This delicious apple crumb cake recipe will be the easiest dessert in your arsenal for the fall season. Made with sweet and sour apples, vanilla, cinnamon, and brown sugar, this apple cake tastes great and you can make it in under one hour!
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Ingredients and substitutes
For the crumb topping
Flour – Use all-purpose flour.
Sugar – I use dark brown and white sugar for my easy apple crumb cake, but you can use white sugar only if you want.
Butter – The unsalted butter should be very cold so you can work it into the flour without melting it.
Salt – Since the salt won’t dissolve completely, you will get a few crystals here and there. This elevates this cake with crumble topping to another level of deliciousness.
For the cake
Apples - I think that this cake turns out the best with Golden Delicious, Honey Crisp, Braeburn, or Pink Lady apples. Or you can use one apple from those I mentioned and one Granny Smith apple to add more acidity.
Flour - Use all-purpose flour or cake flour if you like.
Baking powder - There's not so much acidity in the cake batter, so baking powder will be enough to lift the cake.
Eggs - Eggs should be at room temperature to whip well. If you forgot to take your eggs out of the fridge well in advance, you can warm them up by placing them into a bowl with warm water for 3 minutes.
Sugar - Same as with the crumb topping: I use dark brown sugar and white granulated sugar to give my cake caramel flavor. If you like, you can replace brown sugar with the same amount of white sugar.
Flavorings - I use ground cinnamon, vanilla extract, and salt to flavor my apple crumble cake. Additionally, you can add a pinch of ground nutmeg.
Fats - Melted butter adds tons of flavor to the cake while vegetable oil (use canola or sunflower oil) makes and keeps it moist.
Cooking tips
Make the apple crumb cake topping in advance. You can easily make the mixture the day before and keep it in the fridge in a bowl covered with plastic wrap overnight, or even freeze it. It will save you some time the day you plan to bake your cake.
Bake the cake right away. This cinnamon apple crumb cake is made by whipping the air into the eggs (foam method). When you stop whipping and fold the dry ingredients in, the air bubbles begging to bust, deflating the cake batter. So, the faster you start baking your cake, the fluffier the texture will be.
Don't open the oven too early. Opening the oven too early during the baking will deflate your cake. Usually, it takes a minimum of 30 minutes for a cake to rise to its capacity. With this cake, however, I wouldn't worry about checking on it earlier than 40 minutes into the baking. It has a lot of fruit in it, so it takes more time to rise.
Step by step directions
For the streusel
1. In a bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon, and salt.
2. Then, add the cold butter and cut it into the flour using a pastry cutter, or fork, or work all the ingredients using your hand until crumbly in texture. Refrigerate until needed.
For the cake
1. Preheat the oven to 355F (180C) and prepare an 8" (20cm) springform pan by lining the bottom of it with parchment paper and greasing the sides with butter or oil.
2. In a bowl, combine the flour and baking powder. Set aside.
3. Into the bowl of a stand mixer, add the eggs, salt, brown sugar, white sugar, and vanilla. Whip on medium-high for 8-10 minutes or until thickened, tripled in size, and pale color.
4. Meanwhile, melt the butter and mix it with oil.
5. When the egg mixture is whipped, lower the mixer's speed to medium and slowly pour in the butter mixture. Then, scrape the bottom and the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula and whip for 10 seconds to combine.
6. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones and fold in with the spatula until no dry ingredients are left.
7. Add the cubed apples and fold them in. Pour the mixture into the prepared springform pan.
8. Arrange apple slices on top of the batter in an even layer. Then, take the streusel topping and generously cover the slices.
9. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
10. Remove from the oven and let it cool down in the form for 20 minutes. Then, run the blunt knife against the wall of the pan to release the cake. Let cool down to room temperature or until just a little bit warm before serving.
Serving variations
This cake is perfect! You don't need to add anything to it. It's sweet, moist, and crunchy: it has everything that you could imagine a perfect dessert should have.
However, I'm a big fan of the “vanilla ice cream meets apple dessert” combo, so you should try serving this crumble apple cake with a scoop of freshly made Condensed milk ice cream, or any store-bought vanilla ice cream you like.
Alternatively, pour some cream Anglaise on top of your cake (it's also known as vanilla sauce) and serve.
FAQ
You can store this cake on a plate covered with plastic wrap at room temperature for 3-4 days.
You can freeze this cake for up to 2 months. Make sure to wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and then in a piece of foil to protect your cake from freezer burn. Thaw in the fridge overnight and let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.
More fall recipes
Recipe card
Apple crumb cake
Equipment
- 8" (20cm) springform pan
Ingredients
For the cake
- 160 g all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 large eggs
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 40 g brown sugar
- 40 g white granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 20 ml vegetable oil such as canola oil
- 60 g unsalted butter melted
- 2 large apples peeled and cored. Half cubed, half thinly sliced.
For the streusel
- 120 g all-purpose flour
- 35 g brown sugar
- 35 g white granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 70 g unsalted butter cold and cubed
Instructions
For the streusel
- In a bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon, and salt.
- Then, add the cold butter and cut it into the flour using a pastry cutter, or fork, or work all the ingredients using your hand until crumbly in texture. Refrigerate until needed.
For the cake
- Preheat the oven to 355F (180C) and prepare an 8" (20cm) springform pan by lining the bottom of it with parchment paper and greasing the sides with butter or oil.
- In a bowl, combine the flour and baking powder. Set aside.
- Into the bowl of a stand mixer (or you can use a large mixing bowl and a hand mixer), add the eggs, salt, brown sugar, white sugar, and vanilla. Whip on medium-high for 8-10 minutes or until thickened, tripled in size, and pale color.
- Meanwhile, melt the butter and mix it with oil.
- When the egg mixture is done whipping, lower the speed of the mixer to medium and slowly pour in the butter mixture. Then, scrape the bottom and the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula and whip for 10 seconds to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones and fold in with the spatula just until no dry ingredients are left.
- Add the cubed apples and fold them in. Pour the mixture into the prepared springform pan.
- Arrange apple slices on top of the batter in an even layer. Then, take the streusel topping and generously cover the slices.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and let it cool down in the form for 20 minutes. Then, run the blunt knife against the wall of the pan to release the cake. Let cool down to room temperature or until just a little bit warm before serving.
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