Spiced Apple Crumble Cake

30 mins Prep Time

1 hours 0 mins Cook Time

Written By

Jillian Barreca

This spiced apple crumble cake is perfect to me and once you make it, I think you’ll see exactly why. It’s not too sweet, very easy to prepare, and always a big crowd-pleaser. Because this cake uses an all-in-one method, the batter comes together unbelievably quickly. Once you’ve made it a few times, feel free to adapt the recipe to suit your own tastes: swap out the powdered ginger for fresh if you want a spicier kick, use walnuts instead of pecans, or sub pears for apples. Highly recommend whipping this cake up while apples are still in season and enjoying a big slice for breakfast!

Ingredients

Streusel

3/4 cup pecans, chopped
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

Cake

4 medium or 5 small baking apples
Half a lemon, juiced
3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sour cream, room temperature
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, divided
1 teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon clove
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
4 eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Spiced Apple Crumble Cake

8 Steps

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9" springform pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.
Step 2

In a medium bowl, combine pecans, flour, oats, sugar, cinnamon and salt for the streusel topping. Add softened butter to the bowl and using your fingers, rub the butter into the dry ingredients until you achieve a sandy, streusel-like texture. Set aside.
Step 3

Prepare your apples by peeling and quartering them. Remove the core and cut each quarter into four cubes. You should be left with roughly 2 1/2 cups of chopped apples. Toss them with lemon juice and 1/2 tsp of cinnamon. Cover and set aside. Tip: If your apples are very tart, you can add 1 tablespoon of brown sugar to the mix.
Step 4

Cream the softened butter together with both sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl before mixing in the sour cream.
Step 5

In a separate medium-sized bowl, sift together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and remaining spices.
Step 6

Add the sifted ingredients to the butter-sugar mixture along with the eggs and vanilla extract. Beat thoroughly until combined.
Step 7

Spread the batter evenly into the springform pan. Sprinkle the diced apples on top and lightly press them into the batter. Then, cover the apples with the streusel mixture.
Step 8

Bake for 1 hour until the apples are tender and a cake tester comes out clean. Wait 15 minutes before slicing and serving the cake.