so I wondered if there was a way to make one really large apple cider donut. That’s when I realized that a Bundt pan would be the perfect vehicle for an apple cider donut cake (it’s even got the hole in the middle), and all those fancy lines and designs ensure that your cinnamon-sugar coating gets in as many places as possible! This apple cider donut Bundt cake is perfect for dessert or even for your next brunch, and it’ll be loved by kids and adults alike!
Apple Cider Donut Bundt Cake
Servings 16
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Active Time: 15 minutes
Inactive Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 65 minutes
For the cake:
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
2/3 cup turbinado sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup apple cider
1 cup chunky apple sauce (I like Big Slice kettle cooked apples for this!)
For the coating:
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl of a stand mixer, or using a hand mixer, cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
3. Add 3 eggs, one at a time, and incorporate into butter/sugar mixture.
4. Add vanilla bean paste, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and mix to incorporate.
5. Mix together flour and baking powder (dry ingredients).
6. Add 1 cup of dry ingredients to the butter mixture, mix to incorporate.
7. Add 1 cup apple cider to batter, mix to incorporate.
8. Add another 1 cup of dry ingredients, mix to incorporate.
9. Add 1 cup applesauce, mix to incorporate.
10. Add last cup of dry ingredients, mix to incorporate.
11. Grease a Bundt pan (you can also make these as muffins, or in a loaf pan) and fill three quarters of the way.
12. Bake for 45-60 minutes depending on the size of your Bundt pan.
13. Once a toothpick comes our clean, remove the cake from the oven, and let cool for 5 minutes.
14. Brush cake with melted butter, while warm, and coat with cinnamon sugar.
If you’re ready to get baking, our retail store at Lincoln Square has everything you need from utensils to bakeware and of course, vanilla bean paste. Come and visit us Wednesday through Friday 12pm-5pm, Saturday 10am-4pm and Sunday 10am-3pm.
Are you ready to take your baking to the next level? Leave the clean up to us and try some of our amazing hands-on baking classes coming up this fall:
- Pie and Tart Boot Camp on Sunday, September 26 at 10am Lincoln Square
- Artisanal Bread Boot Camp on Saturday, October 16 at 10am Lincoln Square
- Gluten Free Desserts on Saturday, October 30 at 10:30am Merchandise Mart
If you can’t join us in person, we also have some fabulous virtual baking options! Join us for:
- Virtual Demo: The Chopping Block’s Famous Apple Pie on Sunday, September 26 at 11am CST
- Virtual Fall Desserts on Saturday, October 23 at 12pm CST
Or, maybe you love apples as much as we do at The Chopping Block. We’ve got lots of apple-focused classes in honor of Apple Fest in Lincoln Square:
- Hands-On Fall Brunch on the Patio on Saturday, September 25 at 11am
- Fall Apple Feast Demo on Saturday, September 25 at 6:30pm
- Fall Brunch Demo on the Patio on Sunday, September 26 at 11am
Also, don’t forget to order your apple pie for Apple Fest. We have whole pies this year that are available for pre-sale and pick up Thursday, September 30 through Sunday, October 3rd for Apple Fest! Come by our tent for some delicious Right Bee Hard Cider during the fest.
Apple Cider Donut Bundt Cake
Ingredients
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup white sugar
- 2/3 cup turbinado sugar
- 3 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 cup apple cider
- 1 cup chunky apple sauce (I like Big Slice kettle cooked apples for this!)
- ¼ cup melted butter
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- In a large bowl of a stand mixer, or using a hand mixed, cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
- Add 3 eggs, one at a time, and incorporate into butter/sugar mixture.
- Add vanilla bean paste, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and mix to incorporate.
- Mix together flour and baking powder (dry ingredients)
- Add 1 cup of dry ingredients to the butter mixture, mix to incorporate.
- Add 1 cup apple cider to batter, mix to incorporate.
- Add another 1 cup of dry ingredients, mix to incorporate.
- Add 1 cup applesauce, mix to incorporate.
- Add last cup of dry ingredients, mix to incorporate.
- Grease a bundt pan (you can also make these as muffins, or in a loaf pan!) and fill ¾ of the way.
- Bake for 45-60 minutes depending on the size of your bundt pan.
- Once a toothpick comes our clean, remove the cake from the oven, and let cool for 5 minutes.
- Brush cake with melted butter, while warm, and coat with cinnamon sugar.
