Moist Applesauce Bundt Cake
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
With its perfectly moist texture and soft crumb, this applesauce bundt cake is a serious crowd-pleaser. Made with 1 1/4 cups yogurt and 1 3/4 cups applesauce, it will be one of the moistest bundt cakes you ever make. Super simple, it bakes beautifully and evenly every time.
Are you expecting company anytime soon? This applesauce bundt cake might be a good little thing to have on hand. It takes no time to throw together, and it’s the kind of thing, like this one-bowl orange ricotta pound cake and this lemon-ricotta pound cake, that can be enjoyed at any point in the day, early in the morning with coffee, later in the afternoon with tea.
I learned the recipe from my old neighbor, Geri, from Virginia, who always seemed to have this cake on hand anytime she was entertaining. My children and I (and the neighborhood!) couldn’t get enough of it when we found ourselves at her house for one of her legendary gatherings.
Geri started making this cake years ago when her father, who loved sweets, was advised to watch his diet. She found the recipe in some sort of low-fat, heart-healthy cookbook/website and has been making it ever since — for her father, for her own family, for her friends, for nearly every fall gathering and holiday.
Made with 1 1/4 cups yogurt and 1 3/4 cups applesauce, this cake is one of the moistest cakes I have ever made, and I can assure you it does not taste like diet food in any shape or form. And unlike some cakes that get moister the day after they are baked, this one is moist immediately, no doubt a result of the quantity of applesauce and yogurt. Moreover, it bakes beautifully and evenly every time — I don’t know why I don’t use my Bundt pan more often — and it looks pretty to boot.
Best Bundt Cake Pan
I love the shape of a classic, scalloped Bundt pan. I’ve had the 12-cup, Nordic Ware Original Bundt Pan
for years, and I absolutely love it — cakes bake super evenly every time.
How to Get Cake Out of Bundt Pan
There is nothing more crushing than turning out a cake, from a Bundt pan or other vessel, only to find a huge chunk of it stuck to the interior. Four tips:
- Be sure to grease your pan really, really well. I use a generous amount of butter, and I take my time as I grease. If you prefer nonstick spray, that works well, too.
- Let the cake cool in the pan sufficiently before turning it out. I let this cake cool for 45 minutes before turning it out.
- Buy a good Bundt pan. I have never had issues with cake sticking in the (well greased) Bundt pan I mentioned above.
- Set a plate or a cooling rack over the top of the Bundt cake; then flip it over together … video coming soon.
What makes a cake moist?
Often fat, either in the form of oil or butter, is what makes a cake moist, but in this cake the moisture comes primarily from two other sources: yogurt and applesauce. Applesauce is frequently used as a lower-calorie substitute for butter and oil — it miraculously goes a great job providing richness without all the fat. As noted above, there are large amounts of both yogurt and applesauce in this cake as well as a small amount of oil, all of which makes for an incredibly moist cake.
Note: Because sugar is hygroscopic, meaning it attracts and holds onto water molecules, it helps make and keep baked goods moist. There is a fair amount of sugar in this cake, though not an inordinate amount given its size. Many commenters have had success cutting the sugar back considerably, so read those if you are interested in cutting back.
A Few Other Apple Recipes To Make This Fall
- Teddie’s Apple Cake
- Balzano Apple Cake
- Big Apple Pancake
- Apple-Frangipan Galette
- Easy French Apple Tart
- Apple Cobbler with Hot Sugar Crust
How to Make Applesauce Cake
First, gather your ingredients. Whisk together the dry ingredients. Stir together the wet ingredients.
Then combine the two.
Grease a Bundt pan well with butter or nonstick spray.
Pour batter into pan. Transfer to oven and bake at 325ºF for about an hour.
If you wish, you can dust with powdered sugar:
How to Make Applesauce
You absolutely do not need to make homemade applesauce to make this cake, but should you feel inclined, know this: it’s super easy! To make really, really good applesauce, you need nothing more than apples and water — no extra sugar, no extra spice. Here’s what you do: Gather some apples.
Cut straight down around the core of the apple; discard the core; place apple pieces in a pot with a little water — for these five apples, I used 1/3 cup water:
Bring to a boil; then turn the heat down to low. Cover the pot and let the apples cook until tender, 15 to 20 minutes (or longer if you are using more apples). Watch closely at the end — as all of the water evaporates, the juices concentrate and can burn quickly:
Using a slotted spoon (or not if there is very little water left in the pot), transfer the apples to a food mill and crank away:
Can you believe the color of this applesauce? It doesn’t always turn out quite this brilliantly, but the key to getting a beautiful pinkish hue in your applesauce is to 1. Leave the skin on the apples when you make the sauce and 2. Use the right kind of apples. I’ve been using Empires, which consistently produce a beautifully colored, not-so-sweet sauce. The skin on the Empires I used for this batch were particularly deep red in hue. Macintosh apples will also create a nice pink sauce.
Moist Applesauce Bundt Cake
- Total Time: 1 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: 12 servings
- Diet: Low Fat
Description
With its perfectly moist texture and soft crumb, this applesauce cake is a serious crowd-pleaser. Made with 1 1/4 cups yogurt and 1 3/4 cups applesauce, it will be one of the moistest bundt cakes you ever make. It’s super simple, and it bakes beautifully and evenly every time.
Notes:
Sugar: Over the years many of you have asked if you can cut the sugar back in this recipe, and many of you have reported back with successful results. Some of you have used 1 cup, others have used 1.5 cups. Encouraged by you, I recently made the cake with 1.5 cups (330 g) of sugar, and it was a great success. That said, I promise you this cake is not too sweet with 2 cups of sugar. Teddie’s apple cake, which is about the same size, also calls for 2 cups of sugar.
Cinnamon: I like it this cake both with cinnamon and without. It all depends on your preferences. If you’re in the mood for those warming fall spices, use cinnamon. If you’re not in the mood for the spiced flavor, use vanilla. The texture of the cake will be divine no matter what spices you use.
Yogurt: Geri, the woman who shared this recipe with me, uses Dannon plain nonfat yogurt, and her cake always came out incredibly deliciously. I get nervous about these things sometimes and can’t keep myself from buying the full-fat tubs. I used Stonyfield whole milk plain.
To freeze: Let the cake cool completely — this may take several hours from when you turn it out onto a cooling rack. Then wrap the cake in plastic wrap and tuck it into a jumbo Ziplock bag. Freeze for up to 3 months; thaw overnight on the counter before serving.
Ingredients
- 2.75 cups (350 g) flour
- 2 cups (418 g) sugar
- 2 1/2 teaspoons (13 g) baking soda
- 1 1/4 teaspoons (5 g) baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ( 7 g) kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional, see notes)
- 1 3/4 cups (465 g) applesauce
- 1 1/4 cups yogurt (323 g) (see notes regarding fat percentage)
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup (83 g) grapeseed oil, avocado oil, vegetable oil or other neutral oil
- 1 1/2 teaspoons (5 g) vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325ºF. Grease a 12-cup Bundt pan.
- In large bowl, whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon (if using) and salt.
- In a separate bowl, mix applesauce, yogurt, egg, oil and vanilla. Add to dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
- Pour into prepared pan.
- Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Mine have consistently been done at 55 to 60 minutes.
- Cool 15 to 30 minutes or longer — I let mine sit for 45 minutes before turning it out onto a cooling rack. Before turning it out, run a paring knife around the center circle to loosen it a bit. See notes above if you wish to freeze the cake for a future date.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Category: Dessert/Cake
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
154 Comments on “Moist Applesauce Bundt Cake”
Very good cake! I don’t eat regular sugar, so used Allulose (3/4 cup) and added sweet blueberries. Came out great.
Great to hear, Sabrina! Thanks for writing 🙂
Loved this cake! Super moist and delicious. Will definitely make again and highly recommend.
Great to hear, Kristine!
I made this today. I used 1/2 the sugar and used almond flour for 1/2 of the flout. It was great.
Yum! Love the sound of these swaps. Thanks for writing 🙂
So delish! I had some old homemade applesauce in my freezer, so I thawed it out to use in this recipe. Also had some older sour cream tucked away in my fridge, so I used all sour cream instead of yogurt. Used apple pie spice. So easy to mix up, so moist and soft too. Thanks for the recipe!
Do I need to store it in refrigerator or can I leave it out in a cake box?
Out in a cake box is perfect!
Happy New year,
I am making this cake today but If I do two layers can you tell me if it would be 8 or 9 inch?
I made a brown butter cream cheese and I thought it would be nice to use as a middle filling. Perhaps I can cut the Bundt cake in half. LOL. ANYWAY, no need to post just a question?
Going to make with soft milled wheat berries. Crossing my fingers. Everyone loves your peasant bread with my fresh milked hard white wheat. It is so delicious.
Hi! I think either 8 or 9 inch would be fine! I’m likely too late here. What did you end up doing?
I am leaving with the Bundt cake in hand with brown butter cream cheese on top and extra for anyone who wants to put an extra dollop on top. I don’t know how it will taste but it looks beautiful. They are all grateful friends so even if it was dry they would love it. I will continue playing around with fresh milled flour. The breads I have down. Working on desserts. Refuse to buy flour and excited about Bobby Kennedy promoting health.
Thank you for your response! 👍
Now I can rate this cake! Absolutely delicious! I did cut back to 1 1/2 cup of sugar and instead of cinnamon I used my homemade apple pie spice with cardamom.
Everyone raved about it. I did use freshly milled soft white wheat berries and followed your perfect gm measurements. Really only thing different was make a browned butter cream cheese that I squeezed on the lines of the Bundt and served a little extra dollop. Yum.
Thank you.
Great to hear! Thanks for reporting back with your results 🙂
I’ve made this cake at least a dozen times and it’s always perfect. Note though that oven times vary and so it’s possible to easily over bake if you don’t keep your eye on it at the end. I also substitute Granny Smith apples for half of the red ones for a bit of sour with the sweet.
Hi Susan! So nice to hear this. Hope all is well 💕💕💕
Happily retired near San Clemente and living the good life!
That is the dream! So happy to hear this, Susan 💕💕💕
I’ve made this many times and it’s always a huge hit with adults and kids alike, which I love because it’s one of the easiest things to make. This last time I added cardamom instead of cinnamon and it was DELICIOUS. That might be my new go-to (I tend to make with cinnamon and with no cinnamon, equally).
So nice to hear, Michelle! I love cardamom in baked goods… will try that here next time 🙂
This is delicious! I cut back on the sugar and it still tasted great. with the price of eggs these days, I have been trying baking recipes without them. Since this recipe one only uses one, I am thinking about skipping it to see what happens. I think that this would also be great with some kind of drizzled glaze over the top. Thinking maybe a lemon and confectioners sugar or for lower calories use Erythritol or Allulose. Maybe add chopped nuts or blueberries. So many possibilities with this recipe.
Great to hear, Deb! Please report back if you make the recipe with only one egg… would love to know how it turns out.