Apple Crumb Cake – A super moist butter cake topped with apples and cinnamon crumbs, a perfect fall coffee cake that is fit for a crowd. You will leave the guests raving.
Why you should make this recipe?
I choose to make this recipe when I want to feed a crowd and not just for home. It makes a great crowd pleasing coffee cake or to serve as dessert with ice cream or just as the name says with coffee.
If you are a fan of coffee cakes, you might also like this easy coffee cake or one bowl banana cake recipe.
Recipe at a Glance
Crumb Layer
Flour– All-purpose flour
Brown sugar
Butter– Unsalted, cold
Flavoring– Cinnamon, salt
Apple Layer
Apples- Preferably Gala apples, cored & chopped
Lemon juice – to prevent apples turning brown
Cake
Butter- Unsalted, softened
Sugar– Grinded at home
Eggs– large, room temperature
Vanilla– essence
Dry ingredients- All-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt
Sour cream– Alternatively drained yogurt
Step by Step Process
FAQs
I always use Gala for all my baking recipes with apples and I do not even core it. It turns out perfect every time.
Crumb Cake topping is made from butter, brown sugar and flour. Cinnamon and salt are added for the flavor dimension.
Strawberries or blueberries can be a perfect replacement.
Crumb Cake has significantly thicker layer of streusel or crumb topping than coffee cake while Coffee cake sometimes has crumb layer in between also.
Crumb cake is said to have originated in Germany and is also called Streusel cake which means a cake covered in crumb topping.
Serving Suggestions
A simple dust of icing sugar is enough if you are serving the cake with morning coffee or afternoon tea.
To serve as a dessert, you can drizzle a vanilla glaze, pair with vanilla ice cream or simple whipping cream.
Substitutions & Variations
You can substitute apples in the recipe with strawberries or blueberries both of which can be perfect replacement for apples.
You can also skip the fruits altogether.
Storage and Make Ahead
You can store the cake at room temperature for a day and refrigerate it in a box for up to 3 days.
Apple Crumb Cake
Moist Apple Crumb Cake - Fit to a feed a crowd
Ingredients
Crumb Topping
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 tablespoons butter, cold
Apple Layer
- 2-3 cored & chopped apples
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Cake
- 10 tablespoons or 3/4 cup soft butter
- 1 cup grinded sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/4 cup sour cream/ drained yogurt
Instructions
For the Crumb Topping
- In a large bowl, whisk flour, salt, cinnamon powder and salt.
- Rub in butter to resemble crumbs with finger tips.
- Refrigerate while you make cake.
For the Apple Layer
- Mix lemon with apples and toss well.
For the Cake
- Prepare a 9x13 pan, line with parchment paper and grease.*
- Cream butter and sugar using an electric mixer.
- Add in eggs one at a time.
- Add vanilla.
- Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt together.
- Add 1/3 of dry ingredients and 1/2 yogurt/ sour cream, beat.
- Repeat step 5.
- Add remaining dry ingredients and beat.
- Spread the mixture in the prepared pan.
- Top with apple mixture.
- Finish with crumb topping
- Bake in a pre-heated oven at 325 F for 45 minutes until golden brown and tester comes out clean in the middle.
- Cool and serve.
Notes
* This cake is preferably baked in a 9×13 aluminum pan.
It however, gets a little tricky because of crumb fallout if you invert the cake and try to serve on the platter.
You can use a casserole or glass dish for baking but since glass dish tends to conduct heat rapidly, cakes baked in a glass dish tend to be drier.
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