Mark Bittman’s Bourbon Apple Cake
- Total Time
- About 1 hour, plus one hour’s resting
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:About 12 servings
- 2sticks butter, softened, more for greasing pan
- Flour (if using Bundt pan)
- 2medium apples (about 8 ounces), peeled, cored and quartered
- 2½cups sugar
- 4eggs
- 2½cups all-purpose flour
- 2teaspoons baking powder
- ½teaspoon salt
- ½cup milk
- 1cup bourbon, Calvados, Cognac or brandy
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (12 servings)
479 calories; 17 grams fat; 10 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 5 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 66 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 44 grams sugars; 5 grams protein; 185 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-13-inch rectangular pan with butter, or butter and flour a 9-inch Bundt pan. Put apples in a blender or food processor and purée; remove and set aside.
- Step 2
In food processor, combine 1½ sticks butter (12 tablespoons) with 1½ cups sugar and pulse until combined. With motor running, add eggs one at a time. Add apple purée and process until just combined.
- Step 3
In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add about a third of flour mixture to apple mixture in food processor. Then, with motor running, add about half of milk; add another third of flour, followed by rest of milk, then finally last of the flour. Process until batter just evens out.
- Step 4
Turn batter into prepared pan and bake until middle is set (your fingers should leave only a small indentation when you gently press cake), 45 to 50 minutes. When done, cool in pan for about 10 minutes.
- Step 5
Meanwhile, combine 1 cup liquor in a small pot with remaining butter and sugar. Cook, stirring occasionally, until sugar is dissolved and liquid is slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Let cool to room temperature, then pour over cake; let it sit for at least an hour before serving. (For Bundt, let it sit for an hour, then unmold). Store at room temperature, covered with waxed paper, for up to 2 days.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Shari
Made this fantastic cake over the weekend. The only change I made was to reduce the number of eggs to 3 (personal preference), and increase the number of apples to 3 (for flavor and moisture). I threw all the wet ingredients into the blender with the apples, gently stirred in the (pre-mixed) dry ingredients, and folded in the melted butter. Used Knob Creek Bourbon for the glaze and served with unsweetened whipped organic cream. Divine.
Sarah
I loved this! I used two huge Honeycrisp apples and Bulleit Bourbon in the glaze. I baked it in a Bundt pan and it came our beautifully. The silkiness of the apple batter plus the boozy richness is just a delightful combo. Also it will make your house smell better than any Fall candle.
Jane Eyrehead
Easy to make and everyone likes it, but it's not for kids. I add some vanilla to the batter, but that's the only change. Once I forgot to peel the apples, but they were so pulverized in the food processor no one noticed.
Teri
Delicious! I mostly followed the written recipe but the cooking instructions from the video (which show how it's the easiest cake in the world to throw together.) I used 3 apples to keep it moist, cut the sugar to 3/4 cup, and soaked it in a combination of very good bourbon and Cointreau. served with unsweetened whipped cream. Friends are still taking about it.
Dani
I have to admit, I altered this recipe just a bit by folding in some toasted walnuts and small chunks of apple. I also added some nutmeg, allspice and ground ginger to the dry ingredients. Very few extra steps but it came out DELIGHTFUL! One more thing, I also added some whole cloves to the Bourbon butter butter syrup to give it a that holiday note. So good!
ilovevt
Yum! I used a little more than three apples (I can explain, but won't), used three eggs, and followed the directions. This is easy--messy though--and delicious. If I were going to change anything, it might be a little less sugar in the topping, but maybe not.
Kate
Far too sweet and boozy. I recommend this recipe instead: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1013937-apple-bourbon-bundt-cake
TJ
Unfortunately, I did not have a good outcome. I made the cake in a bundt pan and waited for it to cool before applying the glaze. I only used about half the glaze, and when we cut the cake three hours later, it looked like the dough was uncooked. That was not the case because I tested the cake in three places before removing it from the oven. I think the glaze soaked into the cake and ruined it.
A huge disappointment !
I love Mark Bittman’s recipes and took a chance on this one despite the many negative reviews. The only minor change I made was to add some cinnamon. The cake was heavy and dense, with a decidedly pudding like consistency. Flavors were good, but the mouth feel and texture were very off.
A huge disappointment !
Just watched the video for this recipe and there are several instructions given in the recipe that DO NOT MATCH instructions given in the video. Apples and sugar ( only 1 cup not 1 1/2 cups as recipe states) are pulsed together and than COLD Butter is mixed in tablespoon by tablespoon. Recipe states softened butter! The inaccurate instructions might be to blame for the weird texture of my cake.
cscott
I made this in the same Bundt pan they used for the photo and it came out beautifully. BUT, I have two issues with the recipe. First, if you have a smaller food processor like me, you'll realize after adding the eggs that you don't have adequate room to finish the recipe in the processor. I had to transfer everything to my stand mixer to finish. Second, please give us a clue which apple varieties work best here. I used Golden Delicious and the apple flavor was too subtle!
Dan
Sorry, but this was so boozy that I found it inedible, and I do love my bourbon but I'll save it for drinking. Thought it might be better second day, but ended up tossing more than half of the cake away. You could put any fruit in here you want, the booze so overwhelmed the taste that I had no idea that it included apple, which I love.
Ginny P
Second time making this cake. First time- used all 2 sticks in the batter ( missed that direction ) and used canned applebutter from last season. This time - used all butter in batter and found a jar of maple bourbon apple butter in pantry- used that. Re: liquor glaze- did not pour the whole amount over the cake- maybe a third. Was told that this was the perfect bundt cake. I thought texture was more like a pound cake- but it was very good!
Steffi
Released nicely from the pan, had a lovely brown crust. Unfortunately the batter was too moist, the cake was a sad dense wet sponge. Tried baking it some more but since I had powdered sugar on top so that didn’t go well. Don’t know what went wrong, followed the recipe exactly. I’m an experienced baker but here I was lost. We didn’t finish it, awwww what a waste.
Miss Yvonne
Mine did not turn out well. Maybe because I used apple sauce instead? I didn't have the time to peel and pulse apples--I had company coming. I wasn't impressed with the cake, though my friends thought was good--I'm skeptical of that critique! I might try it again because I love a good apple cake.
K. Gansky
Made exactly as the recipe specified and used a combination of apple brandy and calvados for the syrup. It would have been interesting to see what the cake pictured looked like inside as a comparison. I have that exact bundt pan and the outside looked exactly like the picture. That said, the inside of the cake is very dense and has more of that firmer pudding like consistency as someone else remarked. Maybe that is because of the cup of syrup poured over the cake. It does taste good.
Sauce issue
Make sure to watch video for success, see link to article.
Des
My grandmother gave me 2 quarts of applesauce, so I used 3 cups of it to make this cake. Used honey rather then white sugar (personal preference) and a lowland scotch in the syrup. It came out really well, and the flavors were balanced. My grandma used cinnamon in her applesauce and I threw in a tad of vanilla. I also use a pretty heavy pinch of salt
confused
Wait, I have the same bundt pan as pictured. It sounds like I am supposed to pour the glaze over what is actually the bottom - then turn it right side up. Right? In the article, Bittman says the bundt pan is preferable to a 9x13 pan b/c of more area. Only if I'm glazing the top of the unmolded cake. What?
fh
Lovely texture and flavor!! Used 3 apples, added vanilla, cinnamon, lemon zest and toasted pecans. Also used buttermilk and added 1 tsp baking soda to dry ingredients.
Lisa O
The recipe was annoying. I always appreciate a recipe that indicates separate measurements for a single ingredient (this didn't) and I'm not sure what kind of food processor was used in the preparation but my standard Kitchen Aid was not large enough to accommodate the ingredients and I had to then drag out my stand mixer. Having said that, the cake was delicious and the bourbon glaze outstanding!
Michelle
Do not recommend. Cake was dense in the middle and very boozy. Not enjoyable and a disappointment.
Jessie Paul
I thought this cake was boring and threw most of it out. Very little apple flavor...it really just tasted like a plain pound cake. I used bourbon and thought it would infuse throughout the cake more, but even though I made it a day before serving it didn't really soak into the cake that well. I made it in a bundt pan. Maybe it would have been better in a 9x13 pan, but I just didn't think the flavors worked well.
128waterluver
Substituted orange juice for milk and replaced half the bourbon with orange juice as well. Used 3 eggs. Very nice texture to the cake and a nice light fruity flavor.
KJ
Didn’t taste the apple as much as I wanted to, and felt the bourbon flavor came through much more aggressively than perhaps was meant. I would adjust the recipe next time to add some spices, and I would cook it a little longer. I used a lever Bundt pan and thus had to increase the recipe. I would also cook down the bourbon syrup quite a bit longer than I did. I think the directions are deceiving there. Warmed second day plus a buttercream frosting though? Transformed.
Liz N.
Made this cake last Christmas and it was amazing. Very strong bourbon and apple flavor. I ended up sprinkling some cinnamon sugar on top which made it even better. Next time I might add some cinnamon to the cake as well!
Erin
This cake was good, but I'd add some spices and reduce the sugar next time. It ran a little too sweet for my taste, and I had reduced the sugar by a half cup in the batter as well as halved the syrup.
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