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Apple Bundt Cake

From Dorie Greenspan’s latest cookbook, Dorie’s Anytime Cakes
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings: 10 servings
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

For the apples:
  • 2 large apples about 1 pound; 455 grams, peeled and cored
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspooon ground cinnamon
For the cake:
  • 2 3/4 cups 374 grams all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 1/2 cups 300 grams brown sugar
  • 3 large eggs at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup 120 ml pure maple syrup
  • 1 cup 240 ml neutral oil
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup 120 ml full-fat buttermilk (well shaken before measuring) at room temperature
For the caramel:
  • 8 tablespoons 4 ounces; 113 grams unsalted butter
  • 1 cup 200 grams brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup 60 ml evaporated milk, half-and-half, or cream
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Method
 

  1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat it to 350 degrees F. Choose a 10-cup Bundt pan, preferably one that doesn’t have a complicated design; coat it with baker’s spray or butter it, dust the interior with flour and tap out the excess.
  2. To prep the apples: Cut the apples into small chunks. Try to keep them less than 1/2 inch, but don’t fuss over neatness here; even a rough chop will work. You should have between 3 1/2 and 4 cups of chunks (but again, precision’s not necessary). Put the apples, sugar, flour, and cinnamon in a large bowl and toss together to coat the apples; set aside.
  3. To make the cake: Whisk the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt together.
  4. Working in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the brown sugar and eggs together on medium speed for about 3 minutes. Still working on medium, and scraping the bowl and beater(s) as needed, blend in the maple syrup, followed by the oil and then the vanilla. Turn off the mixer, add half of the flour mixture and mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are almost incorporated. Pour in the buttermilk and mix just until incorporated, then add the remainder of the dry ingredients and mix just until they disappear into the thin batter.
  5. Give the apples a quick stir, scrape them into the batter — include any syrup that has accumulated — and mix them in with a flexible spatula. Pour the batter into the pan.
  6. Bake for 60 to 70 minutes, or until the cake just starts to pull away from the sides of the pan and, more important, a tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. The batter may have baked a bit higher than the center opening, but that’s fine. Transfer the cake to a rack and let it sit for 10 minutes, then un-mold it onto the rack and allow it to cool to room temperature.
  7. To make the caramel: Put the butter, brown sugar, milk (or half-and-half or cream) and vanilla in a medium saucepan set over medium heat. Bring to a boil and keep at a bubble, stirring, for 2 minutes. Use the caramel immediately as a glaze for the cake (put the cake on a rack set over a baking sheet or a piece of parchment paper and pour over the caramel) or as a sauce over slices of cake, or over ice cream, if you’re serving it.

Notes

Storing: The cake can be wrapped and kept for about 3 days at room temperature. Without the caramel, it can be wrapped airtight and frozen for up to a month; thaw in the wrapper.