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.

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Apple Spice Bundt Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

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 is sure to 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

How to Make Apple Spice Cake

1. Cream butter, sugar, and eggs in a large bowl.

2. 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.

3. Add apples, raisins, and nuts. Stir and fold in the fruit and nuts until combined.

4. 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.

5. Combine all frosting ingredients in a small bowl and mix with a mixer until smooth.

6. Spread the frosting over the cake. You can garnish the cake with a sprinkling of lightly toasted chopped walnuts.

Experimenting with Different Ways to Top the Apple Spice Cake

Cream cheese frosting is a rich and delicious addition, but it is not the only option. Besides just 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.

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 if you don’t have a bundt pan, you can still make this spiced apple cake. Use a 13×9 pan for a sheet cake or two 9-inch round cake pans for layer cakes. However, you need to decrease the baking time. Start checking on the cake every 15 minutes. Be sure to grease and 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. 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 the cake defrost overnight in the refrigerator.

Favorite Apple Recipes

• Apple Bread Pudding
• Apple Coffee Cake
• Baked Apples
• Bisquick Apple Dump Cake
• Apple Cinnamon Muffins
• Fried Apples
• Homemade Apple Crisp
• Old Fashioned Apple Pie

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• Chocolate Peppermint Bundt Cake
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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.