Apple cider cake tastes like autumn concentrated into cake form. The cider gets reduced down to intensify its flavor, which infuses the cake with deep apple notes that regular apple cake can’t match. It’s moist from the cider and sour cream, tender from careful mixing, and finished with a cider glaze that soaks into the warm cake and hardens into a sweet shell.
This is what you make when apple cider season hits and you want something beyond just drinking it. The cake is sophisticated enough for company but simple enough to make on a weeknight.
What You’ll Need
For the Reduced Cider:
- 2 cups apple cider
For the Cake:
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- ¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup sour cream, room temperature
- ½ cup reduced apple cider (from the 2 cups above)
For the Cider Glaze:
- 1½ cups powdered sugar
- 3-4 tablespoons reduced apple cider (from the 2 cups above)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch of kosher salt
Tools:
- Small saucepan
- 10-inch Bundt pan
- Large mixing bowl
- Medium mixing bowl
- Small bowl
- Electric mixer
- Whisk
- Spatula
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Wire cooling rack
Reducing the Cider
Pour the 2 cups of apple cider into your small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium and let it simmer for about 20-25 minutes. You’re looking to reduce it down to about ¾ cup. It should be thick, syrupy, and deeply concentrated.
Watch it carefully toward the end so it doesn’t burn. When it reaches ¾ cup, remove it from the heat and let it cool to room temperature.
You’ll use ½ cup in the cake and the rest in the glaze.
Preparing the Cake
While the cider cools, preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease your Bundt pan thoroughly with butter or baking spray. Every ridge matters.
In your medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. Set aside.
Making the Batter
In your large bowl, beat the softened butter with both sugars using an electric mixer on medium speed for about 4 minutes. The mixture should be light, fluffy, and pale.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Beat in the vanilla extract.
In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the sour cream and ½ cup of the cooled reduced cider.
Add a third of the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix on low speed just until combined. Add half of the sour cream mixture and mix. Continue alternating, ending with the dry ingredients. Mix just until no flour streaks remain.
The batter will be thick, smooth, and smell strongly of cider and spices.
Baking
Pour the batter into your prepared Bundt pan. Spread it evenly and smooth the top.
Bake for 45-50 minutes. The cake is done when a long skewer or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the top springs back when lightly pressed.
The cake should be deeply golden and smell incredible.
Cooling
Let the cake cool in the pan for exactly 15 minutes. Use a timer.
After 15 minutes, place a wire rack over the pan and carefully invert. Give it a gentle shake. The cake should release. If it resists, wait another 3-5 minutes.
Let the cake cool on the rack for about 30 minutes. You want it warm but not hot when you glaze it.
Making the Cider Glaze
In your small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons of the remaining reduced cider, vanilla extract, and salt.
The glaze should be thick but pourable. If it’s too thick, add another tablespoon of cider. If too thin, add more powdered sugar.
Glazing
Place the cooling rack with the cake over a baking sheet or parchment paper to catch drips.
Pour the glaze slowly over the top of the warm cake, letting it drip down the sides. Use all of it.
Let the glaze set for about 30 minutes. It will harden slightly but stay soft and sweet.
Serving
Slice into thick wedges. The cake is tender and moist with a concentrated apple flavor that’s different from fresh apple cake—richer, more caramel-like.
This makes 12-14 servings.
Store covered at room temperature for up to 4 days. The cake stays incredibly moist thanks to the reduced cider and sour cream.
For an extra touch, serve slices with a dollop of cinnamon whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
You can also make this in a 9×13-inch pan instead. Bake for 35-40 minutes and pour the glaze over the warm cake right in the pan.
The reduced cider is the key to this recipe. Don’t skip that step or substitute regular cider—you need the concentrated flavor. Make extra reduced cider and store it in the refrigerator to use in cocktails, oatmeal, or brushed on pork chops.
