🍎 Best Apple Butter Pound Cake Recipe (Ultra Moist & Buttery)
This Apple Butter Pound Cake is rich, buttery, moist, and packed with cozy fall flavor. Made with thick apple butter, warm spices, and a velvety pound cake crumb, this bakery-style cake is perfect for breakfast, dessert, or holiday gatherings. Finished with a simple apple cider glaze, it stays soft for days and tastes even better overnight.
Servings 12 slices
Calories 440kcal
Cost $13 for entire recipe
Equipment
- 9x5 loaf pan or 10–12 cup bundt pan
- Mixing bowls
- Hand mixer or stand mixer
- Rubber spatula
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Measuring scale (recommended for accuracy)
- Whisk
- Cooling rack
- Toothpick or cake tester
- Aluminum foil (for tenting if needed)
Ingredients
Apple Butter Pound Cake
- 1 cup 226g unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup 200g granulated sugar
- ½ cup 110g light brown sugar
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- ¾ cup 180g thick apple butter
- ⅓ cup 80g sour cream
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 ¾ cups 345g all-purpose flour
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ⅛ tsp nutmeg
- tiny pinch cloves
Apple Cider Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1½–2 tbsp apple cider
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- tiny pinch salt
- optional tiny drizzle maple syrup
Instructions
Step 1: Prep
- Preheat oven to 325°F (163°C). Thoroughly grease and flour a 9x5 loaf pan or 10–12 cup bundt pan.
Step 2: Cream Butter and Sugars
- In a large mixing bowl, beat butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar for 5 full minutes until pale, fluffy, and airy.
Step 3: Add Eggs
- Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down the bowl as needed.
Step 4: Add Apple Mixture
- In a separate bowl, whisk together apple butter, sour cream, and vanilla extract. Gradually mix into the batter until smooth.
Step 5: Add Dry Ingredients
- In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
- Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients on low speed until just combined. Do not overmix.
- The batter should be thick and fluffy.
Step 6: Bake
- Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth the top.
- Loaf Pan: bake for 65–75 minutes.
- Bundt Pan: bake for 75–85 minutes.
- If the cake browns too quickly, tent loosely with foil during the final portion of baking.
Step 7: Check for Doneness
- The cake is done when: a toothpick comes out with moist crumbs only, the center springs back lightly, and edges pull slightly away from the pan.
- Internal temperature should reach approximately 200–205°F.
Step 8: Cool
- Cool cake in the pan for 15 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Step 9: Make the Glaze
- Whisk together powdered sugar, apple cider, vanilla extract, salt, and optional maple syrup until smooth.
- Drizzle over cooled cake.
Notes
Using Thick Apple Butter
This Apple Butter Pound Cake works best with thick, concentrated apple butter. Thin apple butter or applesauce can add too much moisture and may cause a gummy center or sinking during baking. If your apple butter seems loose or watery, simmer it on the stovetop for several minutes to reduce excess moisture before using it in the batter.Proper Creaming Matters
Beating the butter and sugars for a full 5 minutes is one of the most important steps in the recipe. Proper creaming creates air in the batter and helps produce the soft, velvety pound cake texture. Under-creaming can lead to a cake that feels dense or heavy instead of rich and tender.Bake Low and Slow
This cake is baked at 325°F to help develop a classic pound cake crumb while preventing the outside from browning too quickly. Because apple butter and brown sugar caramelize easily, loosely tent the cake with foil during the final portion of baking if the top becomes too dark.Doneness Tips
The cake is finished baking when:- a toothpick comes out with moist crumbs only
- the center springs back lightly
- the internal temperature reaches about 200–205°F