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Applesauce Cake Recipe
Something the Swiss really love is applesauce (also called apple compote or apple purée); so much so, that it is an obligatory side dish to their version of macaroni and cheese.
So when I came across a recipe some years ago for a traditional Swiss apple bundt cake using applesauce, I was instantly intrigued.
The applesauce makes the cake beautifully tender and moist, and the gentle spices from the cinnamon and nutmeg make it a comforting treat alongside a hot cup of tea.
There are a few variations to this Applesauce Cake. Some are plain, some include raisins and nuts, and I have even tried a recipe with a combination of raisins and chocolate chips (which I highly recommend!).
My children happily devoured a few slices of this cake at afternoon tea for several days. And it goes pretty well with a cup of coffee at breakfast, too 🙂
How to Make Applesauce Cake
As the last cake I baked contained chocolate chips, I opted to keep this Applesauce Cake fairly simple with just raisins. Well, not just raisins. Years of cooking from Nigella Lawson‘s cookbooks have rubbed off on me, and whenever I go to add raisins in cakes, I always soak them first in some warm dark rum.
You won’t necessarily taste the alcohol in the cake, but the rum has a way of plumping up the dried raisins and adding some spice to the cake.
Of course, you can always skip the rum and simply add the raisins as they are directly to the batter.
Bundt Cake Pans
If you have noticed a bit of a trend on my blog, you will see that I love collecting beautiful cake tins. I don’t bake a lot of cakes which are then decorated with icing or frosting – I’m much too clumsy and my piping skills leave much to be desired!
So plain cakes are usually favoured in our home, and bundt cake pans can make any plain cake look spectacular.
The bundt cake pan I have used in these photos was purchased over 10 years ago on a trip to Paris at Dehillerin. It is an interesting mould, called a moule diplomate, supposedly because it resembles a French diplomat torte. It is certainly an uncommon cake mould, which is all the more reason why I love using it.
And like for any bundt cake pan, even the non-stick variety, I would never bake a cake in such a tin without spraying it first liberally with a non-stick baking spray, followed by a generous dusting of flour, just to make sure that nothing gets stuck in any of the grooves of the cake tin. Trust me – I have baked many cakes in bundt tins (including this one), where the end result was a complete disappointment because the cake got stuck to the pan. Simply greasing the bundt cake pan with butter never worked for me.
But if you don’t have a bundt cake pan or a fancy cake tin, any regular cake tin would work too, of course. A dusting of icing sugar can also do wonders to a simple cake like this one.
Applesauce Cake
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 225 g (1 cup plus 3 tablespoons) caster sugar, (superfine sugar)
- 50 g (⅓ cup) light muscovado sugar, or light brown sugar
- 375 g (1 ¾ cup) apple compote, (applesauce), preferably unsweetened
- 150 ml (½ cup plus 1 tablespoon) vegetable oil
- 250 g (1 ⅔ cup) plain flour, (all-purpose flour), sifted
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 pinch fine salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 pinch nutmeg, freshly grated
- 100 g (1 cup) raisins, or sultanas, soaked for 30 minutes in warm dark rum or warm water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) (without fan).
- Grease a round cake tin with butter and line the bottom with baking paper. If you are using a bundt pan, spray liberally with a non-stick baking spray, followed by a generous dusting of flour. Shake off the excess flour.
- Beat the eggs with the caster sugar and brown sugar until it is well combined.
- Add the apple compote (applesauce) and oil, and beat until well incorporated.
- Add the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Beat until everything is mixed together.
- Drain the raisins and stir them through the batter.
- Pour the batter into the cake tin, and bake for about 45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. If you are using a deep bundt pan like I have used in the photos, you may need to bake the cake for up to 60 minutes.
- Leave the cake to rest on a wire rack for 10-15 minutes before carefully inverting the cake.
- Let the cake cool completely on a wire rack before serving.
- To serve, dust the cake with some icing sugar (powdered sugar).
Kitchen Notes
- HOMEMADE VS STORE-BOUGHT APPLESAUCE
It is best to use an unsweetened apple compote (applesauce) in this recipe, and preferably homemade. If you are using store-bought apple compote (applesauce), taste for sweetness and you may want reduce the amount of sugar in the recipe. - MEASUREMENTS
I have converted this recipe to cup measurements but, as always, the metric measurements in this recipe (indicated in brackets) are more accurate. - VARIATIONS
* In Switzerland, this applesauce cake also often has nuts and/or chocolate chips. How much you add of either is up to you, but I would estimate adding about 2 handfuls (½ cup) chopped walnuts and/or 100 g (½ cup) chocolate chips to the above recipe.
* If you are adding raisins, nuts AND chocolate chips, I would recommend about ⅓ cup of each. - OVEN TEMPERATURES
All recipes on this website state temperatures for a regular oven (i.e. a conventional oven without fan). If you have a convection oven with a fan, please consult the manufacturer’s handbook on how to adjust the temperature and baking time accordingly. - CONVERSIONS
To convert from cups to grams, and vice-versa, please see this handy Conversion Chart for Basic Ingredients.
Did you make this recipe?
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Absolutely beautiful, Thanh! I adore the cake mould you used – so very pretty. No surprise though because Dehillerin always has great finds! The cake also sounds so delicious – I love apple with all those warm spices like cinnamon and nutmeg. And while frosted cakes are pretty, I find that for some reason, taste-wise, unfrosted cakes tend to impress more. I don’t know…maybe it’s because frosted cakes can be overhyped with their appearance, so expectations are high. Unfrosted bundt cakes like this tend to taste more comforting and delicious to me. 🙂
Thanks, Beeta! I always try to visit Dehillerin when we are in Paris as I love nothing more than a souvenir for the kitchen 🙂 Although I do loved iced-cakes, my husband and I didn’t really grow up eating a lot of these, so we are more familiar with plain cakes. Plus, they are so much easier to make 😉
What a delicious recipe idea and you photos make me want to dive in with my spoon.
Thank you!
What a fabulous sounding recipe, I had no idea that the Swiss went so big on apple compote/puree, us Brits have our own obsession with apple sauce but it is usually as a side to pork.
Oh I forgot about the roast pork with apple sauce – that’s also a popular combination in Australia, most likely inherited from the UK. Yum … now you’ve got me thinking about pork crackling, which means I might have to make roast pork this weekend 🙂
This looks beautiful and delicious! I can almost smell the apple!
Thank you!
Your Gugelhupf looks great! Apple Gugelhupf cake with compot can be commonly found in Austria too. We serve it on Sundays with whipped cream, a “melange” coffee and a glass of water in the afternoon. sweet memories are coming back now, thanks for the share! 🙂
Oh I love how kugelhopf/gugelhopf is so popular in this part of Europe. I find them to be such comforting cakes, whatever the filling. And I LOVE Austrian desserts!
I love thick, plumped up raisins and bet they tasted amazing in this cake! Although I don’t think I would have been able to skip the chocolate chips. Yum! 🙂
I did sort of miss the chocolate chips in this cake, even though it’s delicious without. But it’s sometimes good to have options 🙂
Looks so nice ❤
Thank you!
It’s just so PRETTY. Like a tiny dancer of an applesauce cake!
Thank you!
This looks so delicious and I love the style of bundt pan you used.
I am anxious to try this! After a divorce, I gave up cooking, I just wasn’t important enough. BUT 3 years ago I met a “best” friend and discovered I CAN cook just for me, I deserve it also. I love cakes that go well w tea or coffee. They seem so much lighter and seem to “complete” the cup of tea/coffee.
Thank you very much for this perfect cake. I made it last week and my family loved it. So, this Sunday it is going to be on our table again ☺
Hi Monika,
That is so lovely to hear!! Thank you so much for writing to let me know. I’m so glad you and your family enjoyed this recipe 🙂 My children absolutely love this cake too. When you get a chance, do try it with some chocolate chips in the batter too (about 50g) – it’s absolutely delicious 🙂
Thank for the advice, I will try it for sure ☺
This looks amazing! Ohhh I can’t wait to try this next weekend. I love cakes that go well with tea and without the fuss of frosting or cream. A personal fav. Do you think I can replace the caster sugar? Maybe with the light brown sugar itself? I want to give that a try, but slightly worried… I normally prefer using unprocessed / unrefined flour / sugar.
Hi Lolo,
My family absolutely love this cake, and I love it because it’s so easy to make! I think it would be fine to replace the caster sugar with light brown sugar instead. Please let me know how it works out 🙂
Thank you so much for your response! Will keep you posted on how it goes, once I try it… Hugssss
I just made this cake for my 3-year old for his birthday–in the shape of a boat. He loved it! Could not eat enough.
Came out of the mould just perfectly. This cake works as well for children as it does for adults!
Thanks, Curtis! So happy to hear that everyone enjoyed the cake 🙂 And I’m glad to hear that the cake works well in other shapes too! I never thought to make this cake for a birthday party but I love the idea 🙂
Just made this for my family and it was a hit! Such a delicious cake and a great way to use up some of the apples from our garden.
I want to try it is immediately! So yummy!!! This looks really good!
Making this cake today. My friend is coming over and she loves everything with Apples
I hope you and your friend will enjoy this recipe!
What are the extra meaures of sugar and oil for? Can’t see them used in recipe. Thankyou.
I will be in Paris in 2 weeks and planning to visit :))
The “extra measures” you are referring to is simply the conversion from metric to US measures. So all of the ingredients should be used in the cake. Hope this helps.
Can I use rhubarb puree instead of a apple puree?
Hi Sara,
I haven’t tried this recipe with rhubarb puree. But if the rhubarb puree is sweet enough, I imagine it should work well. Good luck!
Many thanks for this recipe – it’s a keeper! Really lovely cake that tastes even better the day after baking (if you can wait). This is easily going to be an autumn favourite, and I’ll make extra to freeze when I’ve got a stack of apples to process.
That’s great to hear that you enjoyed the recipe 🙂 It is definitely a cake which keeps well. We make it often in autumn/winter when apples are abundant too.
Best cake ever. Our family favourite
Hi Aneta,
Thank you for your lovely words! My family love this cake too 🙂
What size cake tins for this recipe please
Hi Ann,
For this recipe, I used a bundt pan which measures 20 cm/8 inches across the top and with a capacity of 1.75 litres/7 cups. Depending on the size of the cake pan that you use, you may have to adjust the baking time accordingly. I hope this helps!
I made this recipe and it turned out wonderful. I used butter instead of oil. I also soaked the raisins in Apple Crown Royal, (which we did not like for drinking). I baked it at 300 degrees in a convection oven for 55 minutes.
Our garden had too many apples so I made lots of apple compote that’s sweetened. Not sure how much to decrease the sugar by if using sweetened apple puree. Any ideas? I don’t want to make it overly sweet or not sweet enough.
Hello! I was gifted apple puree and decided to use it in a cake. I found your recipe and baked this cake today! It was perfect! Slid right out of the bundt tin and the cake was so delicious and moist. Thanks so much for this recipe! Baking and eating this week made my week! 🙂
An amazing and easy to follow receipies. Enjoyed every bite. I added pecan brown sugar and butter mix in the middle and it was yummy. My kitchen smelled so delicious and my husband felt the season joy when he tried it. Thank you
Easy and delicious
Hi Alicia,
So glad to hear that you enjoyed this recipe!
Hi Alicia,
So glad you enjoyed this Applesauce Cake!
Sounds delicious. Recently purchased Nordic ware little apples cake pan. So cute. Arrives next week and can’t wait to use this recipe in the cake shape of apples. Any advice for for cooking time with muffin size? And will that work? Thank you x
Hi Janine,
You can definitely use this recipe to make smaller sized cakes. The baking time will vary, depending on the size of the cake moulds. For muffin-sized cakes, I generally check at about 15 minutes, and once it looks nicely risen and golden on top of the cake, test with a cake skewer to make sure the thickest part of the cakes are cooked. I’m curious about the shape of your apple cake pan!