Apple Crumb Cake

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: apple coffee cake, apple crumb cake

Prep Time: 30

Cook Time: 45

Servings: servings

Calories: 559kcal

Author: Kara @I Scream for Buttercream

This sour cream apple crumb cake has amazing flavor. It's a moist coffee cake with apples, plus a cinnamon streusel on top, then drizzled with glaze.

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US Customary - Metric

Ingredients

For the crumb topping:

¾ cup packed brown sugar
1 cup all purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small chunks (1 stick)

For the cake:

2 ⅔ cups all purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon cinnamon (leave out if you don't want much cinnamon flavor)
¼ teaspoon nutmeg (optional)
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup packed brown sugar
1 cup sour cream
½ cup milk
3 eggs
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature (2 sticks)
2 cups peeled, chopped apples (I used honey crisp apples, you don't want large chunks of apples)

For the cinnamon glaze:

3 cups confectioners sugar
¼ teaspoon cinnamon (optional for even more cinnamon flavor)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup milk or cream (can add 1-2 tablespoon more if needed)

Instructions

For the crumb topping:

Add the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt to a mixing bowl and whisk well. Pull out any brown sugar chunks. Add the chunks of butter and mix with a fork and your clean fingers smashing the butter as you go. Once all the chunks of butter are broken up and mostly incorporated, you can use the fork or an electric mixer to mix it just until the mixture is crumbly.
If using a mixer, be careful not to mix too long, or it will form a paste. Stop mixing once the mixture looks crumbly.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the fridge to chill while you make the cake.

For the cake:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Grease a 9x13 inch pan. (I used a glass pan). If you're using a dark coated pan, the bottom may over-brown a bit, so just be aware.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, granulated sugar and packed brown sugar. Whisk well and set aside.
In another bowl, mix together the sour cream, milk, eggs, vanilla extract and vegetable oil. Whisk well and set aside.
Make sure your butter is slightly cooler than room temperature. Add the butter (in chunks) slowly to your dry ingredients. (You can turn your stand mixer on low and leave it on while you add the butter chunks at a time, or you can use a hand mixer.)
Turn the mixer up to medium and mix until all the flour is coated with the butter and the mixture is crumbly. It will have a sand-like texture.
Pour in about half of the liquid mixture. Mix on medium until just combined. About 15-20 seconds.
Pour the last of the liquid mixture and mix again until combined. Don't over mix the batter. Mixing it for several minutes is too long. Once all the ingredients are incorporated well, stop mixing.
Use a rubber spatula and scrape the sides of the bowl. Mix again for only about 10 seconds.
Add the chopped apples to the cake batter and stir in with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula.
Pour the batter into prepared pan and spread evenly.
Sprinkle the chilled crumb mixture evenly over the top of the cake batter.
Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 45 minutes. The top will be golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center will come out either clean or with a few moist crumbs.
Set on wire rack to cool for at least 30 minutes. Add the glaze, then serve straight from the pan.

For the glaze:

If you do not want a lot of glaze, then you'll want to half the glaze recipe.
In a mixing bowl, add in the confectioners sugar, cinnamon, extract and milk. Mix well until smooth. Check the consistency. If it’s too thick for drizzling, add more milk or cream by tablespoon until desired consistency.
Drizzle over cooled cake.

Video

Notes

This cake is very cinnamony. If you don't like that much cinnamon, leave it out of the cake and the glaze and just add it to the crumb topping.

Store leftovers in the fridge. This cake is great heated for about 7-10 seconds in the microwave.

Nutritional values are an estimate.

Make sure to check out the TIPS & FAQs for this recipe in the blog post, which may answer questions about substitutions.

*This recipe card may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Nutrition