Cider-Glazed Apple Bundt Cake
From Cook's Illustrated:
A Bundt pan is a practical vessel for baking a moist cake, such as our Cider-Glazed Apple Bundt Cake, because the central hole allows heat to quickly reach the center of the batter, which would remain dense and underbaked by the time the exterior was cooked through if baked in a conventional round cake pan. We also wanted more apple flavor in our cake, but simply adding extra apples made the crumb soggy and dense. We limited the apples to 1 1/2 pounds and bolstered their flavor with a reduction of apple cider mixed into the batter, brushed onto the warm exterior of the baked cake, and stirred into an icing. Minimizing the amount of spices allowed the apple flavor to shine.
For the sake of efficiency, begin boiling the cider before assembling the rest of the ingredients. Reducing the cider to exactly 1 cup is important; if you accidentally overreduce it, make up the difference with water. To ensure that the icing has the proper consistency, we recommend weighing the confectioners’ sugar. We like the tartness of Granny Smith apples in this recipe, but any variety of apple will work. You can shred the apples with the shredding disk of a food processor or on the large holes of a paddle or box grater (see related content).
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4 cups apple cider
3 ¾ cups (18 3/4 ounces) all-purpose flour 1 ½ teaspoons salt 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder ½ teaspoon baking soda ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon ¼ teaspoon ground allspice ¾ cup (3 ounces) confectioners' sugar 16 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted 1 ½ cups packed (10 1/2 ounces) dark brown sugar 3 large eggs 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 ½ pounds Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and shredded (3 cups) |
1. Bring cider to boil in 12-inch skillet over high heat; cook until reduced to 1 cup, 20 to 25 minutes. While cider is reducing, adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 12-cup nonstick Bundt pan. Whisk flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and allspice in large bowl until combined. Place confectioners’ sugar in small bowl.
2. Add 2 tablespoons cider reduction to confectioners’ sugar and whisk to form smooth icing. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside. Set aside 6 tablespoons cider reduction. 3. Pour remaining 1/2 cup cider reduction into large bowl; add melted butter, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla and whisk until smooth. Pour cider mixture over flour mixture and stir with rubber spatula until almost fully combined (some streaks of flour will remain). Stir in apples and any accumulated juice until evenly distributed. Transfer mixture to prepared pan and smooth top. Bake until skewer inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 55 minutes to 1 hour 5 minutes. 4. Transfer pan to wire rack set in rimmed baking sheet. Brush exposed surface of cake lightly with 1 tablespoon reserved cider reduction. Let cake cool for 10 minutes. Invert cake onto wire rack and remove pan. Brush top and sides of cake with remaining 5 tablespoons reserved cider reduction. Let cake cool for 20 minutes. Stir icing to loosen, then drizzle evenly over cake. Let cake cool completely, at least 2 hours, before serving. (Cooled cake can be wrapped loosely in plastic wrap and stored at room temperature for up to 3 days.) |
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This was also delicious split into two 6 cup Bundt pan, and the comments on the original post from Deb mention that you can split this into two loaf pans.
This was also delicious split into two 6 cup Bundt pan, and the comments on the original post from Deb mention that you can split this into two loaf pans.