Easy, fresh apple cake makes the best bundt cake recipe perfect for anytime of year! Using a combination of oil and applesauce makes an extremely moist spice cake crumb dotted with chunks of fresh apples. It's finished with a quick brown sugar praline glaze drizzled on top and optional nuts. Gluten-free modifications are included.
Preheat oven to 325ºF. Spray a non-stick bundt cake pan liberally with cooking spray and set aside.
In a large bowl beat together sugar, brown sugar, vegetable oil, eggs, molasses, applesauce, and vanilla.
1 cup sugar, 1 cup light brown sugar, 1 ½ cups vegetable oil, 3 large eggs, ½ cup unsweetened applesauce, 2 tablespoons molasses, 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ground ginger, allspice, nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt in a separate bowl. Add dry ingredients to the sugar mixture and beat well.
3 cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ground ginger, ½ teaspoon ground allspice, ½ teaspoon nutmeg, ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves, ½ teaspoon salt
Stir in fresh apples and 1 cup walnuts, if desired. Reserve remaining walnuts for topping. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 70-80 minutes, or until cake tester inserted in cake comes out clean.
Cool cake in pan for 15-20 minutes. Use a knife to gently go around edges. Turn cake onto wire rack to remove from pan. Cool completely before transferring to a cake platter and frosting.
Brown Sugar Praline Glaze
In a small saucepan add softened butter, brown sugar, milk, and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil 1 minute. Remove from heat.
½ cup packed light brown sugar, ¼ cup butter, 3 tablespoons milk, heavy cream, or half and half, ¼ teaspoon salt
Add vanilla and powdered sugar. Stir vigorously until powdered sugar is smooth and incorporated. Continue to stir gently for 3-5 minutes until frosting thickens slightly, but is still pourable. Pour over cooled cake and immediately sprinkle on walnuts, if desired.
1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 cup powdered sugar
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Notes
How to Make Gluten Free Apple Cake
Easy Apple Cake can easily be adapted to gluten free by switching out the flour with your favorite gluten free all-purpose brand.I tested the gluten free apple cake using my preferred brand, Cup 4 Cup.Gluten free cakes generally bake longer than traditional cakes.Be sure to test the cake using a cake tester before removing from the oven. Gluten free cakes tend to brown quicker, so they deceivingly appear fully cooked before they are.Praline glaze adapted from myrecipes.com