Apple Spice Cake

Apple Spice Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting is a wonderful dessert to make with fresh apples. This moist apple bundt cake is flavored with warm spices, loaded with raisins and walnuts, and topped with creamy frosting.

a slice of apple spice bundt cake on a plate.


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What makes the Apple Spice Bundt Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting so good?

This old-fashioned Apple Spice Cake takes everything that makes autumn such a spectacular season and turns it into a dessert. With the cake’s decadent cream cheese frosting and moist interior studded with fresh apples, plump raisins, and chopped walnuts, this recipe will surely become a family favorite, no matter the time of year.

It’s All About the Apples

There’s no question that apples are the star of this fresh Apple Spice Cake, and that means you need to select suitable apples and prepare them correctly. As written, the recipe below calls for using either Red or Golden Delicious apples, but depending on what you are looking for, they are not the best choice.

While Red and Golden Delicious apples are excellent for eating, they’re on the sweet side and tend to break down in the oven. Other apple varieties are much better at standing up to the heat and have a mildly tart flavor that plays well with the sweetness already in that cake.

Pink Lady apples are a fantastic choice for this recipe. Not only do they have a touch of sweetness with some acidity, but their firm flesh is never mealy.

Another great alternative is Granny Smith apples, especially for anyone who appreciates even more of a tart taste. Better yet, try mixing different types of apples for a whole range of flavors and textures.

No matter which apples you choose, you need to pay attention to how you prepare them. It is a good idea to peel them because the skins can ruin the texture of the cake. After peeling the apples, cut them into 1/4-inch slices and then into cubes. You can use a vegetable chopper to cut down on prep time significantly.

Apple Spice Cake Ingredients

Here’s a list of what you need:

  • Butter
  • Eggs
  • Sugar
  • All-purpose flour
  • Baking soda
  • Salt
  • Cinnamon
  • Nutmeg
  • Red or Yellow Delicious Apples
  • Raisins
  • Walnuts
  • Cream cheese
  • Powdered sugar
  • Milk
  • Vanilla extract
apple spice cake ingredients.
Cake Ingredients
apple spice cake cream cheese frosting ingredients.
Frosting Ingredients

How to Make Apple Spice Cake

  1. Cream butter, sugar, and eggs in a large bowl.
spice cake ingredients wet ingredients in a mixing bowl.
spice cake wet ingredients combined in a mixing bowl.
  1. Add the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg) to the creamed mixture. Mix using an electric mixer on medium speed until just combined. Be sure to scrape down the bowl with a spatula.
adding dry ingredients to wet ingredients for spice cake.
spice cake batter in a mixing bowl.
  1. Add apples, raisins, and nuts. Stir and fold in the fruit and nuts until combined.
adding walnuts, raisins, and chopped apples to spice cake batter.
apple spice cake batter in a mixing bowl.
  1. Pour the batter into a prepared pan bundt pan. Bake at 325 degrees oven for 1 hour. Remove the cake from the oven and cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan to a wire rack and let it cool to room temperature.
apple spice cake batter in a bundt pan.
freshly baked apple spice cake cooling on a wire rack.
  1. Combine all frosting ingredients in a small bowl and mix with a mixer until smooth.
ingredients for cream cheese frosting in a bowl.
cream cheese frosting for apple spice cake in a bowl.
  1. Spread the frosting over the cake. You can garnish the cake with a sprinkling of lightly toasted chopped walnuts.
apple spice cake with cream cheese frosting topped with chopped walnuts.

Recipe Variations to Top the Apple Spice Cake

Cream cheese frosting is a rich and delicious addition, but it is not the only option. Besides skipping any topping, an acceptable choice, there are other options. Try one of these or use your favorite recipe:

  • Vanilla Bourbon Glaze: Whisk together 2 cups of confectioner’s sugar, 4 tablespoons of milk, 3 teaspoons of bourbon, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract in a medium bowl.
  • Apple Cider Glaze: Whisk together 2 cups of confectioner’s sugar and a 1/2 cup of apple cider.
  • Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting: Add 1/2 cup of light brown sugar to the frosting. You may need to add a little cream or milk if the frosting is too thick to spread.
  • Caramel Sauce: Use store-bought caramel sauce.
  • Cinnamon and Sugar: Whisk together 1/2 cup of granulated sugar and 1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon. Sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar mixture on the cake immediately after removing it from the oven to allow the sugar to melt slightly.
  • Vanilla Ice Cream: Skip the frosting and top warm apple spice cake with ice cream.

What to Serve with Apple Spice Cake

Elevate your apple cake experience with some of these additions!

  1. Whipped Cream: Light and fluffy, it complements the cake’s texture and spices.
  2. Dusted Powdered Sugar: A simple yet elegant touch.
  3. Warm Custard: Offers a creamy and indulgent complement to the cake.
  4. Cinnamon Coffee: The spicy notes of this coffee compliments the cake.

Baking tip – Cake Pan Variations

No bundt pan, no problem. A bundt pan does more than add attractive decorations to your cake. It helps ensure the cake cooks through and has a crisp exterior.

But you can still make this spiced apple cake if you don’t have a bundt pan. Use a 13×9 pan for a sheet cake or two 9-inch round cake pans for layer cakes. However, it would be best if you decreased the baking time. Start checking on the cake every 15 minutes. Be sure to grease, flour the pans, and line the bottom with parchment paper.

How to Store Apple Spice Cake

Since the cake has cream cheese frosting, it needs to be refrigerated. Please put it in a cake storage container, covered cake stand, or cover it with plastic wrap to keep it from absorbing odors from the fridge.

Freeze the spice apple cake for up to three months. Wrap it tightly with plastic wrap. When you are ready to eat the cake, remove it from the freezer the day before and let it defrost overnight in the refrigerator.

a slice of apple spice cake on a cake server.

Favorite Apple Recipes

Check out more of my easy cake recipes and the best fall recipes here on CopyKat!

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This recipe is from the archives of my grandmother, Ethel Eynard. Jefferson City, MO. 1988.

a slice of apple spice bundt cake on a plate.

Apple Spice Cake

Apple Spice Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting is a wonderful dessert to make with fresh apples. This moist apple bundt cake is flavored with spices and loaded with apple chunks, raisins, and walnuts.
5 from 9 votes
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Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Apple Cake, Apple Spice Cake, Apples, Cake Recipes
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings: 12
Calories: 453kcal

Ingredients

Cake

  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 4 cups chopped apples Red or Yellow Delicious Apples
  • 1 cup raisins
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts

Cream Cheese Frosting

  • 2 ounces butter
  • 4 ounces cream cheese
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Cake Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
  • Lightly grease and flour a large bundt pan.
  • Cream butter, sugar, and eggs in a large bowl.
  • Sift flour with baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.
  • Add flour mixture to creamed mixture. Mix until just combined.
  • Stir in apples, raisins, and nuts.
  • Pour the batter into the greased and lightly floured large bundt pan.
  • Bake at 325 degrees oven for 1 hour.
  • Remove the cake from the oven
  • Cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes.
  • Remove the cake from the pan to a wire rack.
  • Cool the cake to room temperature before drizzling it with icing.

Cream Cheese Frosting Instructions

  • Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and mix with a mixer until smooth.
  • Spread the frosting over the cake. Sprinkle lightly toasted chopped walnuts on top if desired.

Nutrition

Calories: 453kcal | Carbohydrates: 60g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 82mg | Sodium: 387mg | Potassium: 247mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 32g | Vitamin A: 571IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 43mg | Iron: 2mg

About Stephanie Manley

I recreate your favorite restaurant recipes, so you can prepare these dishes at home. I help you cook dinner, and serve up dishes you know your family will love. You can find most of the ingredients for all of the recipes in your local grocery store.

Stephanie is the author of CopyKat.com's Dining Out in the Home, and CopyKat.com's Dining Out in the Home 2.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Estelle Salvino

    :Peeled apples or leave skin on, I have to have gluten free so I am going to use gluten free flour. Making tomorrow will let you know how it turns out,

  2. Monet

    5 stars
    I made this recipe for Thanksgiving last year and it was a hit! I just purchased all the ingredients today to make again for this Thanksgiving! The moistness of this cake is excellent. I like a dense cake and this is a winner. It’s truly a comfort food!

  3. Jeanne

    do you have a recipe for the icing shown on this cake? it looks wonderful!

    You can use the recipe for the caramel frosting on the Irene’s Chocolate cake recipe ~Stephanie

5 from 9 votes (7 ratings without comment)

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