Moist Gluten Free Apple Cake in a Bundt Pan

A delicious, moist Gluten Free Apple Cake baked in a bundt pan is easy to make with just two bowls and no mixer required. It’s perfectly spiced with warm spices like cinnamon and nutmeg with a tender crumb, made with a gluten free all-purpose baking flour, thanks to the addition of sour cream. Complete the simple cake with a 5-minute maple glaze for the ultimate apple dessert!

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Gluten Free Apple Cake

It’s time to start baking all your favorite fall recipes and this easy Gluten Free Apple Cake should be one of them. It’s made with simple ingredients and with a basic mixing method. 

The batter comes together quickly and bakes in one pan. It has similar ingredients and an almost identical mixing method as Gluten Free Apple Upside Down Cake but the use of apples and different baking pans yields entirely different results. Both are equally delicious!

Gluten free cakes are notorious for being more likely to stick to a cake pan so be sure to spray your pan really well with non-stick spray to get into all those nooks and crannies of the bundt pan.

You can also use a homemade gluten free pan release, which I have a recipe for in my cookbook, The Gluten Free Quick Breads Cookbook.

I’ve made a lot of gluten-free cakes over the years and I know what it takes to make a great gluten free cake. The right combination of leavener and the perfect ratio of wet and dry ingredients makes all the difference.

Too much flour will make a dense, dry cake but too little will make a cake that’s too moist with a batter that doesn’t quite bake all the way through. 

Many recipes for apple cake call for quite a bit of oil (often more than a cup). Gluten free flour doesn’t absorb butter or oil as well as regular wheat flour does so I chose to sub some of the oil for sour cream. Sour cream makes a tender cake and adds moisture without weighing the cake down.

I often use sour cream in gluten free coffee cake recipes and it works really well.

The flour blend you use in this cake recipe will also make a difference in baking time. My nightshade free flour blend absorbs liquid better than most flour blends on the market. 

So just be aware, if you use Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten Free Baking Flour or King Arthur Measure for Measure (or similar baking blends), your cake may take 5-10 minutes longer to bake.

Once the cake is cooled, top it with Maple Glaze made with pure maple syrup for the best apple cake ever. The maple flavor pairs so well with the apples and spices.

The glaze is what sets this apple cake apart from all the rest so don’t skip it. It takes it from ordinary to extraordinary!

You’ll love this gluten-free apple bundt cake and will want to make it year round, not just in the fall!

Enjoy!

Apple Cake Key Ingredients & Notes

• Gluten Free Flour – I use my Nightshade Free Gluten-Free Flour Blend in this recipe. It produces cakes with a really nice texture and crumb that’s not gritty.
• Xanthan Gum – xanthan gum works as a binder for gluten free flour in baking recipes. It’s essentially the “glue” that holds the flour together. You can omit it if the flour blend you’re using already contains it.
• Sour Cream – sour cream adds lightness and tenderizes the cake crumb. I almost always use light sour cream for baking.
• Vanilla Extract – homemade vanilla extract or pure vanilla extract are best. The vanilla adds depth of flavor when paired with cinnamon and maple. I don’t recommend using imitation vanilla in this recipe.
• Fresh Apples – I used Honey Crisp Apples and Granny Smith Apples which is a combination of sweet/crisp and tart/crisp. Be sure to read my guide on the Best Apples for Baking to help you choose which variety of apples you want to use. Some may prefer all tart apples or all sweet apples. I like to mix it up with the sweet/tart combo.

*Be sure to read the full recipe card below for exact measurements and step-by-step instructions.

Ingredient Substitutions and Variations

Sour Cream – Regular or light sour cream works well in this recipe. Plain Greek yogurt can be subbed for sour cream. 

Dairy Free Option – to make a dairy free apple cake, use plain dairy free sour cream or yogurt in place of the sour cream. I like Forager Project Sour Cream or Forager Project Plain Cashewmilk Yogurt.

I have used both of these extensively in recipe testing and have been very happy with how baked goods turn out. I used the cashew milk yogurt in my recipe for Coconut Pound Cake and it’s delicious!

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Equipment You’ll Need to Make a Bundt Cake

• Basic Baking Tools – measuring cups, measuring spoons, whisk, mixing spoons, spatula, etc.
• Cake Pan – I use a standard 12-cup bundt pan for this recipe.
• Hand Mixer – optional. Since we’re not creaming butter and sugar together for this recipe, you could easily mix the batter by hand. A hand mixer just makes it even easier and faster.
• Digital Kitchen Scale – for the most accurate measurements and best results, weigh your ingredients with a digital kitchen scale.

How to Make Apple Cake

The baking process for this gluten free apple cake is fairly simple. It’s a two bowl recipe, one for dry ingredients and one to mix the batter. The simple process of making the batter is quick and easy. 

Step 1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit and grease a bundt pan with butter and flour or spray well with non-stick spray. 

Step 2. Add the dry ingredients to a medium bowl and whisk well to combine. Set aside.

Step 3. Add the sugars, oil, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla extract to a large bowl. Whisk the wet ingredients until combined.

Step 4. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix until the dry ingredients are incorporated. 

Step 5. Fold in the chopped apples.

Step 6. Transfer the batter to the prepared baking pan.

Step 7. Bake for 60-75 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Step 8. Let the cake cool completely before topping with the maple glaze.

Tips for Baking Gluten Free Bundt Cakes

1. If you choose to add nuts to the cake, save a tablespoon of the dry ingredients to toss with the nuts before folding them in. This will help them stay suspended in the batter and more evenly distributed.
2. Be sure to bring your cold ingredients (eggs, sour cream, etc) to room temperature before making the cake. It will help the cake rise better and bake more evenly.
3. Measure your ingredients the right way using the spoon and sweep method if you’re not measuring your ingredients by weight.
4. Baking times can vary greatly when baking bundt cakes. Your oven temperature, the moisture level, the gluten free flour, and apples all play a part in affecting the baking time. You may need to bake the cake for more or less time depending on the flour used, the temperature of your oven, how much moisture your apples provide, etc. A cake tester will be your best bet in indicating when the cake is done.
5. Spray your baking pan very generously with non-stick spray. But for the best results and to ensure your cake does not stick to the pan, butter and flour the pan before adding the batter. A full tablespoon of butter is enough to grease a standard bundt pan. There’s also a homemade gluten free pan-release in my cookbook which is excellent for greasing bundt pans.

Serving Suggestions

This cake is flavorful and moist enough to eat on its own but the maple glaze is so good you won’t want to skip it. But if you want to elevate it a bit for the holidays, Apple Cake is so great with a scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream or a dollop of Homemade Whipped Cream.

You could take it even further and serve it with White Chocolate Ganache Whipped Cream and a drizzle of Salted Caramel.

Leftovers and Storage

Store leftover cake wrapped in plastic wrap at room temperature or in the refrigerator up to 5 days. An airtight cake container would be ideal.

Since I tested this recipe a few times, we had a good amount of leftover cake. It stayed fresh up to 5 days at room temperature. I couldn’t believe how moist it stayed for that long which is relatively unheard of for gluten free baked goods!

You can also slice the cake into individual pieces and freeze them on a sheet pan. Once frozen, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and store in a freezer bag until ready to eat. Unwrap and defrost at room temperature before serving.

If you’ve made this recipe, I’d love it if you could please leave a star rating and comment below in the comments!

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Gluten Free Apple Cake

5 from 7 ratings

A delicious moist Gluten Free Apple Cake is easy to make and perfectly spiced. Top it with maple glaze for the ultimate fall dessert that should be enjoyed year round!

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour 5 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 25 minutes minutes

Servings: 10

By: Sharon Lachendro

Print Rate Pin

Ingredients

• 3 cups Gluten Free Flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons Xanthan Gum
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 2 teaspoons Cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon Fine Sea Salt
• 1 ½ cups Granulated Sugar
• ½ cup Light Brown Sugar packed
• ½ cup Sour Cream room temperature
• 1 cup Vegetable Oil
• 3 large Eggs room temperature
• 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• 3 cups Peeled and Diced Apples
• 1 recipe Maple Glaze

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a standard bundt pan well with butter and coat with flour.
• Add the gluten free flour, xanthan gum, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt to a medium bowl and whisk well to combine. Set aside.
  
• Add the granulated sugar, brown sugar, sour cream, oil, eggs, and vanilla extract to a large bowl. Whisk until combined.
  
• Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir well, making sure all the flour is absorbed and incorporated. Then, fold the apples into the batter.
  
• Transfer the batter to the prepared baking pan and smooth out the top to ensure the batter is distributed evenly in the pan.
  
• Bake for 60-75 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
  
• Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Then carefully invert the cake onto a wire rack to cool.
• Let the cake cool completely before topping with the maple glaze.

Notes

1. Omit the xanthan gum if your flour blend contains it.
2. Plain Greek Yogurt can be used in place of the sour cream. Light sour cream can also be used.
3. I used one Granny Smith Apple and one Cosmic Crisp apple in this cake.
4. Nutrition information does not include the maple glaze.

Recommended Products

Mixing Bowls

Vegetable Peeler

Bundt Pan

Cake Tester

Cooling Rack 

Nutrition Information

Calories: 539kcal | Carbohydrates: 73g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 27g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 13g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 63mg | Sodium: 267mg | Potassium: 95mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 46g | Vitamin A: 174IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 60mg | Iron: 2mg

Disclaimers

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Nutrition Facts are estimated and aren’t always accurate. Please consult a doctor or nutritionist if you have special dietary needs.

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