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Apple Bundt Cake (Cake Mix)

Last Updated On: October 25, 2024 | Published: August 30, 2023 by Melissa Diamond | 6 Comments
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Today's delicious, easy Apple Bundt Cake is bursting with flavor from apples and spices. It is the perfect fall dessert, and so simple to make.

Keep this recipe in mind for your fall celebrations!

Moist, sliced Apple Bundt Cake on a white cake pedestal.

Why we Love it!

There is lots to love about this Apple Bundt Cake.

Ingredients for Apple Bundt Cake

Here is a quick look at some of our star ingredients for our bundt cake! (You can find the full listing in the recipe card further down in this post.)

Ingredients for easy Apple Bundt Cake.

A few helpful Ingredient Notes and Tips:

Buttermilk's boost of acidity makes for an extra moist and tender cake. We like to use whole buttermilk rather than reduced fat for added richness. (You can find a substitution in our notes!)

Yellow Cake Mix: We used Duncan Hines. You can substitute other brands.

Light Brown Sugar adds additional flavor. We used light brown, but dark brown would work also!

Granny Smith apples, diced. We have also experimented with grated apples in this recipe but prefer to use diced apples. Incorporating diced apples (rather than grated) into the cake batter resulted in a better, more fluffy texture. Also, diced apples are more visible in the cake slices than grated apples.

Moist slice of apple bundt cake on a white plate.

How to Make an easy Apple Bundt Cake

You can find the full, printable Apple Bundt Cake recipe below. Here is a quick look at our steps!

  • Lower the oven rack to next to lowest position. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Then, grease and flour a bundt pan. (See notes for details on pan.)
  • Dice the peeled granny smith apples (two cups).
Diced Granny Smith Apples on a cutting board.
  • In the mixing bowl, add the cake mix, flour, brown sugar and spices. Whisk to blend.
Dry ingredients in mixing bowl for apple bundt cake.
  • Add the vegetable oil, eggs, vanilla extract, and buttermilk to the mixing bowl.
  • With the mixer on low to medium speed (using paddle attachment if using a stand mixer), mix for 1 minute.
  • Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl. Beat on medium speed for 1 more minute. ( a bit longer if using a hand mixer).
  • Fold in the diced apples and pour into the prepared bundt pan.
Mixing bowl o Apple Bundt Cake Batter.
Bundt Pan filled with Apple Bundt Cake Batter.
  • Bake at 350 degree for 40 minutes or until a long skewer comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. Baking times may vary.
  • Keep an eye on the cake, you may need to lightly place a piece of aluminum foil on top of the cake if you notice it become too brown after around 20 minutes.
  • Allow the cake to cool on a wire rack in the pan for about 10 minutes. Then turn out.
Baked Apple Bundt Cake, freshly baked, in bundt pan cooling on wire rack.

Caramel Glaze

We love the combination of apples and caramel, and so we went with simple homemade caramel glaze. (You can use store bought instead but it will be a bit more runny.)

The caramel glaze is prepared in a deep saucepan over the stovetop. Butter, brown sugar, heavy cream, vanilla extract, and corn syrup are combined and brought to a boil (stir constantly).

Caramel Glaze in Saucepan.

Then, the heat is turned down. Allow the caramel sauce to simmer for 5-6 minutes before removing from heat. It will thicken as it cools.

If you are in a hurry to cool the caramel, you can pour it into a long glass casserole dish. You can even place this in the refrigerator for 15 minutes or so to speed things along.

Caramel sauce, cooling in a glass casserole dish.

Glazing the Apple Bundt Cake

Once your apple bundt cake has cooled, spoon the caramel glaze over the top, or, for more control, spoon it into a disposable piping bag with the tip snipped away. Then, drizzle over the cake.

Drizzling Apple Bundt Cake with simple caramel glaze, using a piping bag with the tip snipped away.

The glaze recipe makes about one cup of glaze. You will likely have a bit leftover, which you can use for drizzling additional caramel onto your cake slices if you would like!

Apple Bundt Cake, sliced, with caramel glaze on white cake pedestal.

Recipe FAQs

No, it is fine to leave the Apple Bundt Cake on the kitchen counter in an airtight container or under a cake dome.

We used two diced Granny Smith Apples in today's recipe- they are nice and firm and have a bit of tartness too. Other examples of apples that hold up nicely through the baking process are Golden Delicious, Honeycrisp, and Braeburn, just to name a few!

You could even use two different varieties of apples in this cake recipe if you'd like.

Yes! Just as with most cakes (from chocolate bundt cake to buttermilk pound cake and more), apple bundt cake freezes beautifully. As long as the cake has been properly wrapped, it will stay fresh for up to three months. (If you are only freezing it for a week, double wrapping in plastic wrap only is sufficient.)

Allow the freshly baked bundt cake to cool until slightly warm or room temperature. Then, wrap tightly with plastic wrap followed by foil. If you'd like more support, you can place the cake on a foil wrapped cake board first.

To thaw: We prefer to move the wrapped apple bundt cake from the freezer to the refrigerator the day before. Then, move the kitchen counter the next morning and remove the foil and plastic wrap once there is no more condensation forming on the outside.

More Fall Cakes

We have more fall cake recipes to share with you in addition to many more bundt cake recipes like our homemade Apple Dapple Cake!

Some of our favorites are Applesauce Cake, Pumpkin Cake, Caramel Italian Cream Cake, and Spice Cake. Here are a few more for you to check out:

Have you made this? We would LOVE for you to leave a ⭐️ rating as well as a comment and photo below! We really appreciate your feedback!

Sliced Apple Bundt Cake topped with caramel glaze, on a white cake pedestal.

Apple Bundt Cake

BY Melissa and Bebe
This moist, easy Apple Bundt Cake has a wonderful mix of diced apples and spices. This delicious fall dessert starts with a box of yellow cake mix.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Course: Dessert
Servings: 15
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Ingredients

  • 1 (15.25 oz) Box Yellow Cake Mix (We used Duncan Hines Classic Yellow Cake Mix, Perfectly Moist)
  • 6 Tablespoons (45g) all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup (108g) light brown sugar (packed into cup)
  • 3 teaspoons (7g) ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon (4g) nutmeg
  • ½ cup (108g) vegetable oil (we use Canola Oil)
  • 4 large eggs, room temperature (You can place them in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes.)
  • 1 teaspoons (8g) vanilla extract
  • 1 ¼ cups (302g) buttermilk — see note below for substitution
  • 2 cups Diced apples — we used two large Granny Smith apples.

For the Caramel Glaze

  • ½ stick (57g) unsalted butter, softened (if using salted butter, do not add additional salt)
  • 1 cup (217g) light brown sugar (packed into measuring cup)
  • ½ cup (126g) heavy cream
  • ½ teaspoon (2g) salt 2g salt
  • 1 teaspoon (4g) vanilla extract 4g vanilla extract
  • 1 Tablespoon (18g) light corn syrup

Instructions

  • Lower the oven rack to next to lowest position. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
  • Grease and flour a bundt pan. We used a 10 cup bundt that holds 6 cups of batter.
  • Dice apples. We used 2 cups of diced apples (from 2 large granny smith apples.)
  • In the mixing bowl, add the cake mix, all purpose flour, brown sugar and spices. Whisk to blend.
  • Add the vegetable oil, eggs, vanilla extract, and buttermilk.
  • Mix for one minute on medium speed. Pause to scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl with rubber spatula. Then mix one minute more one medium speed.
  • Fold in the diced apples and pour into the prepared bundt pan.
  • Bake at 350 degree for 40 minutes or until a long skewer comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached.
  • Keep an eye on the cake, you may need to lightly place a piece of aluminum foil on top of the cake if you notice it become too brown after around 20 minutes.
  • Allow the cake to cool on a wire rack in the pan for about 10 minutes. Then turn out.

For the Caramel Glaze

  • Using a medium size sauce pan (deep enough to prevent boil over) melt the butter over medium heat.
  • Add the brown sugar and the remaining ingredients.
  • Stir to blend, try to keep mixture off the sides of the pan. Once the mixture begins to boil, reduce the heat to low.
  • Simmer for 5 to 6 minutes, checking often to make sure that it is not going to boil over. Remove from heat.
  • Keep in mind that the caramel with thicken up a bit as it cools. You can pour it into a long glass casserole dish if you want it to cool more quickly.
  • Makes about 1 cup caramel sauce. It can be kept in the refrigerator in an airtight container up to 2 weeks.

Decorating the Apple Bundt Cake

  • Once the caramel glaze has cooled to desired amount, either spoon over the cake, or pipe the glaze onto the cake using a disposable piping bag with the tip snipped away.

Notes

We used a 10 cup bundt pan with a baking capacity of about 6 cups. 
If you are using a larger cake pan that ours, your cake may be done more quickly- it will also be a bit shorter. 
If you are using an even smaller bundt pan, the general rule of thumb is not to fill the pan more than ¾ full (or there should be at least 1.25 inches between the top of the cake batter and top edge of the pan.)
Substitution for 1 ¼ cup Buttermilk: If you do not have buttermilk, add 1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon of lemon juice or white vinegar to a measuring cup and add milk until it reaches the 1 ¼ cup mark. Allow to sit for a few minutes before using. It will thicken.

5 from 8 votes (8 ratings without comment)

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6 Comments

  2. before i make this delicious recipe......one question, do you pour the caramel right before you service the cake or can you pour it as soon as it cools and not serve the cake for a few hours?

    thank you
    jeanette

    Reply

    1. Hi Jeanette, I'm glad that you are making it! You can pour the caramel as soon as the cake cools, even if you aren't serving or several hours. I hope that you enjoy it!

      Reply

    1. Hi Janice! We usually wait to glaze the frozen cakes after thawing, however we have frozen caramel glazed cakes in the past with no problem.

      Reply