This Eggless Apple Cider Donut Cake is moist, dense, buttery, and full of apple flavor. Super easy to make with kitchen staples. It’s perfect for dessert, brunch, or with your afternoon coffee.
This Eggless Apple Cider Donut Cake was inspired by this Eggless Apple Cider Doughnuts recipe, which has become one of your favorite fall desserts.
It’s moist, dense, buttery, and full of apple flavor. Plus, it couldn’t be easier; this Bundt cake requires just 2 bowls: 1 for wet and 1 for dry. The ingredients are all kitchen staples like flour, spices, vanilla, etc.
This apple cider doughnut cake is perfect for dessert, brunch, or with your afternoon coffee.
Add a generous drizzle of brown butter glaze. It’s a big cake, for sure, so invite a bunch of friends and family over to help gobble it up.
Let’s get baking!
EGGLESS APPLE CIDER DONUT CAKE INGREDIENTS
Please check the recipe card at the bottom of the post for exact quantities and detailed instructions (scroll down).
You’ll need:
For the Apple Cider Cake:
- Apple cider – See instructions on the recipe card to make your own apple cider at home.
- All-purpose flour – Standard all-purpose flour works best here; skip the cake flour, bread flour, and wheat flour.
- Baking powder & Baking soda – Make sure they are not expired.
- Salt – I prefer kosher or sea salt.
- Ground cinnamon
- Apple pie spice –
- Unsalted butter – You can also use salted butter if that is what you have handy. In that case, skip the salt called in the recipe.
- Vegetable oil – Or any light-tasting oil of your preference.
- Granulated sugar – Also known as caster sugar.
- Brown sugar – Light or dark brown sugar will work for this recipe.
- Milk – For baking, I like to use whole milk. However, you can use any milk you have handy.
- Plain regular yogurt – you can substitute plain yogurt for plain sour cream. I recommend using the full-fat versions.
- Pure vanilla extract
For the Brown Sugar Glaze
- Brown sugar – Light or dark brown sugar will work for this glaze.
- Unsalted butter
- Heavy cream – Make sure it has at least 35% of fat content.
- Confectioners’ sugar
- Salt
EGGLESS APPLE CIDER DONUT CAKE STEP BY STEP RECIPE PHOTO TUTORIAL
Please check the recipe card at the bottom of the post for exact quantities and detailed instructions (scroll down).
1 – REDUCE THE APPLE CIDER
Bring apple cider to a boil in a small pot over medium-high heat. Boil until reduced to half and syrupy. Let it cool while you prepare the batter.
2 – MAKE THE BATTER
Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and apple pie spice in a large mixing bowl.
In a separate bowl whisk together, melted butter, oil, sugars, milk, reduced apple cider, yogurt, and vanilla until combined.
Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients; mix until evenly combined with no lumps.
3 – POUR THE BATTER INTO THE PREPARED PAN
4 – BAKE
Bake for 40 – 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes, then remove from the pan. Allow the cake to cool completely on a wire cooling rack before glazing or slicing.
5 – MAKE THE GLAZE
Combine the brown sugar, butter, and heavy cream in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring often. Allow to boil for 1 minute without stirring, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 1 minute. Remove from heat and whisk in the sifted confectioners’ sugar.
Allow glaze to cool and slightly thicken. Drizzle glaze over the cake right before serving. NOTE: If your glaze thickens up too much before serving the cake, warm in the microwave for 10 -15 seconds and stir until smooth.
PRO TIP: Instead of grazing your cake with brown sugar glaze you can brush the whole cake with melted butter and then sprinkle it with cinnamon sugar.
QUICK BAKING TIPS
Make sure you use Apple cider, NOT apple juice.
Have all the ingredients at room temperature. This helps the ingredients mix better and avoid overmixing the batter. Overmixed batter will result in a dense cake.
Measure the ingredients correctly. I highly recommend using a kitchen scale.
Don’t overmix the batter. Instead, mix just until you’ve evenly distributed the ingredients throughout the batter.
Bake the cake as soon as the batter is ready.
Don’t open the oven door until the cake has set. Leave the oven closed until the minimum time stated in the recipe.
Preheat the oven at least 20 minutes before you get started to give it plenty of time to reach the ideal recipe temperature.
Every oven is different, so baking times always have to be taken with a grain of salt. Oven thermostats can be wildly off, and that will all affect baking time, so keep an eye on yours. The cake(s) are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
SUBSTITUTIONS AND ADDITIONS
APPLE PIE SPICE: If you don’t have apple pie spice, substitute for 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon + 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg + 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice.
GLUTEN-FREE: Substitute all-purpose flour for 1-to-1 Gluten-Free flour. This is my favorite brand.
DAIRY-FREE: Use your favorite plant-based milk, dairy-free, or vegan butter. Make sure to use an unflavored, unsweetened variety of non-dairy milk. Soy and oat milk have the best consistency and very neutral flavors.
My favorite dairy-free butter for baking are:
Also, use dairy-free yogurt.
STORING & FREEZING EGGLESS APPLE CIDER DONUT CAKE
STORE: Leftover cake can be stored (well wrapped) at room temperature for 3-4 days. It can also be stored in the refrigerator for a smidge longer.
FREEZE: This cake can be frozen for up to 1 month. To freeze, make sure the cake cools completely and wrap it in several plastic wrap layers to ensure it is tightly sealed. An extra layer of aluminum foil wouldn’t be a bad idea either. It’s a small step that offers extra protection against freezer burn!
Defrost the cake at room temperature before serving and frosting. Keep in mind that the cake will lose a bit of its fluffiness if refrigerated or frozen.
MORE RECIPES YOU’LL LOVE
- Eggless Apple Cider Donuts
- Eggless Apple Cinnamon Rolls
- Easy Apple Butter
- Eggless Apple Spice Cake
- Eggless Pumpkin Roll
- Easy Eggless Pumpkin Pie
- Eggless Pumpkin Cake
- Browse more recipes…
Love what you see? Subscribe to Mommy’s Home Cooking so you’ll never miss a recipe! Follow along on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook for more fun!
Eggless Apple Cider Donut Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup (360 ml) apple cider
- 3 cup (420 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons apple pie spice
- 3 tablespoon (45 g) unsalted butter, melted
- 3 tablespoon (45 ml) vegetable or canola oil
- 3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup (150 g) brown sugar
- 3/4 cup (180 ml) milk
- 1/3 cup (80 g) plain regular yogurt
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) pure vanilla extract
Brown Sugar Glaze
- 1 cup (200 g) brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (60 g) unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) heavy cream
- 1/2 cup (60 g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
PREHEAT THE OVEN AND PREPARE THE PAN
- Preheat oven to 325º F (165º C). Generously spray a 10-cup Bundt pan with nonstick spray, then dust well with flour, and set aside.
REDUCE THE APPLE CIDER
- Bring 1 1/2 cup apple cider to a boil in a small pot over medium-high heat. Boil until reduced to 3/4 cup and syrupy, about 5 – 8 minutes. Let it cool while you prepare the batter.
MAKE THE BATTER
- Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and apple pie spice in a large bowl.
- In a separate bowl whisk together, melted butter, oil, sugars, milk, reduced apple cider, yogurt, and vanilla until combined.
- Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients; mix until evenly combined with no lumps.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
BAKE
- Bake for 40 – 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes, then remove from the pan. Allow the cake to cool completely on a wire rack before icing or slicing.
MAKE THE GLAZE
- Combine the brown sugar, butter, heavy cream and salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring often. Allow to boil for 1 minute without stirring, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 1 minute. Remove from heat and whisk in the sifted confectioners’ sugar.
- Allow glaze to cool and slightly thicken. Drizzle glaze over the cake right before serving. NOTE: If your glaze thickens up too much before serving the cake, warm in the microwave for 10 -15 seconds and stir until smooth.
- Measure the ingredients correctly. I highly recommend using a kitchen scale.
- Don’t overmix the batter. Instead, mix just until you’ve evenly distributed the ingredients throughout the batter.
- Bake the cake as soon as the batter is ready.Â
- Don’t open the oven door until the cake has set. Leave the oven closed until the minimum time stated in the recipe.
- Preheat the oven at least 20 minutes before you get started to give it plenty of time to reach the ideal recipe temperature.
- Every oven is different, so baking times always have to be taken with a grain of salt. Oven thermostats can be wildly off, and that will all affect baking time, so keep an eye on yours. The cake(s) are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.Â
- Eggless Apple Cider Donuts
- Eggless Apple Cinnamon Rolls
- Eggless Apple Spice Cake
- Easy Apple Butter
- Eggless Pumpkin Roll
- Easy Eggless Pumpkin Pie
- Eggless Pumpkin Cake
- Browse more recipes…
Nutrition
Eggless Baking Frequently Asked Questions
You’ve asked, I’ve answered! Read on for a handful of answers to the most frequently asked questions about eggless baking.