Apple Cider Bundt Cake

For some reason, probably Starbucks-driven, pumpkin spice is THE flavor for fall. But another flavor that makes its appearance this time of year is by far more delicious to me and that is apple cider. I LOVE apple cider. The smell and flavor evoke hay rides and bonfires. Apple cider also carries over nicely from Halloween fun to Thanksgiving festivities.

I love apple cider doughnuts, muffins and cakes, so I thought I would play around with an easy apple cider Bundt cake recipe – something you can easily throw together but still looks impressive for holiday get-togethers.

There are recipes out there for completely homemade, totally apply cakes, but I was looking to cut some corners, so I started with a boxed cake, specifically a butter pecan cake mix. I have used this mix in my banoffee muffins, so I thought it might work as a great base for an apple cider cake.

To start, be sure to grease your Bundt pan thoroughly. This is a must, or your cake will refuse to budge from the pan and potentially reduce you to tears during the holiday season that is already rife with emotions. I cannot emphasis enough how much I love Baker’s Joy cooking spray for Bundt cakes. The combination of oil and flour makes your cake come out without drama every single time. Also, if you still haven’t gotten a Bundt pan, now is the time. Find one here on Amazon.

Mix up the batter according to the box, with one alteration. Instead of water, substitute actual apple cider. If you wanted to be more adventurous, I am sure you could add some actual apple finely diced, but again, I was going for easy this time around.

The cake really becomes a show stopper with the embellishments. After your pan is nicely greased, sprinkle some roughly chopped toasted pecans into the pan. Don’t worry about trying to get them to stick to the sides. They just won’t. After the nuts, sprinkle in a cinnamon sugar mixture of cinnamon, granulated sugar and brown sugar. This you can try to run up the sides of the pan a bit.

Pour the mixed cake batter into the Bundt pan, on top of the nuts and cinnamon sugar. Once baked, the cinnamon sugar will make a delicious sugary crust for your cake.

Once your cake has finished baking, let the pan cool on a wire rack before flipping it out onto a cake plate.

Now the cake is yummy on it’s own at this point, but to take it over the edge into apple cider bliss, I made an apple cider glaze that I found from www.bunsinmyoven.com. She also has a glorious recipe for cake, but it is a wee bit more complicated than I wanted, so I just borrowed her glaze idea.

The glaze is a mixture of melted butter, apple cider, cinnamon and powdered sugar. Melt the butter and cook with the apple cider on the stove top until the mixture is about halved. Then remove from the heat and mix in the powered sugar until you get the consistency you want.

While the cake is still warm, you can drizzle the glaze on top of the cake and let it soak in a bit, making it even more moist and delicious. If you have made a more solid glaze, you can drizzle it on top of the cake after it is cooled completely for a beautiful presentation.

If you have any glaze leftover, save it for drizzling on individual slices, if desired.

This apple cider Bundt cake is sure to impress at any gathering. Only you and I need to know how easy it really is to make.

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