Last weekend, my sister, Sam, and I visited our good friend Lydia in Massachusetts. Lydia is incredibly talented in the kitchen, and has taken her talent and passion for all things sweet to create her own brand: Sweet Lydia’s. She’s pretty much a celebrity in her home town, and is known by everyone as the woman who makes the delectable marshmallows and sweets that she sells in her store. I really admire how Lydia has taken her passion and turned it into a successful business. She works so hard, and it’s so exciting to see her business grow.
When we visited her store in Lowell, MA, Sam and I stocked up on fall flavored marshmallows (pumpkin spice, apple cider, and toasted coconut), homemade s’mores, and my absolute favorite, salted caramels. Lydia makes the best caramel, and I’m totally addicted and inspired.
Caramel might be one of my favorite sweets, the nutty flavor of the burnt sugar, and the chewy texture is, in my opinion, confectionary perfection. After visiting Lydia’s store for the first time last year, she totally inspired me to make my own. So this year, after spending the day perusing her store, followed by apple picking in a picturesque Massachusetts orchard, I had visions of apple cake with caramel running through my head the whole ride home.
It was so perfectly convenient, because this addition of #bundtbakers was featuring caramel! To explain: last month I joined a group of food bloggers that gets together once a month to bake a bundt cake with a common theme, and we call the group, cleverly, Bundt Bakers. Last month’s was “fall harvest”, and this month is caramel.
So naturally, with 20 pounds of apples on hand, I had to make an apple cake with caramel glaze. This cake, using both fresh, grated apples and jarred apple butter, is incredibly moist and flavorful. The apple cider caramel glaze marries the fall flavors together so wonderfully, this deserves to be a blue ribbon cake. I can imagine these would also be great as muffins, but bundt baking is so much fun, and the cakes turn out so pretty don’t they?
Apple Butter Bundt Cake with Cider Caramel Glaze
Adapted from Baking, From my Home to Yours
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/4 sticks (10 tablespoons) butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup store-bought apple butter, spiced or plain
- 2 medium apples, peeled, cored and grated (I used Cortland but any tart, crisp apple will work)
- 1 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped
For the Apple Cider Caramel
- 1 cup good apple cider
- 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/4 cup whipping cream
Recipe
For the cake:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter a 9- or 10- inch Bundt pan and then dust with flour.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat for about one minute each, until the batter is light and airy. On low speed, beat in the vanilla and apple butter – don’t worry if the mixture looks like it is curdling, it will come together when you add the dry ingredients. Add the grated apples and mix until evenly distributed. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until the dry is completely incorporated into the wet, do not over-mix. With a wooden spoon or spatula, fold in the pecans or walnuts.
Turn the batter into the prepared Bundt pan and smooth the top of the batter with the spatula. Pick up and drop the pan a few times onto the counter to release any air bubbles in the batter.
Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted deep into the center of the cake comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and cool completely before inverting onto a plate. Pour the caramel liberally over the top of the cake and allow it to set before serving – about 10-15 minutes.
For the caramel:
In a non-reactive saucepan, simmer the apple cider over medium heat for about 10 minutes, or until it has reduced to 1/4 cup. Stir in the brown sugar, butter and whipping cream, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Boil the mixture for 2 minutes, stirring vigorously. Remove from heat and pour the caramel into a heat proof bowl. Allow the caramel to sit for 5 minutes before pouring over the cooled cake.
Caramel can be made up to a week in advance, kept in an air tight container and refrigerated. When ready to use, remove from the refrigerator and re-heat in saucepan until warm and returned to a liquid. Stir to smooth before pouring over the cake. Caramel is also delicious poured over ice cream, apple pie, or any of your favorite fall desserts.
Check out what others in our #bundtbakers group are up to! Links below!
- Apple Butter Bundt Cake with Cider Caramel Glaze by Cassie of Cassie’s Kitchen
- Apple Pecan Bundt Cake with Caramel Glaze by Aisha of La Cocina de Aisha
- Brown Butter Praline Bundt Cake with Salted Caramel Drizzle by Tux of Brooklyn Homemaker
- Caramel Apple Bundt Cake by Kaylin of Keep it Simple, Sweetie
- Caramel Banana Bundt Cake by Kathya of Basic N Delicious
- Caramel Cake with Caramel Cream Cheese Icing by Rebekah of Making Miracles
- Caramel Chocolate Bundt Cake by Natalia of Principiando en la Cocina
- Chocolate Caramel Apple Bundt Cake by Lauren of Sew You Think You Can Cook
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake with Peanut Butter Caramel Sauce by Laura of Baking in Pyjamas
- Cornmeal Bundt Cake with Caramel Popcorn by Patricia of Patty’s Cake
- English Toffee Bundt with Drunken Dulce Drizzle by Stacy of Food Lust People Love
- Fall Classic Caramel Bundt Cake by Maleka of La Luna en Dulce
- Fair Toffee Apple Bundt by Jane of Jane’s Adventures in Dinner
- Milky Way Bundt Cake by Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm
- Salted Caramelized White Chocolate Glazed Butterscotch Pecan Bundt Cake by Laura of The Spiced Life
- Snickers Bundt Cake with Caramel Glaze by Bea and Mara of I Love Bundt Cakes
- Spiced Apple Bundt Cake with a Caramel Brickle Drizzle by Teri of The Freshman Cook
- Spiced Caramel and Pear Bundt Cake by Rocío of Kids&Chic
- Three Flavor Zebra Bundt Cake – Vanilla, Caramel and Chocolate by Caro of En la Cocina de Caro
Interested in learning more about us?? #BundtBakers is a group of Bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake Bundts with a common ingredient or theme. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. You can see all our of lovely Bundts by following our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated after each event on the BundtBaker home page here.
If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send an email with your blog URL to foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com. If you are just a lover of Bundt baking, you can find all of our recipe links by clicking our badge above or on our group Pinterest board.
Cassie's Kitchen 
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Wow, this looks sooo good. I used to make my own apple butter, but never thought to use it in a cake. I love the addition of cider to the caramel too. Well done!
I thought about making my own (especially because I made the cake on a rainy Saturday and didn’t feel like leaving my apartment to go to the store), but then I saw that it takes 3+ hours, and I just can’t…But now I feel lazy – I might have to make this again with homemade apple butter! Thanks Tux!
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It looks delicious!!! I will give a try to apple butter 🙂
Thanks Aisha!
The combo of apple butter and cider makes this cake so awesome. Nothing beats apple and caramel. What a beautiful bundt, Cassie! 🙂
Have a great day,
Tammy
I agree, apple/caramel is one of my favorite combos. The apple cider caramel was the biggest hit (I ate it by the spoonful…)
Apple butter? I had never heard of it .. It looks delicious.
You can find apple butter in most grocery stores – it’s usually in the same aisle as jam and jellies. I’ve also seen it at farm stands and farmers market – this is the good stuff, more expensive but usually worth it!
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Looks delicious and I have some homemade apple butter in my pantry from last season that needs to be used.
I need to try making my own! Thanks for the inspiration Wendy!
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It is a rare cake that is better the next day so I am pinning this lovely recipe for just such an occasion. I love that you took inspiration from a friend who is making homemade marshmallows. They are such a different “animal” from store-bought! I wish your friend much success and only wish I were close enough to order some.
Thank you Stacy!
Apple cider caramel!? Sign me up! I’ll be saving this recipe. Thanks for baking with us!
This cake looks absolutely divine. WOW. I definitely have to find the time to bake this VERY soon. Thanks for sharing this
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Cider caramel? Is that even a thing??!!! You always surprise me with your unique twist to recipes!! Looks super duper tasty!
I simply adore apple cakes, apple and caramel is such a delicious combination! Great choice for this month’s theme.
LOVE the flavors in this–apple is my favorite things about fall (food thing–football ranks up there too lol). Pinning!
Woowwww!! It looks simply delicious!!! Apple and caramel sounds really good!! Great!!!
Sounds so delish!!!
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