Apple Cake + Cinnamon Bourbon Glaze
This Apple Cake + Cinnamon Bourbon Glaze features a spiced cake topped with a tasty bourbon glaze. Bake one up today!
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I think my love of apples and baking is pretty established now. For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been eating apples with nearly every meal. I’ve had apple bread for breakfast, apple tarts for dessert, and of course just plain sliced apples for lunch. If the old adage has any truth to it, then I’m pretty sure I won’t need to see the doctor for quite some time!
One of my long-time favorite apple recipes is this delicious Apple Cake with Cinnamon Bourbon Glaze. What’s not to love here? You’ve got some of the best flavors of Fall (apples, cinnamon, and nutmeg) combined with a glaze that features just a hint of bourbon. It’s like an after-dinner drink and dessert served together in one delicious bite! (If you aren’t a fan of bourbon, then you can easily leave it out of the glaze.)
I typically bake this cake in a bundt pan simply because I love the way it looks once it’s baked. I’ve made this cake a number of times for family and friends, but for some reason this time I left the chunks of apples larger than normal. And you know what? I think I like it better this way! Normally I would dice the apples pretty finely (1/2″ dice), but this time I went with about a 1″ dice. Not only does it make the apples easier to dice, but the larger chunks of apple give the cake a wonderful texture. This first Apple Cake + Cinnamon Bourbon Glaze didn’t last long, but I’m fairly certain more of these cakes will be coming out of the oven before apple season is over!
Apple Cake + Cinnamon Bourbon Glaze
Ingredients
For the Apple Cake
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups sugar
- ½ Tbsp baking powder
- ½ Tbsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp allspice
- 1½ cups vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 cups diced apples 1" cubes (~3-4 medium apples)
For the Cinnamon Bourbon Glaze
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- ⅔ cup milk
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 Tbsp bourbon
Instructions
For the Apple Cake
- Grease and flour (or spray) a bundt pan. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, allspice). Stir until well combined.
- In a medium bowl, combine all of the wet ingredients (oil, eggs, vanilla) and mix until well combined.
- Pour half of the wet mixture into the dry mixture and stir until wet mixture is fully absorbed.
- Repeat with remaining half of wet mixture. Stir until combined. (Take care not to overmix here. Just mix until all ingredients are combined.)
- Add the diced apples to the mixture and gently fold them into the batter.
- Pour batter into floured bundt pan. Bake at 300°F for 85-90 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean.
For the Cinnamon Bourbon Glaze
- Combine all Glaze ingredients (sugar, flour, milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, bourbon) in a medium saucepan. Stir constantly over medium heat until glaze thickens (~3-4 minutes). Allow cake to cool slightly before topping with glaze. Serve cake warm or at room temperature.
Looking for more tasty apple dessert recipes? Check out these other favorites, too:
Caramel Apple Tartlets
Individual Apple Pies
Apple Pie with Cheddar Cheese Crust
I had to chuckle, I’m sure the apples are keeping your doctors far away.
I thought it was interesting that the recipe calls for equal amounts of cinnamon and nutmeg. I have become quite a fan of nutmeg recently–anything that you would put cinnamon on, nutmeg is a great accompaniment.
I also noticed this uses both baking soda and baking powder. I really never understood the difference between them, or what each one’s advantage is. (?)
Thanks, SueAnn! I’m a huge fan of both cinnamon and nutmeg, and I always seem to be buying both in bulk. Nutmeg can get seriously strong on you if you aren’t careful, though. (Not like I know from personal experience or anything!)
As far as baking soda and baking powder, both are used to leaven baked goods (i.e. help them “rise” in the oven). Generally speaking, baking soda requires something acidic (i.e. yogurt, buttermilk, or even chocolate) in the recipe in order to activate. Baking powder is just baking soda that also contains an acid, so baking powder just requires any type of moisture to activate. I like to use both in recipes where there’s not a lot of acid to balance the soda. This is getting long…and probably kinda boring. Sorry for my food nerdiness!
This will definitely not last long in my house either! I love the big chunks of apple in the cake. I need to start putting a dent on my apples this weekend by baking…so far I’ve just been eating them raw.
Same here! I love baking with apples…but they are so tasty that I just keep eating them raw. And my dogs LOVE apples. Cracks me up every time when they crunch away at a slice!
This recipe is so you David. I love it, and already printed it. I’m going to try it with half whole-wheat, since I am sure that these flavors will stand up to it just fine. I am so intrigued by the flour in the glaze. I don’t normally think of that as an ingredient for glaze, but it makes perfect sense now that I see it.
Hehe…thanks, Katie! I bet the 1/2 whole wheat would be a great addition actually. The slight nutty flavor would really go with the flavors here. Let me know how it turns out!
I’ve been going through my big share of apples too. Personally, I’m glad you used big chunks in this cake so you know it’s apple cake and you’re not trying to find the pieces.
Thanks, Carla! The big pieces were a bit of a “mistake” (err…laziness) this time, but I actually loved the change. I changed my recipe for future versions because of it! 🙂
Could I substitute brandy for the bourbon?
Hey Rose! You absolutely could substitute brandy for the bourbon. Just taste it as you go. If it starts to taste too strong, just use a little milk instead of more brandy. (Or you could go non-alcoholic and use all milk for the glaze, too.) Let me know how the brandy glaze turns out if you try it!!
Just made this for my diabetic dad and it was a hit. I doubled the cinnamon and nutmeg and used splenda in place of sugar. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Wow, that you so much for coming back and letting me know, Lois! This is one of my favorite Fall cakes! It’s good to know that it still tastes great using Splenda instead of sugar. I’m glad it was a hit. 🙂