Description
This Apple Crumb Cake is a deliciously moist coffee cake featuring a thick sour cream batter layered with tart apple chunks and topped with a buttery cinnamon-spiced crumb topping. Finished with a sweet apple cider glaze, it makes a perfect treat for breakfast, brunch, or dessert.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
Crumb Topping
- 2 1/4 cups flour
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted (1 1/2 sticks)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Coffee Cake Batter
- 2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup full fat sour cream
- 4 cups peeled and chopped tart apples (about 3 medium apples, such as Granny Smith or Pink Lady)
Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons apple cider (or milk)
- 1 tablespoon melted butter
- Fat pinch kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat and Prepare Pan: Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease a 9 x 13 inch casserole dish to prevent sticking.
- Make the Crumb Topping: In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Stir in melted butter and vanilla extract until evenly moist. Use your fingers to pinch the mixture into crumbs of varying sizes; set aside.
- Mix Dry Ingredients for Batter: In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set this aside for later.
- Cream Butter and Sugar: Using an electric mixer, beat the unsalted butter and granulated sugar until the mixture is light, fluffy, and well combined.
- Add Eggs, Vanilla and Sour Cream: Add eggs one at a time to the creamed butter mixture, beating well after each addition. Then beat in the vanilla extract and sour cream until combined.
- Incorporate Dry Ingredients: Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, beating on low speed just until combined. The batter will be thick.
- Assemble the Cake: Spread half of the batter evenly in the bottom of the prepared pan. If the batter is difficult to spread, wet your hands and use them to help spread it evenly. Evenly sprinkle the chopped apples over the batter. Then sprinkle half the crumb topping over the apples. Place dollops of the remaining batter over the crumbs and gently spread with wet hands, leaving some thin spots if necessary. Top with the remaining crumb topping.
- Bake: Bake in the preheated oven for 38-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. If the top begins to brown too quickly (around 30 minutes), cover it loosely with foil to prevent over-browning for the remaining baking time.
- Prepare the Glaze: While the cake bakes, whisk together powdered sugar, apple cider (or milk), melted butter, and a pinch of kosher salt until thick but pourable.
- Serve: Drizzle the glaze over warm slices of the cake and enjoy.
Notes
- Granny Smith and Pink Lady apples both work well for this recipe due to their tartness and firm texture.
- Store the cake covered at room temperature with plastic wrap for up to 5 days; note that the crumb topping may lose some crunch.
- To restore crunchiness, reheat individual slices in the microwave or air fryer before serving.
- For freezing, omit the glaze and freeze whole or individual slices double wrapped in plastic wrap and foil. Freeze for up to 2-3 months. Thaw overnight at room temperature and glaze before serving.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice (1/15th of cake)
- Calories: 330
- Sugar: 25g
- Sodium: 210mg
- Fat: 16g
- Saturated Fat: 9g
- Unsaturated Fat: 6g
- Trans Fat: 0.3g
- Carbohydrates: 43g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 4g
- Cholesterol: 65mg
