Apple Cake: Whiskey Spice Bundt

This fall flavored bundt cake recipe is moist and delicious with chunks of tart apple and just enough cinnamon and spice.

You might also like this amazing buttermilk pound cake.

❤️ Why you'll love this recipe

• easy
• full of fall flavor
• delicious

Once baked you'll turn this apple filled bundt cake out of the pan, brush with a whiskey syrup, and add a drizzle of whiskey caramel sauce.  

🧾 Ingredients

Here are the ingredients for this mouthwatering cake recipe!

• Butter - don't substitute margarine or anything else. This cake has a great buttery flavor that you definitely want to keep.
• All-purpose flour - cake flour is just too delicate to hold up to the apples and whiskey and pecans. You'll need to use all-purpose flour. You might try part all-purpose flour and part whole wheat flour if you like a more rustic flavor.
• Whiskey
• Light brown sugar adds just enough flavor without overpowering the apples and spices.
• Eggs of course. I always use large sized eggs in my recipes.
• Baking powder and baking soda help the cake to rise without making it too light.
• Cinnamon adds the perfect amount of fall flavor.
• Chipotle is optional. I like it because its smoky flavor works with the cinnamon.
• Salt - I always use kosher salt. If you use regular table salt then be sure to use less than what's called for in the recipe.
• Whole nutmegs that you grate just before making your recipe have a very different flavor from the dried out powder in the store. I highly recommend getting them whole and using the finest blades of a grater or a micro-plane.
• Sour cream helps the cake bake up moist.
• Vanilla adds a little more flavor.
• Lemon helps brighten the flavor.
• Apples are grated AND cubed for more apple flavor in each bite. Have some left over? Try this apple bread recipe!
• Pecans are optional but what's a Texas whiskey cake without some pecans?

🔪 Instructions

Note: This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the green recipe card below.

Step one

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Grease and flour a 12-cup bundt pan.

Step two

3. Beat together the brown sugar and butter until light and fluffy.
4. Beat in the eggs.
5. In another large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.
6. In another large mixing bowl mix the sour cream, whiskey, lemon zest, and vanilla.
7. Add the dry mixture and sour cream mixture to the butter mixture.
8. Fold in the diced apples, grated apples, and pecans.
9. Spoon the batter into the prepared bundt pan.

Step three

10. Bake.
11. Cool slightly and turn out of pan.
12. Brush glaze on cake.

🥫 Storage

This cake can be wrapped with plastic wrap or put in an airtight cake carrier and be stored at room temperature for 4 or 5 days. It actually gets better after the first day.

You can also freeze it for up to 4 months.

When You Need a Fall Dessert Recipe...

This is the truly best apple cake recipe ever! Some of the tangy apples are cut in chunks and some are grated then stirred into a spice cake batter along with buttery pecans and a generous amount of whiskey.

It bakes in a bundt pan for about 50 minutes, during which time your entire house will smell like fall.

After it comes out of the oven it's brushed with a whiskey glaze and then cooled.

Meanwhile your family will be gathering in the kitchen, forks in hand. It's that good. But wait! There's more! Serve the thick, moist slices of cake with a drizzle of homemade whiskey caramel sauce for what is now your family's favorite cake.

👩🏻‍🍳 Frequently asked questions

Here are the questions I am most frequently asked about this recipe.

📚 Related recipes

Oh y'all. Did you really think this apple cake was the only boozy recipe I had on the blog? You know me so much better than that. You can substitute whiskey for bourbon in any of these recipes, by the way.

• Bourbon Cake is so buttery and moist, and it is bursting with bourbon flavor. The pecans add texture and that smooth buttery pecan flavor. 
• Boozy Chocolate Covered Cherries are marinated in bourbon and then dipped in white chocolate instead of milk or dark chocolate. They are delicious and pretty. 
• Bourbon Peanut Brittle is easy to make and it goes from measuring cup to mouth in about 20 minutes! A few simple ingredients, a heavy pan, and a candy thermometer and you’ll be eating this foolproof candy in no time.
• Whiskey Sour Bundt Cake is a dense, tender bundt cake recipe is flavored with citrus and Maraschino cherries then soaked in a butter-bourbon syrup after it’s baked.
• Pumpkin Spice Bread with Bourbon Glaze with a sweet, bourbon glaze fairly screams fall flavors and winter holidays. As this spicy fall recipe bakes your kitchen fills with the warm, comforting aromas of cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg.
• Irish Apple Cake is an imagination inspiring addition to your table whether as dessert after dinner or a mid-afternoon pick me up. One bite and you’ll be imagining faded chintz sofas, crackling fires, and steaming cups of good Irish tea.

This easy apple bundt cake is perfect for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or just a celebration of fall! It freezes well for up to 3 months so you can make it ahead of time or store it, tightly covered, at room temperature for up to 4 days. Looking for a layer cake? Try my spice cake with maple cream cheese frosting!

If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need. Don't forget that you can click on "add to collection" to save it to your own, private recipe box!

If you love this recipe please give it a 5 star rating. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

📖 Recipe

4.67 from 3 votes

Apple Spice Bundt Cake with Whiskey Glaze

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Sweet and spicy, this apple bundt cake has all the flavors of fall. The combination of fresh apples and whiskey glaze keeps it moist for days - if it lasts that long. Tastes best the second day. Dust with Confectioner's sugar and drizzle with some caramel syrup before serving, if desired.

Course Cake

Cuisine American - Southern

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Servings:12 servings

Calories:534

Author:Marye Audet-White

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Equipment Needed

• ▢
  Stand mixer
• ▢
  rubber spatula

Ingredients

1x2x3x

Cake

• ▢ ½ cup butter, , room temperature
• ▢ 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• ▢ ¼ cup whiskey
• ▢ 1 ¾ cup light brown sugar
• ▢ 4 eggs, , room temperature
• ▢ 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ▢ 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
• ▢ 1 teaspoon salt
• ▢ ½ teaspoon chipotle powder, ,optional but SO perfect in this
• ▢ ½ teaspoon cloves
• ▢ ½  teaspoon nutmeg,   , freshly grated
• ▢ 1 cup sour cream
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 1 ½ teaspoons lemon zest, , finely grated
• ▢ 1 ½ cups apples, , peeled and diced
• ▢ ½ cup apples, , grated
• ▢ 1 cup toasted pecans, , chopped

Glaze

• ▢ ½ cup whiskey
• ▢ ½ cup sugar
• ▢ 1 tablespoon  lemon juice

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Cake

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• Grease and flour a 12-cup bundt pan.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the brown sugar and butter on medium-high speed for 5 minutes or until light and fluffy.
• Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time, until well mixed.
• In another bowl, whisk together the flour with the baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, chipotle, cloves, salt and nutmeg.
• In another bowl, whisk together the sour cream, whiskey, and vanilla until smooth.
• Stir in the lemon zest.
• With the mixer on medium speed, add the dry mixture and sour cream mixture to the butter mixture in three additions, starting and ending with the flour mixture.
• Fold in the diced apples, grated apples, and pecans.
• Spoon the batter into the prepared bundt pan.
• Bake until the cake is golden brown and a skewer inserted into the cake comes out dry - about 60 minutes - start checking at 50 minutes.
• Cool in the pan 10 minutes, then run a paring knife around the sides of the pan to release the cake.

Glaze

• Combine ½ cup sugar and ½ cup whiskey in a saucepan on low heat.
• Stir until the sugar dissolves and the mixture begins to simmer.
• Let simmer 2 minutes.
• Add lemon juice and stir.
• Cool slightly and brush on all surfaces of the warm cake.

Notes

You usually want a firm, tangy apple for cakes and pies. Some of my favorites are -

• Honeycrisp (used in this apple cake recipe)
• Granny Smith
• Winesap
• Braeburn
• Jazz
• McIntosh

You may have different varieties available where you are - try different apples and in different combinations to see what you like best.

Nutrition Facts

Calories: 534kcal | Carbohydrates: 65g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 25g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Cholesterol: 50mg | Sodium: 463mg | Potassium: 241mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 42g | Vitamin A: 630IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 94mg | Iron: 1.8mg

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First published November 8, 2018. Last updated July 13, 2021 for readability.