Maple Bundt Cake

This Maple Bundt Cake is a dense, moist pound cake that has a whole cup of maple syrup baked into the cake! Top with an easy maple glaze and toasted pecans for the photo finish!

The maple flavor is front and center, the crumb is dense without being heavy, and the glaze pulls the whole thing together! I have been having a bundt cake moment! I keep finding these beautiful, ornate bundt pans that I have to create pound cake recipes for! Hello pumpkin bundt cake!

But this cake is soft, moist, and beautifully flavored with maple. It tastes like fall, and it makes me peer out my windows expectantly, waiting for the first leaves to start turning! I lean into those maple cravings with pecan pie bars and homemade maple butter!

Ingredients & Substitutions

• Butter: The fat base for the pound cake, responsible for richness and the fine, close crumb that holds up under a glaze. Use it cool but pliable.
• Sugar: Granulated sugar aerates with the butter during creaming and provides the structural backbone of the crumb and helps the cake release from the bundt pan. Do not reduce it; the ratio is calibrated to balance the maple syrup.
• Eggs
• Maple Syrup: This is the most critical ingredient in the recipe, so use Grade B (dark, robust) maple syrup for the deepest, most pronounced flavor. Grade A will work, but the maple character will be noticeably lighter. I tested this with both grades, and the difference in the finished cake is significant enough to make Grade B non-negotiable for me. Then make sure to make this maple cake next!
• All-Purpose Flour
• Kosher Salt and Baking Soda
• Cinnamon: Adds warmth that complements maple without competing with it. Keep the amount measured; too much tips the cake toward spice-cake territory.
• Sour Cream: Full-fat sour cream is the moisture and tenderness engine here, adding fat and acidity that keeps the crumb soft for days. Do not substitute low-fat or it will noticeably affect both texture and flavor.
• Vanilla Extract
• Confectioners’ Sugar, Maple Syrup, Kosher Salt, and Whole Milk (Glaze): These four ingredients combine to create a glaze that is maple-forward without being cloying. Start with the listed amounts and adjust milk to reach a pourable but not watery consistency. You could also serve this cake with my Maple Frosting!

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

Variations on This Maple Bundt Cake

• Powdered Sugar Dusting. Skip the glaze entirely and dust the cooled cake with confectioners’ sugar for a cleaner finish that still looks polished.
• Change the glaze! It doesn’t have to be maple; a cream cheese glaze would be delightful, or a spice glaze, or even the bourbon glaze from my Mardi Gras Bundt Cake.
• Make it into a loaf. This same recipe can be baked into two standard loaf pans! They will bake for less time, so just keep an eye on them.

Professional Tips

• Flour your pan thoroughly. Cooking spray alone is not enough for a 12-cup Bundt. Spray first, then flour every surface, tap out the excess, and check that the tube and any deep crevices are fully coated. This is the single step most home bakers skip, and it is the reason cakes stick.
• Start checking at 60 minutes. This cake can take anywhere from 60 to 85 minutes, depending on your oven. I tested it at 325°F convection and mine finished at 70 minutes, but start checking at 60 with a cake tester: you want a few moist crumbs clinging, not a clean pull. Pull it too early, and the center will be underbaked; wait for a clean tester, and it will be dry.
• Cool completely before glazing. A warm cake will absorb the glaze rather than letting it set on the surface, and you will lose the visual contrast of the white drizzle against the browned crust. I know it is hard to wait, but the result is worth it.

How to Make Maple Bundt Cake

Start with the cake batter, since the glaze comes together in minutes while the cake cools.

Step 1: Preheat the oven and prep your pan. Set your oven to 350°F conventional (325°F convection). While it heats, spray your 12-cup Bundt pan thoroughly with cooking spray, then add a spoonful of flour. Tap and rotate the pan until every surface is coated, then tap the excess flour out onto a sheet of parchment. You should be left with a clean, even coating with no bare spots. This step is worth doing carefully — a well-floured Bundt pan is the difference between a cake that releases cleanly and one that tears.

Make Cake Batter

Step 2: Whisk the dry ingredients. Combine the flour, salt, cinnamon, and baking soda in a bowl and whisk until evenly distributed. Set aside.

Step 3: Cream the butter and sugar, then add the eggs and flavorings. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar just until a thick paste forms. You are not looking for the pale, fluffy result you would get with a traditional creaming method — just combined and uniform. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after every two eggs or so, then beat in the vanilla and maple syrup.

The batter will very likely curdle at this point, which is completely normal! The fat and liquid are just temporarily out of balance. Keep going, and it will come together once the flour goes in.

Step 4: Add the flour and sour cream alternately. Switch the mixer to low and begin adding the flour mixture and sour cream alternately. I do not wait for each addition to fully incorporate before adding the next — I just keep feeding both in with two hands, which is my go-to move for keeping the gluten from overdeveloping. Stop the mixer to scrape in the last of the sour cream with a rubber spatula so none gets left behind.

Step 5: Finish mixing by hand and check the batter. Give the batter a few folds by hand with a rubber spatula to make sure everything at the bottom of the bowl is incorporated and nothing is overmixed. The batter should be silky, smooth, and thick — it will hold a slow ribbon when you lift the spatula. If you see any streaks of flour, fold gently until they disappear.

Fill the Bundt Pan and Bake!

Step 6: Fill the pan and smooth the top. Pour the batter into the prepared Bundt pan and smooth the top with an offset spatula or the back of your spatula. Tap the pan gently on the counter once or twice to settle the batter into the ridges.

Step 7: Bake until a cake tester comes out with a few clinging crumbs. Bake at 350°F conventional (325°F convection) for 60 to 85 minutes — start checking at 60. My oven hits the mark at 70 minutes, but ovens vary. A few moist crumbs clinging to the tester is exactly what you want. A clean tester means it has gone too far.

Even with all that butter, sugar, and sour cream in the batter, overbaking will dry this cake out. Pull it at the crumb stage and trust it.

Cool and Glaze

Step 8: Cool completely before unmolding. Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack until it is fully at room temperature. I know it is a big ask when the kitchen smells like this, but turning it out too early risks the cake tearing or sticking. Once completely cooled, run a paring knife around the edges and the center tube, then invert onto your plate or cake stand of choice.

Step 9: Level and finish the cake. Once unmolded, take a look at the bottom of the cake (now facing up). If it has a significant dome, you can run a serrated knife across it to level it so the cake sits flat and stable on the plate. The trimmed piece is a baker’s reward and should not be wasted.

Step 10: Make the maple glaze. Combine the confectioners’ sugar, maple syrup, kosher salt, and whole milk in a small bowl or measuring cup and whisk until smooth. Start with 1 tablespoon of milk, then add more a few drops at a time until you reach your desired consistency. For a light, translucent drizzle, keep it thinner. For a glaze that pools and sets on the ridges, pull back a little. If you want full coverage, double the batch — this quantity is intentionally light.

Step 11: Glaze or finish as desired, then slice and serve. Pour the glaze over the completely cooled cake, letting it run down the sides naturally. You can also dust with powdered sugar if you prefer something simpler, or skip the topping entirely and slice straight into it, or use it to make this pumpkin trifle! The glaze will set at room temperature in about 15 minutes if you want cleaner slices, though I will admit I rarely wait that long.

Recipe FAQs

Before You Go

This maple pound cake, with its tight, buttery crumb and double layer of maple flavor, is the kind of recipe worth saving and making again. If you want more inspiration, browse my Cake Recipes or make this strawberry pound cake next!