Apple Crumb Cake

5 from 2 votes

With a cinnamon cake base, crunchy apple crumb topping, and sweet apple glaze, this moist and delicious apple crumb cake delivers a burst of warm fall flavor that the whole family will love!

Prep Time30

Cook Time1

Total Time1 30

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Calories: 622kcal

Author: Katalin Nagy

Equipment

Ingredients

Cinnamon sponge cake

120 g Vegetable oil
200 g Granulated sugar
100 g Brown sugar
3 Eggs at room temperature
180 g Yogurt thick Greek or Turkish style yogurt at room temperature
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
310 g All purpose flour
1 teaspoons Baking powder
1 teaspoon Baking soda
1 teaspoon Cinnamon powder
½ teaspoon Salt

Apple Topping

500 g Apples Core the apples, then cut into small chunks. Apples can be peeled, but not necessary.
1 tablesooon Lemon juice Freshly squeezed
50 g Granulated sugar Can be also potentially left out, as the crumb topping will provide enough sweetness
1 teaspoon Cinnamon powder

Crumb

150 g All purpose flour
100 g Granulated sugar
50 g Brown sugar
110 g Unsalted butter at room temperature
pinch of salt

Glaze

90 g Powdered sugar
2-3 tablespoons Apple juice

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Start with the crumb

Cut butter into small chunks and let it come to room temperature.
Whisk together flour, salt, granulated sugar, and brown sugar, then add the room temperature butter chunks to the mixture and mix with a spatula or wooden spoon just until the dry ingredients are coated with the butter.
You can make sand-like crumbs or larger crumbs by simply pressing the mixture together using your fingers. Place the crumble into the fridge, while preparing the cake batter and apple topping.

Make the apple topping

Cut the apples into small chunks and sprinkle with the lemon juice to avoid browning while preparing the sponge layer.
Then, mix with the granulated sugar with the cinnamon powder and set it aside.

Make the cinnamon cake batter

Heat oven to 175°C / 347°F and line a 23cm / 9-inch round pan with parchment paper.
Whisk together the room temperature yogurt, eggs, sugar, and oil. Then, add the vanilla extract.
Sift the flour, cinnamon powder, salt, baking powder, and baking soda together in a separate bowl.
Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients using a rubber spatula. Mix just until combined.
Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with an offset spatula.
Place the apple chunks on top of the cake batter and gently press some of the apples into the cake batter.
Then, finish with a thick layer of crumble on top.

Bake

Bake the cake for 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. If the cake was browning too much, cover the top with aluminum foil.
Let the cake come to room temperature before glazing.
For the glaze, mix the apple juice with the powdered sugar and glaze the top of the cake with the help of a spoon.
Store any leftover cake refrigerated or at room temperature in an airtight container for 2-3 days.

Notes

INGREDIENT NOTES:

Measure your ingredients with a digital scale for accuracy.
For the cake batter, make sure that all the ingredients are at room temperature.
For the crumb topping, do not skip the salt; it will balance the flavor. Use good quality 82% unsalted butter. Feel free to add nuts or oats to this mixture in place of some of the flour.

TECHNIQUE NOTES:

Make sure you read my Expert tips section above to maximize your success. A short recipe alone cannot cover all the necessary details and science behind baking.
Bake the cake until the toothpick check; the toothpick should come out dry. However, do not overbake the cake after this, as overbaked cake can become dry.
Make sure to place parchment paper on the bottom of the cake pan - it is very handy later to move the cake around.
Cut the apples into rather small chunks and press them into the batter properly. It is a better technique than mixing the apples into the batter beforehand, as that often results in all the apples ending up at the bottom of the cake.
For the crumb, some recipes recommend using melted butter or cold butter. With cold butter, you would have to work the mixture a bit longer, as the butter slightly needs to be warmed up to coat the dry ingredients, but eventually, the same result can be achieved. With melted butter, you would have to chill the mixture for the butter to somewhat set and being able to form the crumbs. Therefore, I suggest working with room-temperature butter, which is just perfect for creating the crumbs.

Nutrition