April 18, 2023
Review RecipeApplesauce Bundt Cake

Table of Contents
This mouth-watering applesauce bundt cake is deliciously spiced and has a perfectly moist texture. The delightful cake is made with tart applesauce and drizzled with a sweet caramel glaze that is the perfect way to enjoy the flavor of apples all year long. We’re proud to partner with Musselman’s Apple Sauce to bring you this original dessert recipe.
For more tasty recipes made with applesauce, our applesauce cake and applesauce cookies are two of our favorites.

Applesauce Bundt Cake Ingredients

You’ll need:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon apple pie spice blend
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 eggs, room temperature
- 1¾ cups Musselman’s Applesauce
- 1½ cups light brown sugar, firmly packed
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- Your favorite store-bought salted caramel sauce
PRO TIP:
If you do not want to buy a large jar of Musselman’s Applesauce for this recipe, you can use 2 (6-ounce) Big Cups for kids. They are sold as a four-pack where you find canned fruits at your grocery store. You can save the other 2 cups for future recipes or send them in your child’s school lunch.
SUBSTITUTIONS AND ADDITIONS
CARAMEL SAUCE: If you would like to make your caramel sauce from scratch, check out our caramel sauce recipe here. Make sure you warm it up slightly if it isn’t easily pourable.
APPLE PIE SPICE: If you do not have an apple pie spice blend, you can substitute that with a mixture of 2¼ teaspoons cinnamon, ½ teaspoon nutmeg, and ¼ teaspoon cloves.
OIL: If you do not have vegetable oil, canola or avocado oil will work just as well in this applesauce cake recipe. You want to make sure it is a light and neutral oil. Coconut or olive oil will NOT work for this recipe as they will impart too much of their flavor to the cake, and it will not be as delicious.

How to Make This Applesauce Bundt Cake Recipe
STEP ONE: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 12-cup bundt pan with baker’s spray. Set it aside.
STEP TWO: In a medium bowl, add the all-purpose flour, apple pie spice blend,
baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir to combine.

STEP THREE: In a large bowl, add the eggs, Musselman’s Applesauce, light brown sugar, vegetable oil, granulated sugar, and vanilla extract.
OUR RECIPE DEVELOPER SAYS
When measuring your brown sugar, make sure to pack it into the dry measuring cup. This ensures an accurate measurement. You do not need to do this with granulated (white) sugar.

STEP FOUR: Using an electric mixer on medium speed, mix the wet ingredients for 1 minute.
STEP FIVE: Add half the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix for 30 seconds. Add the remaining half of the flour mixture to the bowl and mix for an additional 30 seconds or until the batter is smooth and all the flour has been incorporated. You will want to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure that the cake batter is evenly mixed.

STEP SIX: Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake cake for 45 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick or cake tester inserted comes out clean.

STEP SEVEN: Once your cake has been baked, using a long toothpick or wooden skewer, poke a lot of little holes all over the top of the cake which, once flipped out of the bundt pan, will actually be the bottom of your cake.

STEP EIGHT: With your ¾ cup warm caramel sauce, you will very slowly drizzle it onto the warm cake, allowing the caramel sauce to soak into all the tiny holes. You can use a spoon to gently ease any standing caramel sauce into all the holes.

STEP NINE: Let the cake cool in the bundt pan for 30 to 45 minutes before flipping it onto a serving plate. You will want to make sure that all the caramel sauce has soaked into the cake before removing it from the pan.
STEP TEN: Once you have plated your applesauce bundt cake, you can take your reserved ½ cup caramel sauce and drizzle it over the top of the cake for garnish. You may need to re-warm the caramel sauce if it has cooled too much and has started to firm up. You can easily do this in the microwave for 15 to 20 seconds.
PRO TIP:
If you do not wish to either soak your cake with the caramel or garnish the top with it, you can store your remaining caramel sauce in a sealed jar, in the refrigerator, for up to a month. It makes a wonderful ice cream topping. You will want to remove the lid and microwave it for 15 to 30 seconds to warm it up enough to make it pourable before use.

How To Serve
This delicious applesauce cake is the perfect dessert to serve when you welcome company. It looks beautiful and tastes as delicious as it looks. Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side with a little extra drizzle of caramel sauce right before serving.

MORE CAKE RECIPES
Storage
IN THE FRIDGE: You can store your spiced applesauce cake in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. I do not suggest leaving it out at room temperature for more than 24 hours as the caramel will make the cake too soggy.
IN THE FREEZER: Once the cake has cooled, you can wrap it in plastic wrap and then in a large Ziploc bag. It will keep in the freezer for up to three months.

This amazing applesauce cake is one of the moistest cakes you’ll ever have thanks to the caramel sauce that is soaked into the cake once it is baked. A slice of this divine cake is perfect for dessert or an afternoon snack along with a cup of tea or coffee.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
To easily invert cake, lay a flat plate over the top of the cake pan. Carefully flip the cake over onto the plate. Bang on the bottom of the pan for good measure, then lift the pan off.
This easy cake recipe will keep in the freezer for up to three months. Once cooled, wrap it in plastic wrap and then a Ziploc bag.
You will want to use a 12-cup bundt pan for this applesauce cake recipe.
More Recipes You’ll Love
- Apple Donuts
- Oreo Poke Cake
- Chocolate Dump Cake
- Apple Dump Cake
- Turtle Poke Cake
- Peach Dump Cake
- Custard Pie
- Crockpot Applesauce
- Easy Vanilla Cake
- Apple Pie Filling
- Cinnamon Butter
- Black Forest Icebox Cake
- Campfire Apple Crisp in Foil Packets

Applesauce Bundt Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon apple pie spice blend
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 eggs, room temperature
- 1¾ cups Musselman’s Applesauce
- 1½ cups light brown sugar, firmly packed
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Homemade Caramel Sauce
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup water
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 4 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 12-cup bundt pan with baker’s spray. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, add the all-purpose flour, apple pie spice blend,
- baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir to combine.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the eggs, Musselman’s applesauce, light brown sugar, vegetable oil, granulated sugar, and vanilla extract.
- Using a handheld mixer on medium speed, mix the wet ingredients for 1 minute.
- To the wet ingredients, add half the flour mixture and mix for 30 seconds. Add the remaining half of the flour mixture to the bowl and mix for an additional 30 seconds or until the batter is smooth and all the flour has been incorporated. You will want to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure that the batter is evenly mixed. Do not overmix, or you will get a dense cake.
- Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan and bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Once your cake has been baked, using a long toothpick or wooden skewer poke a lot of little holes all over the top of the cake (which once flipped out of the pan will actually be the bottom of your cake).
- With your ¾ cup warm caramel sauce, you will very slowly drizzle it onto the cake, allowing the caramel sauce to soak into all the tiny holes. You can use a spoon to gently ease any standing caramel sauce into all the little holes.
- Allow the cake to cool in the bundt pan for 30 to 45 minutes before flipping it onto a serving plate. You will want to make sure that all the caramel sauce has soaked into the cake before removing it from the pan.
- Once you have plated your applesauce bundt cake, you can take your reserved ½ cup caramel sauce and drizzle it over the top of the cake for garnish. You may need to re-warm the caramel sauce if it has cooled too much and has started to firm up. You can easily do this in the microwave for 15 to 20 seconds.
Caramel Sauce
- In a very clean, 3-quart saucepan, add the granulated sugar and water. With your heat on medium-high, cook the sugar and water for 5 to 6 minutes. Do not disturb, or stir, the sugar until it starts to get a light gold color.
- Once your sugar starts to get a little golden in color, you can very gently stir it with a whisk to prevent hot spots in your caramel and cook it for another 2 to 3 minutes. Make sure you are stirring every few seconds until your sugar reaches a medium gold color. Watch your caramel sauce very closely at this point, as it can go from light to burnt very quickly. Turn off the heat.
- Add the heavy cream and whisk until it is incorporated. Be careful as your caramel will bubble up rapidly.
- Once your heavy cream is fully incorporated, add the butter and whisk until the butter has fully incorporated into the caramel.
- Finally, add the vanilla extract and salt. Stir to combine.
- You will have about 1 ¼ cups of caramel sauce. Transfer ½ cup to a small liquid measuring cup to save for a decorative drizzle on the top of the cake.
- You will use the remaining ¾ cup caramel sauce to soak into the applesauce cake while it is warm. See step 8 above
Notes
- If you do not want to buy a large jar of Musselman’s applesauce for this recipe, you can use 2 (6-ounce) Big Cups for kids. They are sold as a four pack where you find canned fruits at your grocery store. You can save the other 2 cups for future recipes or send them in your child’s school lunch.
- When measuring your brown sugar, make sure to pack it into the dry measuring cup. This ensures an accurate measurement. You do not need to do this with granulated (white) sugar.
- Do not overmix, or you will get a dense and tough cake.
- If you do not wish to either soak your cake with the caramel or garnish the top with it, you can store your remaining caramel sauce in a sealed jar, in the refrigerator, for up to a month. It makes a wonderful ice cream topping. You will want to remove the lid and microwave it for 15-30 seconds to warm it up enough to make it pourable before use.
Comments
Elizabeth Lewis says
Absolutely amazing! Very moist. I didn’t poke the holes to drizzle the sauce in but I made a different caramel glaze to drizzle on top of cake. This cake is nice and light too. Great texture