Name: Apple Pumpkin Spice Cake with Butter Rum Glaze
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 60 min
Total time: 80 min
Yield: 20 servings
Ingredients: 1 12 ounce can of Carnation evaporated milk; 2 1/2 cups flour; 1 Tablespoon vinegar; 3 eggs; 1 cup sugar; 1/2 cup apple, (shredded and peeled); 8 ounces Libby's Pumpkin Puree; 3/4 cup packed brown sugar; 2/3 cup shortening ((I used melted Crisco)); 1 teaspoon baking soda; 1 teaspoon baking powder; 1 teaspoon salt; 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon; 3/4 teaspoon ground allspice; 1/2 teaspoon ground clove; 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg; 1/2 teaspoon vanilla; 1/3 cup unsalted butter; 2 cups powdered sugar; 1 Tablespoon Captain Morgan Spiced Rum; 2 Tablespoons Hot Water

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

With all the wonderful Fall flavors going on right now, you’re guaranteed to love this homemade Apple Pumpkin Spice Cake! Apples and pumpkin mixed with ground cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg topped with a creamy butter and spiced rum glaze, this bundt cake is guaranteed to be one of your families Fall favorites desserts!

Spice Cake

If you’re looking for a spice cake for fall, look no further. Fall season is in full swing and I’m loving every bite of apple, pumpkin, and spice flavor I can get my taste buds on. And this Apple Pumpkin Spice Cake recipe is one of my all time favorite fall desserts. This is probably one of the most moist bundt cakes I’ve ever tasted. A lot of bundt cake recipes I’ve tasted struggle to deliver the moisture a cake needs, but not this one. There’s a taste of autumn spice in every single bite. I top this cake off with a spiced butter rum glaze that provides a warm spiced “pop”.

What Is Spice Cake?

A good spice cake is super moist, light, and fluffy and full of different spices such as cinnamon, allspice, clove, nutmeg, and ginger. Think gingerbread and carrot cake. Those are forms of spice cake. A lot of spice cake recipes also contain some form of pumpkin and apple.

Frosting For Spice Cake

Typically, you’ll find a cream cheese frosting on spice cake recipes. But I top this cake with a butter rum glaze. The cake is the star of the show and the light glaze helps enhance the flavor with it’s light buttery finish. The hint of spiced rum brings the flavor home, especially when you top it with powdered sugar.

Ingredients You’ll Need In This Recipe

Let’s start with the spice cake ingredients:

Flour – base
Can of Carnation Evaporated Milk – provides moisture and sweetness.
Baking Soda and Baking Powder – leavening agent
White Vinegar – works with the baking soda and powder and helps the cake to rise.
Sugar– sweetener
Apple – use a honeycrisp apple to maximize the apple flavor. Plus, honeycrisp apples are juicy and helps provide extra moisture. You’ll peel and grate the apple.
Pumpkin Puree – brings forth the pumpkin flavor and helps add moisture.
Brown Sugar – used as a leveler and helps the spice cake to rise.
3 Eggs – binding agent
Shortening – I use Crisco. It helps make this cake tender and light. You can also use olive oil instead.
Salt – provides a balance to the sweetness.
Cinnamon – the key ingredient in spice cake.
Allspice – robust flavor that pairs well with cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg.
Clove – provides a warm spicy flavor.
Nutmeg – gives off a sweet and nutty flavor.
Vanilla Extract – flavor enhancer.

Butter Rum Glaze Ingredients

Unsalted Butter – don’t use salted butter.
Powdered Sugar – provides the sweet flavor and makes the glaze smooth.
Captain Morgan Spiced Rum – provides the warm spiced flavor to the glaze.
Hot Water – used to help liquify the glaze.

How To Make Spice Cake

This is the easiest cake recipe to make. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.
Start off by peeling a honeycrisp apple and then grate it with a box grater.

In a large bowl, add all the spice cake ingredients.
Mix well with an electric mixer on medium speed for about 2 minutes.

Pour the cake batter into a bundt mold.
Bake for 55-60 minutes, until done.

How To Make Rum Cake Glaze

There are a couple ways to make a rum based cake glaze depending on how thick you want the glaze to be.

For a thin, more liquid glaze: Completely melt the butter and then mix it on a medium to low speed with the powdered sugar, rum, and hot water. The color will appear more clear than white.
For a thick, more solid glaze: Make sure the butter is at room temperature. You want the butter to be soft, but still in a solid form. Add the soft butter, powdered sugar, hot water, and spiced rum and mix on a medium high speed until the glaze is white and thick. Make sure you don’t add too much hot water as it will become more of a liquid consistency.

Pro Tips For Making The Best Spice Cake

You can use any type of apple you want. Pink lady, gala, and honeycrisp are the best for this recipe.
Don’t mix the dry ingredients and then the wet ingredients. Dump all the ingredients in a bowl and mix it all together at once.
I used a bundt cake mold, but you can use a rectangle pan or round pan for this recipe. I’ve actually made muffins and bread with this recipe and they are amazing! Make sure you grease the pan well or use a no stick mold.
Don’t like icing? Skip it. This cake is so crazy flavorful that it doesn’t need icing. Sometimes, I like to just add on some powdered sugar and top it with chopped pecans.
The key to making the butter rum glaze is using unsalted butter. For my rum, I used Captain Morgan Spiced Rum. It works perfectly with this recipe because the spiced rum compliments so well with the cinnamon, nutmeg and clove.
If you’re gluten free, just substitute a gluten free flour. The measurements should remain the same.
You can store this cake covered on your counter for 3-4 days.

More Cake Recipes You’ll Love

Stay Updated! Get all the latest tasty goodness straight to your inbox by signing up to receive my weekly email for the latest and greatest recipes!