Do you ever have leftover ingredients? You know ones that need to be used NOW.
I try to keep things moving in my refrigerator and pantry, but every once in awhile, I lose track of things. I find that bunch of asparagus that has been hanging out in the crisper a little too long. Or that extra jar of marshmallow fluff I picked up a couple months ago and totally forgot about (by the way, stay tuned for that recipe in a few weeks).
There are a couple dishes that help me use all these things up. Vegetables about to pass their prime can be added to salads or frittatas, even pasta. Fruit makes an awesome crisp or baked oatmeal.
But recently I had a huge bottle of apple juice sitting in the refrigerator. I bought it for a recipe from a cookbook that didn’t turn out. But I couldn’t stand to waste the rest of it.
I can’t remember the last time I bought apple juice, so I did drink some of it. Icy cold from the refrigerator, it totally quenched my thirst. I needed to do something more with it though.
So I made cake. Apple Juice Cake. This is one of the more unique cakes I’ve made. It baked up beautifully and has a distinct apple juice flavor, which kind of surprised me in a pleasant way. It has more of a bready texture, instead of a cakey one. Not that this is a bad thing; it actually reminded me of my favorite raisin bread as a kid.
Full of crunchy nuts and plump raisins, and topped with a fabulous glaze, this is such a nice, old fashioned cake that I know you will love!
Apple Juice Cake
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 10-12 servings 1x
Ingredients
Cake
- 5 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup vegetable shortening
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups apple juice
- 1 cup raisins (I love Trader Joe’s Jumbo Raisin Medley)
- 1 cup mixed nuts (I used unsalted pecans and walnuts)
Glaze
- 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
- ¼ cup apple juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour a bundt pan.
- In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, salt, cloves, ginger, and cinnamon.
- In a large bowl, cream together sugar and shortening until light and fluffy. I did this by hand, but a hand or stand mixer will also work. Beat in the eggs one at a time.
- Alternately add the flour mixture and the apple juice, beginning and ending with the flour. You should do 3 additions of flour and 2 of juice.
- Fold in the raisins and nuts. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 1 hour 10 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
- Cool in pan about 15 minutes, before carefully loosening and inverting onto a serving platter. Cool cake completely before preparing the glaze.
- To make the glaze stir together sugar and juice until a thick yet pourable consistency is formed. Add more sugar or juice as necessary. Pour over the cake and serve. Cake may be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or frozen, wrapped in pieces in parchment and foil and placed in a zipper bag for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature for a couple hours or in the microwave for about 1 minute.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Lucky Leaf
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Really nice photos. Love all the detail. And super recipe — this looks incredibly good. Thanks!
What a perfect Bundt! I’d have to say you’re a darn good baker, too 🙂
Thank you, Liz, that means a lot!
I WANT TO MAKE THIS CAKE AS I HAVE AN ABUNDANCE OF APPLE JUICE BUT THAT IS TOO MUCH SUGAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HOW CAN I CUT?????
I recommend using stevia as a sugar substitute. It is available either as a liquid or a powder. You should be able to find it in any large grocery.
This is brilliant! Your photos are gorgeous with that glaze dripping perfectly down! 🙂
Thank you, Ashley!
Apple juice, raisins, and nuts sounds like a perfect combination! I need to form some plans for things that have been sitting in the pantry for a long time. I only wish those plans could be this delicious!
This cake sounds great! Old-fashioned desserts are the best, especially those sweetened with apples and raisins. Yum!
What a beautiful looking cake! 🙂
Thanks, Christina!
Can I use unsalted cream butter or half unsweetened applesauce for the shortening?
Hi Jamilah! I haven’t tried that, but I definitely think it would work. The applesauce might add some moisture too which would be nice. Please let me know if you try it and how it works!
Hi Ms. Laura,
wonderful recipe, but after seeing Jamilah suggestion of the applesauce, I’m inclined to try it, but would it be ‘1-cup of applesauce or 1/2 of a cup of applesauce?
Hi Lee! While I cannot say for sure, if you are swapping out 1 cup or shortening for applesauce, I would go with 1 cup of the applesauce. Hope this helps. Let me know if you try it!
Super late to the party, but wanted to add that 1:1 substitution of Apple sauce turned out great! Made for a moist, stiff loaf as expected, but still very tasty. Highly recommend leaving in the fridge for a while before enjoying – it really allows the flavors to meld.
As a side note, I halved the sugar and it came out fine. Adding glaze will balance it off very well.
★★★★★
I’m so glad to hear you liked the cake, Jane! Applesauce sounds like a wonderful addition.
Thank you for the recipe! I had some apple juice to use up and I made this last night. It came out great! The consistency is great, it’s not overly sweet, and I can already think of some ways to mix it up with different add-ins or flavors. The cake fell out of the bundt pan very easily also. Super win.
Yay! Thank you for letting me know, Ashley! Enjoy the cake 🙂
Me too! Thanks for the recipe. It made a LOT so I filled the bundt pan and then made little cakes … that will be very popular at the office tomorrow. 🙂
Yay! I hope everyone loves it, GwenEllyn!
🙂
Well…I made the cake…when i took it out of the oven , i weighed it because it seemed heavy..it was 4 1/2 lbs. it does have the texture of a quick bread. Very mild apple essence. Might be appropriate for a hot cup of coffe or tea
But as a dessert not so much. I used top quality juice but wonder if the less expensive kinds with artificial and added flavors would have been better. A good dollop of applesauce and maybe a spot of whipped cream would have improved it for a dessert. Anyhow, nothing ventured nothing gained, it is in the freezer for dire emergency, which to me is unexpected guests.
Hi Joan! I’m sorry you didn’t love the cake. Bundt cakes can be heavy and there are a lot of ingredients in this cake. It is perfect with tea or coffee and if you wanted to make it better suited for your dessert, you could try serving it with whipped cream, ice cream, or caramel.
You just never know….i did put my apple juice cake in,the freezer for “just in case” and just incase turned out to be a hungry husband. Took it out of the freezer and sliced him a piece even retasted it myself. Holy moly!!! A couple of days n freezer turned a very ho hum cake into a yummy not so sweet, bread. Texture was great and flavor was now discernible. Just thought you would like o know
Thanks so much for letting me know, Joan. I can’t tell you how many times that has happened for me. Things are always worth another try after some time in the freezer. Have a great weekend!
I THINK YOUR FLOUR RATIO MAY BE “OFF”. THE CAKE IS NOT DENSE ENOUGH TO HOLD TOGETHER. TOO CRUMBLY. THE ICING HAD WAY TOO MUCH APPLE JUICE. MY CAME OUT CLEAR, NEVER HARDENED. I THREW IT
DOWN THE DRAIN. IT SOUNDED SO GOOD. SORRY, I WON’T BE MAKING THIS ONE AGAIN.
I am sorry this cake didn’t work for you, Cynthia. I did not have these issues at all and I wish it would have worked for you too!
I love people sharing their experience and inspiring people to eat and drink healthy foods. This is simply awesome. I visit youtube and blogs for new recipes and I try them myself. Thanks for this recipe, I am going to try this.
★★★★★
I WANT TO MAKE IT BUT TOO MUCH SUGAR, CAN I REDUCE?
Hi Janet! I definitely think you could reduce the sugar in the cake by half, but you can’t reduce the sugar in the glaze. You could potentially skip the glaze altogether. I hope this helps.
It tastes so delicious. Loved it.
★★★★★
Yay! Glad you liked it!!
Is the correct amount of flour 5 cups? When I hit the print button, it said 15 cups of flour?
Maybe it’s suppose to be 1 1/2 cups. Hope you can clarify for me.
I accidently hit the scale button. disregard..LOL
I made this yesterday and it is way too dry and crumbly. I think 5 cups of flour is not correct for the amount of liquid. I looked at Bundt cake recipes in one of my cookbooks and majority of them only have 3 cups. I sliced it up and put it in the freezer like someone else suggested so I’ll see. It has good flavor but I’m very disappointed.
Hi Patricia! I’m sorry the recipe didn’t work out for you. I do think a glaze or syrup or that resting time in the freezer will help.