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Need a simple, delicious and unique cake that will blow your mind? Try my Easy Maple Cake! Made with simple pantry ingredients, real maple syrup and maple extract, baked low and slow to keep it soft and drizzled with a sweet and creamy maple glaze and topped with walnuts. It’s pure heaven.
Amazing Maple Cake | Typical Canadian Girl Recipe
Do you like maple cake? Growing up in Canada with a mother that taught me exactly what good (and bad!) maple syrup was AND having taken several trips to Upper Canada Village in elementary school, I am a bit of a maple snob. There is good maple and bad maple.
Good maple = Tim Horton’s maple bars.
Bad maple = any other maple bars.
Good maple = Maple Leaf Cookies (by Dare)
Bad maple = any other maple leaf cookies
Do you see? I’m clearly an expert/sarcasm.
Maple Cake
What does this good maple/bad maple talk have to do with this Easy Maple Cake? Well friends, because I’m such a maple snob, I solemnly swear to never steer you in the wrong direction. The secret is getting the right kind of maple syrup and the right kind of maple extract….if you’re wanting to be snobby about it. These are optional steps, but ones I recommend.
Maple Syrup: whether you’re eating pancakes, waffles or making a maple cake, always always always use 100% real maple syrup. I love Kirkland Signature’s Real Maple Syrup because it’s inexpensive, 100% pure and Grade A Amber which is the best in quality, color and taste (in my opinion).
Maple Extract/Flavoring: a lot of the maple extracts and flavorings can vary so much! Some of them are more maple-y than others! I used Kroger’s Imitation Maple Flavor for testing this recipe. It’s dark and is a great overall maple flavor. If you’re using a different brand, just note it might be slightly more or less maple-y.
Main Ingredients Needed
The beauty of this Maple Cake recipe is it calls for lots of basic pantry ingredients. You might need to get some maple extract, but besides that everything else is pretty darn common.
- Canola or Vegetable Oil– I love the texture and moisture oil brings to this cake.
- Granulated Sugar– for sweetness for the cake!
- Vanilla + Maple Extract – vanilla adds depth of flavor to the maple extract and both are very complimentary of each other in this cake.
- Real Maple Syrup– used for a little sweetness and more maple flavor.
- Low Fat Sour Cream– helps give moisture to the cake.
- Milk– thins out the sour cream and helps give a more tender crumb to the cake.
- All purpose Flour– I use unbleached but bleached works just as well, too. Use what you have.
- Baking Powder + Baking Soda– both are needed for leavening.
- Salt– helps offset all that sweet and helps all the flavors pop and become more distinct.
- Powdered Sugar + Heavy Cream– used for the glaze with a little more maple extract.
- Walnuts– optional, but I love the crunch they add. Walnuts and maple are really good buddies in the food world and I like using them together.
How to Make Maple Cake
This is a relatively simple recipe to follow. As long as you grease your bundt pan really well, you should have success. This is the bundt pan I used and it worked great sprayed with Pam.
- Mix oil, sugar, vanilla, maple extract and eggs together until combined in the bowl of a stand mixer.
- In small bowl, whisk together sour cream, milk and maple syrup.
- In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together.
- With mixer on low, alternate milk mixture with dry ingredients until everything is just incorporated. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl and mix briefly to ensure batter is evenly mixed.
- Pour batter into prepared bundt pan and bake at 325 degrees for 55 minutes to 1 hour 5 minutes.
- Remove from oven and cool in the pan 15 minutes. Carefully remove cake from pan onto cooling rack.
- For the icing, whisk powdered sugar, maple extract and heavy cream together until thick and smooth.
- Drizzle over top of cake and down the sides. Top with chopped walnuts. Serve.
Love Cake? Try These Other Recipes:
- Italian Cream Cake
- Vanilla Cake Recipe**- Reader Favorite!
- Family-Favorite Coconut Cake
- Funfetti Cake– made this for my daughter’s birthday…so fun!
- Apple Coffee Cake– a simple, old-fashioned dessert
So, there you have it! A delicious and simple Maple Cake for not a lot of work. It’s one of my very favorite cakes I’ve made the entire year…probably because the maple flavor just reminds me of home.
Enjoy, friends! Have a great day!
Maple Cake
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 3/4 cup Canola oil Or Vegetable Oil
- 1 cup Granulated Sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 2 teaspoons maple extract
- 3 whole Eggs
- 1 cup Low Fat Sour Cream
- 1/2 cups Milk
- 1/4 cups Pure Maple Syrup
- 2 3/4 cups All-purpose Flour
- 2 teaspoons Baking Powder
- 1/2 teaspoons Baking Soda
- 1/4 teaspoons Salt
For the icing:
- 1 cup Powdered Sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon maple extract
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup Chopped Walnuts for Garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Coat bundt pan liberally with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.
- In large bowl, whip oil, sugar, vanilla, maple extract, eggs together until combined.
- In small bowl, whisk together sour cream, milk and maple syrup. In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together.
- With mixer on low, alternate milk mixture with dry ingredients until everything is just incorporated. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl and mix briefly to ensure batter is evenly mixed.
- Batter should be completely smooth. (A few small lumps is ok.)
- Pour batter into prepared bundt pan, level the top and bake 55 min-1 hour 5 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean after being inserted.
- Remove from oven and cool in the pan 15 minutes. Carefully remove cake from cooling rack and place onto cake stand.
- For the icing, whisk powdered sugar, maple extract and heavy cream together until thick and smooth.
- Drizzle over top of cake and down the sides. Top with chopped walnuts. Serve.
The picture on Instagram shows a glaze underneath and a white colored frosting on top. Upon entering your site the white frosting is missing in your photos. Where is the recipe for the white frosting? I’d really like to make it as pictured. Thank you.
M, I’m not sure which image on Instagram you are referring to. The last time I posted this to IG was a few weeks ago (here: https://www.instagram.com/p/C9zf5Q_BC5j/) and it’s the same image as in this post. There’s just one recipe for the icing and it’s in the recipe card.
Do you only let the cake cool for 15 minutes before you put the maple glaze on?
Could I substitute melted butter for the oil? Thanks!
can I turn this into a layer cake?
Can I use full fat sour cream. I’m in pa our state. Maple festival this weekend
Neva, I didn’t test it with full fat but I don’t see why not!
Cake turned out moist. The icing is delicious!
Can I use real maple sugar instead of plain granulated sugar?
My family loved this recipe! Definitely a keeper 🙂
I made it for a birthday, and it was wonderful. Cake was fluffy and moist. I added nuts to the batter because the birthday person loves nuts. Keeper recipe!
Have you ever made this cake and baked it in 8-9 inch cake pans? I think it would be delicious if made in them and maple icing between the layers as well as on top!
Bellyfull jusy posted your Maple Ring Cake recipe?
You are so popular.💓
Wow I did not know you were from Canada how cool my mom grew up in Montreal Quebec we always picked on her for her accent on the way she would say certain words. We went there every year to visit the relatives we loved going there. Today I have one Aunt left she is 86 years old and lives in Whitby Ontario. My sister and I went there to visit we just love going there. Your cake sounds delicious I will try it sometime. What city did you grow up in? Do you speak French my mom did that was her first language.
Can this be made in a 9 X 13 pan?
I am confused. Not sure if you mix the sour cream milk mixer with the eggs sugar and others ???
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[…] Bundt cake sirop d'érable & noix de pécan Recette du cake d'après Lauren's latest Pour un gros moule à cake soit 16 personnes* Temps de préparation: 25mn Temps de cuisson: […]
at what point do you mix the egg mixture with the milk? or do you?
I had the same question! Seems like you prep three bowls, but the directions only note mixing two of three to form the batter…
Sorry there’s some confusion! One bowl will be for mixing, one bowl for dry ingredients, one bowl for wet. Cream the oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla in the larger mixing bowl. Alternate adding wet and dry into the larger mixing bowl.
Awesome site and recipes!
Do you whip the cream before adding it to the frosting!
No!
A friend of mine made this cake recently but substituted maple syrup for the sweetened condensed milk and butter for the oil. It was AMAZING. I had to get the recipe!! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
I don’t see sweet condensed milk in the recipe? Are talking about the milk and substitute maple syrup? I see a 1/4 cup of maple syrup already in the recipe.
I think I just found my dearly beloved’s birthday. He loves maple syrup (having grown up in Perth, Ontario) and has been known to drink it from a glass! Will definitely be trying this one out.
Gorgeous cake! I’m such a fan of maple anything!
That frosting sounds heavenly and your cake is just a slice of perfection.
This cake looks perfect!
This cake looks amazing.I love anything maple 🙂
mickey
Lauren, timely mention of changing zodiac signs, this week…
Yes, this one is hard to beat, but I would double or triple the nuts. Seems like I’m being somewhat healthy with a higher ratio of nuts to cake. This one is delectable, moist, offering a mouthful to truly savor.
What a lovely-looking cake! Hubby despises anything maple but I absolutely love it, so I’ll be having this cake all to myself! 😉
I’m a maple freak(and, don’t hate, but I have an unlimited free supply! We live in the Northwoods of WI and my Mister’s family taps their own trees…they are more than happy to trade maple syrup for baked goods…) It’s been a while since I made cake(i tend towards pies)…but I’d love to try this one…only one thing…I have a healthy fear of my bundt pan…I just KNOW it will stick….
fearfully,
cathy b.
Lovely cake!