A soft apple crumb cake topped off with a crisp cinnamon streusel and drizzled with a vanilla glaze. A great recipe to use up any surplus of apples you might have accumulated from apple picking!
Zach and I went apple picking not once, but twice this month. Each time we made our way out of the orchard precariously balancing a crate piled with no less than 15 lbs of apples each time (and when I say “we”, I really mean Zach, he did all the heavy lifting).
That’s… a lot of apples.
I already shared my apple butter recipe that uses nearly 6 lbs of apples alone, but I still had a mountain of apples on my counter that I didn’t want to go bad, and so the baking continued. I made some freezer friendly apple crisp, to be cooked at a later date, my favorite apple pie, and my apple crumb muffins, and then I still had enough apples to make this apple crumb cake over and over (and over) again until I was 100% happy with it.
After my pumpkin coffee cake recipe was such a hit with everyone who tried it, I’d been determined to try to make an apple version and decided a slight variation of that recipe would make a great base for this apple crumb cake.
The apples add a nice touch of moisture, but I included sour cream and melted butter for added moisture, as well. It makes the cake extremely soft.
The streusel is the same one that I used there, as well as on my favorite coffee cake recipe, it’s easy and is made with melted butter, which makes for the most flavorful and easy-to-mix-together streusel that you may have ever tried.
Enjoy!!
Apple Crumb Cake
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup butter melted
- 1/2 cup sugar (100g)
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar tightly packed (50g)
- 2 large eggs lightly beaten
- 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup sour cream (120g)
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (156g)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups diced, peeled apples (165g) (this was about 1 1/2 apples for me)
Streusel Topping
- 1 cup all-purpose flour (125g)
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar tightly packed (150g)
- 2 Tablespoons sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 6 Tablespoons butter melted
Vanilla Glaze
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar (65g)
- 2-3 teaspoons milk
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and lightly grease and flour a 9" springform pan.
- Combine melted butter and sugars in a large bowl and stir until well-combined
- Add eggs and vanilla extract, stir well
- Stir in sour cream.
- In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Using a spatula, gradually add dry ingredients and wet and stir until just combined-- do not over-mix!
- Fold in apple pieces and pour batter evenly into prepared pan. Set aside and prepare your streusel.
Streusel
- Prepare the crumble by whisking together flour, sugars and cinnamon.
- Pour the melted butter into the mixture and, using a fork, stir until crumbles form. Evenly sprinkle streusel over batter.
- Transfer pan to oven and bake on 350F (175C) for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool before adding vanilla glaze.
Vanilla Glaze
- If desired, make glaze by whisking together powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla. Start with 2 teaspoons of milk and add a third if it isn't thin enough to drizzle.
- Drizzle over cooled cake. Allow glaze to harden, slice, and enjoy!
Mekii says
I am a novice baker and your instructions were easy to follow. I used 4 apples and put some oats in the streusel. Tastes Divine
Sam says
I am so glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Brenda says
Delicious apple crumb cake. I have made it twice in a week and as fast as I/ve made it, it is gone. Everyone loves it! However, my streusel was very crumby both times. Definitely going to try more of your recipes.
Sam says
Hi, Brenda! I am so glad everyone enjoyed it. The topping is supposed to be pretty crumbly. 🙂
Bella says
It’s perfect receipt for Apple crumble cake.
Good that I tried it…thanks
Sam says
I’m so glad you enjoyed! Thanks for commenting, Bella 🙂
Tracie says
This recipe is absolutely delicious! I used Granny Smith. They were small so I used 5. Adjusted cooking time because of that. Followed recipe and found a new favorite for my family!❤️ Thank you so much!
Sam says
I am so glad you enjoyed it, Tracie! ☺️
Ghazal Lahooti says
Best recipe ever.
Tnx😙😙😙
Sam says
Thank you so much! ☺️
Kristy says
Yum! It was fun to make, easy to bake, and simply amazing to taste. I love this recipe! I used a 7 by 7 square pan, so it took about 20~ minutes longer to bake, but still came out super moist and delicious. It’s sweet with a pinch of tart, which I love. Bonus: Smelled divine as it was baking! Thanks for the recipe
Sam says
I am so glad you enjoyed it Kristy! ☺️
Sherry says
Could you make cupcakes with this batter?
Sam says
I would have a few concerns with making this into a cupcake, they won’t rise much and could be pretty dense. You can check out my Apple Crumble Muffins for a great apple muffin!
Pat says
What went wrong??? I’m not a novice baker. It looked great when I took it out of the oven. After it cooled I noticed the center had fallen in. When I removed it from the pan the bottom was almost liquid. It had baked for 43 [email protected]
Where could I have gone wrong?
Sam says
Check your oven temperature to make sure it’s correct. It sounds like the cake was definitely underbaked.
Fran says
I have plenty of apples from going to the farm with the grandchildren. When searching for an apple cake receipe, I choose your receipe because using a spring pan just makes it so simply. Cake is cooling and I plan on icing it. I am bringing it to a family get together and I will let you know how much they liked it.
Sam says
I hope everyone loves it!! 😃
Joanne says
The cake looks delicious straight out of the oven. Serving for a brunch. I added some walnuts. Spring foam is a must it rises all the way to the top.
Rosemarie Mcfadden says
I just took this fabulous cake out of the oven to cool. This cake is very moist and tastes terrific. Hubby loves it with a cold glass of goats milk. Thanks for such a great recipe and it’s definitely a keeper.
Sam says
So happy to hear it was such a hit! <3
donna l ledger says
do you have to use a springform pan or will a cake pan work as well?
Sam says
As long as the cake pan is deep enough it will work!
Lindsay says
Easy, Beautiful, & Delicious!!! So glad I tried it!
Sam says
I’m so glad that you enjoyed the cake, Lindsay!! 🙂