I made this little bundt cake for one of our Sunday family dinners. It was a snap to put together — no mixer required! no softening of butter! — and had a lovely soft texture that complemented the warm fall spices. The original recipe called for applesauce, but apple butter worked perfectly as a substitute (as would pumpkin puree, I suspect). The cake also keeps beautifully — I sneaked a piece a few days later and it was still just as moist as the first day. I have a bit of apple butter left, so this is on my re-make list — perhaps sneaking in some whole grain flour and swapping the allspice for cardamom or nutmeg (though the amount of spice here is perfect in my opinion).

Apple Butter Bundt Cake

Adapted from Food 52 | Makes one 6-cup bundt (6-8 servings)

Ingredients:

For the bundt cake:

• 120g AP flour
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/8 tsp ground allspice
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 65g granulated sugar
• 65g light brown sugar
• 180g apple butter
• 1/3 c vegetable oil (I used grapeseed)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

For the glaze:

• 3 oz cream cheese, softened
• 3 Tbsp salted caramel sauce or maple syrup
• Pinch of salt
• 1 Tbsp heavy cream, plus more if needed

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease and flour a 6-cup bundt pan.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together the dry ingredients (flour through allspice). In a large bowl, whisk together egg and sugars until light. Whisk in the apple butter, oil, and vanilla until smooth.
3. Using a silicone spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined. Pour batter into the prepared bundt pan. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.
4. Cool cake for 10 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a cooling rack. Cool cake completely before glazing.
5. When the cake is cool, prepare the glaze. Combine the cream cheese, salted caramel sauce, and salt in a food processor until smooth. With the processor running, drizzle in the cream. Add cream 1 tsp at a time until desired consistency is achieved. Transfer glaze to a small ziplock bag with the corner snipped off. Pipe the glaze over the cake.