Apple Cider Honey Cake

Alcohol does NOT completely burn off: "A study conducted by the US Dept. of Agriculture’s Nutrient Data Lab calculated % of alcohol remaining in a dish. % of Alcohol Retained in baked or simmered dishes WITH ALCOHOL STIRRED INTO the mixture:
•15 mins = 40%; •30 mins = 35%; •1 hr = 25%; •1.5 hrs = 20%; •2 hrs = 10%; •2.5 hrs = 5%.
Some alcohol remaining could be of significant concern to recovering alcoholics, parents & others who have ethical or religious reasons for avoiding alcohol.

Sadly, the 'cake' recipe followed accurately yielded a spongy disappointment. I think the ratio of flour to liquid (eggs and applesauce) and leavening (baking powder and soda) is incorrect.

Try another applesauce/spice cake recipe!

I would omit the "Cider" from the title of this recipe as it hardly even factors as an ingredient. I used a variety of windfall apples of varying sweetness and tartness and ended up with more than 3 cups of apple butter so technically no need of the cider. I followed the rest of the recipe to the letter and it came out perfectly. Dense, moist and earthy, closer to banana bread in crumb. If I make it again, I'll try Calvados (apple brandy) instead of the whiskey and add walnuts.

Made this cake two days ago. It was a total success. I only needed a few tablespoons of cider to equal the three cups of apple mixture. Used a hand whisk. Buttered the bundt pan very liberally with melted butter. Served the following day. Over night the cake became more dense and the flavors more complex. Everyone enjoyed it.

What's all the fuss about in the comments?! We followed the recipe exactly, except we cooked the apples for much longer to get them especially soft and refrigerated the butter overnight. This cake is awesome! It came out rich, soft, and moist, and everyone over for Rosh Hashanah loved it. Don't let the haters dissuade you!

I was also disappointed in this cake the first time I made it. The whiskey completely overwhelmed the other flavors--I couldn't taste the apple at all and it was too dense and almost gooey, even for a honey cake. But the granny smith apple butter was just too good to give up on so I remade it the next week without the booze, substituting a tsp of vanilla. I cut the honey down, replacing it with a bit of white sugar and apple cider and added flour to balance. The result was really good.

I used 2 cups of already prepared apple butter and a cup of boiled apple cider (from King Arthur) for the apple cider butter---saved a bit of time --also baked it in two loaf pans. It was delicious.

I'm interested in this question as well, because I am making this cake as part of a Halal meal and no alcohol can be used, even if it burns off. I am going to try a combination of coffee and vanilla.

This is not a tasty cake. I followed the recipe exactly. I needed very little apple cider to get 3 cups of the apple butter, and used buckwheat honey and olive oil. The cake texture was very light, almost pudding like, and not really appealing. Sadly, it also lacked flavor and sweetness. I won't make this again.

I told my them I had made an apple cider cake since honey cake has exalted status in our family associated with legendary ancestors. Whatever you call this cake, it came out beyond my expectations - light, tender, delicate flavors.
- Apples were cooked down till pieces began to caramelize.
- Ingredients @ room temp
- 325F convection mode - only allowance made for altitude (7000')

This is destined to be family classic. Maybe it will qualify me for legendary ancestor status?

I baked this today. A slice of the cake is dense and very moist - not at all like a layer cake - in fact, it reminds me of a plum pudding in its moisture. It's delicious - but not what I usually expect when baking a cake. Is what I describe a successful apple cider honey cake?

Delicious - tender and moist, yet dense and buttery. I used a strongly-flavored honey, so it would stand up against the flavor of the apples. Definitely something to make again.

Recipe as written above has way too much liquid - I used half (1 1/2 c) of the apple cider butter, and 2 T of bourbon, added 1/2 c light brown sugar to the cake, as well as nutmeg and cardomom, and it resulted in a lovely, delicious, moist but not pudding-y cake. I also added a honey glaze (sugar, buttermilk, honey) on the top.

This cake has a delicious flavor, but like other commenters, I needed very little apple cider. Maybe 1/4 cup. But I don't think it detracted at all from the cake. The cake is quite moist, and I'd definitely weigh ingredients if you can. But mine was amazingly done within the baking time - I was dubious at first due to how liquidy it seemed. I made no changes to the recipe, and the balance of flavors is heavenly. We found that the whiskey accentuated the honey flavor nicely.

I was a little skeptical about this recipe after reading some comments. I agree I only had to use a little bit of apple cider to make the 3 cups of what was essentially apple sauce. I took a chance and used only about 2 cups of it when making the cake part and the consistency while dense was more cake like. I think that if i made this recipe again, I would also choose to use less whiskey or none at all.