Apple Spice Cake- A Doctored Cake Mix Recipe
Today we are sharing an AMAZING Apple Spice Doctored Cake Mix recipe! It's the season for delicious spiced cakes and I have to say, this one's a keeper!
We are slowly working our way through our Recipes Section so that we can have a scratch version and doctored cake mix version of our favorite recipes.
Of course, Apple Spice Cake is right up there at the top of the list! I love myself a good spice cake (especially in the fall....ahhhhh...).
Table of Contents
How to Make Apple Spice Cake from a Cake Mix
This flavorful Apple Spice Cake may start with a cake mix, but nobody would ever guess, thanks to the delicious add-ins that this recipe calls for!
You can find the full, printable Apple Spice Cake Mix Recipe below, but here is a quick rundown of our process:
- In your mixing bowl, add the cake mix, brown sugar, spices, oil, eggs, vanilla and buttermilk.
- Mix for one minute (starting on low speed and then increasing to medium). Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl. Beat on medium speed for 1 more minute ( longer if using a hand mixer).
- Fold in the grated apples and pour into the prepared cake pans. Bake 35 to 40 minutes. You may need to cover pans with aluminum foil during the last five minutes of baking to prevent over browning the tops of the cakes.
Decorating the Apple Spice Cake
We decorated this Apple Cake with luscious Apple Spice Cream Cheese Frosting. We love cream cheese frostings, and especially love to pair them with spice cakes!
Of course you can decorate this cake however you like, but we piped around the sides of the cake with an up and down motion using a piping tip 2D (a 1M would work just as well). We then used the same piping tip to pipe large rosettes over the top of the cake.
To pipe rosettes with a large star tip, simply start in the center of your rosette and spiral outward clockwise until your rosette is as large as you'd like for it to be. I love this piping technique for it's elegant look and it is SO easy to do!
Scratch Version of Apple Spice Cake
Apple Spice Cake is a classic fall recipe and we are so excited to have a doctored mix option to go along with our scratch version for Caramel Apple Spice Cake.
We adore both of these recipes, but sometimes you just need a fast, flavorful option for fall gatherings!
After making this moist and flavorful Apple Spice Cake doctored cake mix version this week, I find it to be every bit as delicious and addictive as the scratch version!
My family approves 100% and I could not believe how fast this cake disappeared! (I may have had something to do with this too, ha!)
Frostings to Pair with Apple Spice Cake
We've also added an Apple Spice Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe to our Recipe Section that is just heavenly with this cake! There's nothing like silky smooth cream cheese frosting with spice cakes and cupcakes.
Stir a little spiced goodness into the cream cheese frosting and you have a home run every time. We have a similar version that we also love to whip up for our fall favorites: Spiced Cream Cheese Frosting! Yummmm.
Thanks for stopping by, we think you're going to come back to this fall favorite again and again. Big thank you to BeBe for creating this Apple Spice Cake Recipe for us as well as the Apple Spice Cream Cheese Frosting!!
This one is a keeper for sure. Enjoy!!
Love Doctored Cake Mix Recipes? Try these other Favorites!
More Favorite Fall Cake Recipes!
We just love fall cake recipes, from apple cakes like this one to caramel cakes, pumpkin cakes, gingerbread cakes, spice cakes, and more!
For more delicious Fall Cake Recipes, look no further than our roundup of Favorite Fall Cake Recipes! You will find fall favorites like our Pumpkin Spice Latte Cake, Homemade Carrot Cake, Orange Spice Cake, Classic Spice Cake, Apple Cinnamon Cake, and so many others!
Apple Spice Cake- A Doctored Cake Mix Recipe
This moist and delicious Apple Spice Cake all starts with a simple cake mix! This is such a wonderful, easy recipe for fall, or whenever you're in the mood for apple spiced goodness.
Ingredients
- 1 box yellow cake mix (15.25g) plus 6 Tablespoons (45g) flour (we used Duncan Hines Classic Yellow cake mix)
- ½ cup (108g) light brown sugar (packed into cup)
- 2 teaspoons (5g) cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon (2g) nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon (1g) allspice
- ½ cup (l08g) vegetable oil
- 4 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons (8g) vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cup (302g) buttermilk
- 2 cups (204g) peeled and grated apple (2 large apples) I used 1 Golden Delicious and 1 Granny Smith apple - grate on the large holes of grater
Instructions
- This recipe makes 6 cups of batter
- Works well for cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Grease and flour two 8 inch round cake pans
- In the mixing bowl, add the cake mix, brown sugar, spices, oil, eggs, vanilla and buttermilk. With the mixer on low speed, increasing to medium speed, mix for 1 minute.
- Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl. Beat on medium speed for 1 more minute ( longer if using a hand mixer). Fold in the grated apples and pour into the prepared cake pans.
- Bake 35 to 40 minutes. You may need to cover pans with aluminum foil during the last five minutes of baking to prevent over browning the tops of the cakes.
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Interested in trying out our scratch Caramel Apple Spice Cake? You will love this moist and delicious apple spiced goodness!
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Hi, will this recipe work as a Bundt cake? Thanks
Hi Anne, yes this recipe should be fine to use in a bundt pan!
what about cupcakes or cake in air fryer? 25° and 15 minutes less?
Hi Amy, we've never baked a cake in an air fryer- let us know how it goes if you give it a try!
I made this cake today. The cake came out moist! I avoid cake mix cakes, because (1) they are nearly always too dry, (2) they are nearly always lacking in flavor, and (3) by the time you finish adding eggs, oil, and everything else you need to provide moisture and flavor, you might as well make them from scratch and end up with moist, flavorful cake. But today I was pressed for time, so while I was at the grocery store I bought the recommended cake mix and a couple of apples. I was *very* favorably impressed. The cake was moist. (I developed my own recipe for cinnamon apple bread that uses grated apples, apple cider reduction, and applesauce. If I'm going to make "apple bread," I want to be able to *taste apples.*) This cake doesn't have as bold a punch of apple flavor, but the spice is very well-balanced and compliments the apple nicely. I recommend this one!
Hi Carla! Thank you so much for your feedback, so glad that you enjoyed the recipe!