Apple Bundt Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

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Quick Summary

Apple Bundt Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting- this simple bundt cake is filled with juicy apples, fall spices, a brown sugar cinnamon filling, and finished with a rich and luxurious cream cheese frosting. It is everyone’s favorite fall cake!

apple bundt cake with cream cheese frosting

I love baking with apples: apple crumble, apple cobbler, and apple muffins are a few of my “must makes” during the fall months, and now I have a new favorite. This Apple Bundt Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting is absolute perfection!

I love making bundt cakes because they are easy, feed a crowd, and you don’t have to do any fancy decorating. This apple bundt cake is thick, dense, moist, perfectly spiced, and filled with lots of fresh apple chunks. It also has a brown sugar cinnamon filling in the middle of the cake that gets gooey after baking and really enhances the fall flavors.

When the cake is cooled, I spoon rich cream cheese frosting over the top. Apple cake and cream cheese frosting? A match made in heaven, trust me!

This cake is the perfect dessert for fall, or eat a piece for breakfast. Hey, an apple a day keeps the doctor a day:)

apple bundt cake

Apple Bundt Cake Ingredients

If your pantry is well stocked, you should have almost everything you need to make this cake.

  • Flour– I use unbleached all-purpose flour.
  • Baking soda– to help the cake rise, make sure it’s fresh!
  • Spices– cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves! The best fall flavors!
  • Salt– to bring out the flavors in the cake!
  • Oil– you can use vegetable oil, canola oil, or melted coconut oil.
  • Sour cream– Sour cream makes the cake super moist. You can also use plain Greek yogurt.
  • Brown sugar– always pack your brown sugar! The brown sugar gives the cake a caramel flavor and keeps it moist. I also mix brown sugar with cinnamon for a sweet filling in the cake.
  • Granulated sugar– you need regular white sugar too!
  • Eggs– use large eggs and make sure they are at room temperature.
  • Vanilla extract– you need one tablespoon! Yes, tablespoon:)
  • Apples– I like to use Granny Smith or Honeycrisp apples. Braeburn, Fuji, and Golden Delicious are also good options. I always peel the apples before chopping them. I like a lot of apple chunks, so I use 3 cups of apples, but if you want to use a little less, go with 2 ½ cups.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Let’s take a minute to talk about the smooth, creamy, and rich cream cheese frosting. It really is the icing on the cake!

You will need:

  • Cream cheese– don’t use low fat, go all out!
  • Butter– to make the frosting extra creamy and delicious!
  • Confectioners’ sugar– sift before you get started so your frosting is nice and fluffy!
  • Vanilla extract– just a splash!
  • Heavy cream or milk– start with 2 tablespoons. If you want a thinner frosting, you can always add more.
  • Pinch of salt– just a pinch!
apple bundt cake recipe

How to Make Apple Bundt Cake

Ok, let’s get this cake party started!

  • First, preheat your oven and generously grease a 12-cup bundt cake pan. Make sure you use a 12-cup pan so the cake doesn’t spill over.
  • In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients and set aside.
  • In a large bowl, combine the oil, sour cream or yogurt, sugars, eggs, and vanilla extract.
  • Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir with a spatula until just combined. Don’t over mix. Gently fold in the apple chunks. The batter will be thick and that is ok!
  • In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon. Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan, spreading with a spatula to make sure it’s even. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture evenly over the batter. Top with remaining batter.
  • Place the pan in the oven and bake for 60 to 75 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Check early and if the cake is getting too brown, but not done, you can loosely cover it with aluminum foil. It is a dense, moist cake and does take a long time to bake. Mine always takes the full 75 minutes.
  • Remove the cake from the oven and let cool on a wire cooling rack in the pan for 30 minutes. Carefully invert cake onto a cake stand or serving platter.
  • While the cake is cooling, make the cream cheese frosting. In the bowl of a stand mixer or with a hand mixer, beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, cream or milk, and pinch of salt. Beat at medium speed until creamy and smooth. If you want the frosting a little thinner, you can add a little more cream or milk and mix again.
  • Use a spoon to generously drizzle the frosting over the cooled cake. Cut into slices and serve.

How to Store Apple Bundt Cake

Because this cake has a cream cheese frosting, I recommend storing it in the refrigerator. The cake is very moist so it won’t dry out in the fridge. Make sure it is well covered with plastic wrap or you can put it into an airtight container. It will keep for up to 5 days in the refrigerator.

The cake can be removed from the fridge an hour before serving to let it come back to room temperature. I think it is good cold too:)

You can also freeze the cake for up to 3 months. I like to freeze individual slices. Wrap cooled cake pieces in plastic wrap and place flat in a freezer bag. Lay flat in the freezer. Thaw before eating! The slices come in handy when you NEED a sweet treat, especially late at night, ha!

easy apple bundt cake with cream cheese frosting

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Apple Bundt Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

This simple bundt cake is filled with juicy apples, fall spices, a brown sugar cinnamon filling, and finished with a rich and luxurious cream cheese frosting. It is everyone's favorite fall cake!
4.67 from 42 votes

Ingredients
  

For the cake:

For the cinnamon sugar filling:

For the cream cheese frosting:

  • 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 2 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons heavy cream or milk, depending on how thick you want it
  • Pinch of salt

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Generously grease and lightly flour a 12-cup Bundt pan. Set aside.
  • In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. Set aside.
  • In a large bowl, combine the oil, sour cream or yogurt, brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth.
  • Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir with a spatula until just combined. Don’t over mix. Gently fold in the apple chunks. The batter will be thick.
  • In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon.
  • Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan, spreading with a spatula to make sure it’s even.
  • Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture evenly over the batter. Top with remaining batter.
  • Place the pan in the oven and bake for 60 to 75 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Check early and if the cake is getting too brown but not done, you can loosely cover it with aluminum foil. It is a dense, moist cake and does take a long time to bake.
  • Remove the cake from the oven and let cool on a wire cooling rack in the pan for 30 minutes. Carefully invert cake onto a cake stand or serving platter.
  • While the cake is cooling, make the cream cheese frosting. In the bowl of a stand mixer or with a hand mixer, beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add confectioners' sugar, vanilla, cream or milk, and pinch of salt. Beat at medium speed until creamy and smooth. If you want a thinner frosting, you can add a little more cream or milk. I like the frosting on the thicker side.
  • Use a spoon to generously drizzle the frosting over the cooled cake. Cut into slices and serve.

Notes

I use Granny Smith or Honeycrisp Apples. I like a lot of apple chunks in the cake so I use 3 cups. If you want a little less, go with 2 ½ cups, but no less. You want the apples to keep the cake moist and it is an apple cake:) 

Nutrition

Calories: 550kcal, Carbohydrates: 74g, Protein: 5g, Fat: 28g, Saturated Fat: 18g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 4g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 55mg, Sodium: 272mg, Potassium: 144mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 46g, Vitamin A: 315IU, Vitamin C: 2mg, Calcium: 56mg, Iron: 2mg
Keywords apple

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Maria

I'm Maria and my husband is Josh. We share a love of cooking, baking, and entertaining. We enjoy creating recipes that are simple, fresh, and family friendly. We love sitting around the table with good food, good conversation, and good friends and family! Our kitchen is always open!
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  1. 5 stars
    Love the recipe. I substituted 2 single serve containers of unsweetened apple sauce in place of 3/4C of the oil and still tummies with lots less fat.

  2. 5 stars
    I just made this. Smells devine and tastes heavenly just out of the oven 45 minutes. Not overly sweet. I like apple cake without any frosting. This was perfect without it but I love cream cheese frosting so the next one I make, I will frost. Thank you for this wonderful recipe. It popped up on my phone a week ago so randomly and after I read it, I just knew I had to make it. Also, I followed the recipe exactly…perfect!!!!

  3. I made this yesterday for my family and friends. Rave reviews from all…ages 11 to 76!!! I used sour cream and honey crisp apples.

  4. 5 stars
    Wow! this is such a delicious cake! My husband has requested it for Thanksgiving. You are spot on with the 3 cups of apples . Thanks for another great recipe!

  5. 5 stars
    I made this cake today for hubby’s birthday. Everyone loved it! Perfect for a lovely fall day! And leftovers will probably be better tomorrow!

  6. 5 stars
    This cake is off the charts amazing! So flavorful and satisfying with the perfect amount of spices… an excellent fall treat that is easy to whip up. I followed the recipe exactly and it was perfection!!! Thanks, Maria, for another winner!

  7. I made this yesterday to rave reviews from my family. Love the spiciness and the sweetness from the Honeycrisp apples. This recipe will be a fall tradition for years to come!!

  8. I just bought a bundt pan online and it’s a 9 cup pan. Could I use this recipe to fill it 2/3 of the way and just have leftover batter? Or do you think that would mess up the cake? Thank you!

  9. 3 stars
    Baked this cake an hour and did the toothpick test- which indicated that it was done. It slid out of the pan fine and i was pleased with the appearance. The icing was WAY more than was needed for a drizzle. But when I served it, the middle of the cake was undercooked and still wet. Is it possible that my pan was too small?

  10. 5 stars
    Soooooo good!! I made this for Thanksgiving, and it was a hit!

    I sautéed some apples in cinnamon and put them in the middle of the Bundt. And I poked holes in the cake for the icing to seep into it.

    1. I haven’t tried it, but that should work out fine. You will probably need to reduce the baking time. Check early to be safe.

  11. 5 stars
    This is one of the best apple cakes I have ever made. Easy recipe and turned out perfectly. I served to a group of friends and they all told me I should open a bakery. Thanks Maria.

  12. Since I’m the only one in my household, I made one-third of the recipe & baked in a 6″ bundt pan. I sprayed the pan & sprinkled with granulated sugar & baked it for 30 minutes. This is a delicious cake!

    1. Both will work, just make sure you grease it really well. They do make a spray that has flour in it that works really well.

    1. You can make it a day ahead. Use a cake cover or cover loosely with plastic wrap after the frosting sets.

  13. 5 stars
    I made this cake in a 6″ bundt pan in my air fryer – baked for 30 min. I used one-third of the ingredients but didn’t add the frosting. Instead of flour, I dust my non-stick pan with granulated sugar after spraying with vegetable oil. Makes a nice, crunchy crust. I shared with a friend who has vision issues & she loved it so much that I prepped the dry ingredients, sugars & filling ingredients separately for her. She was able to make the cake herself & loved it! Thanks for another delicious, easy recipe.

  14. Fabulous cake. Apple cakes are not my favorite, but I made this for a fall event, and now I am hooked on apple cake! Everyone who ate it complimented it.

    At my daughter’s suggestion, I used a maple cream cheese recipe for the frosting. It was a perfect pairing! Yum!

  15. Cake may be our new favorite! So moist and delicious! I made a brown butter glaze for the top instead of the cream cheese. Thanks for another wonderful recipe!

  16. 5 stars
    Hello Maria and Josh
    Thanks very much for the Apple Bundt Cake recipe. I baked, according to your directions, and my cake looked just like the photo of your cake! Always nice to come home with an empty plate — many people, at the Church coffee hour, told me they really enjoyed the cake.

    Thank you again. Best Wishes
    Cynthia

  17. 5 stars
    It seemed complicated at first…peel and chop, small, medium and large bowls. Several types and sizes of measuring cups and spoons, whisks, spatulas and a hand mixer! Three types of sugars and unusual ingredients, (sour cream), a lot of oil…(are my spices fresh?) Was it worth it? YES! my go to dessert now! It is delicious! Followed the recipe exactly, pure bliss.