In Season | Apple Crumb Cake
Photography by Alison Engstrom
The warming scent of apples and cinnamon wafting through the air of your kitchen is one of the highlights of transitioning from summer to fall. To usher in the new season, a cool weekend morning is greeted with a coffee cake flecked with freshly picked apples and topped with a cinnamon-laced crumb topping.
Apple Crumb Cake
Recipe Adapted from NYT Cooking
Crumb Topping and Filling
1 cup flour
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature, plus 1 tablespoon to grease the pan
Cake
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1/2 cup full-fat sour cream
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 large apples, peeled and diced such as Golden Delicious, Macintosh, Cortland, Empire
Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously butter an 6 inch* cake pan, set aside. To prepare the topping, add flour, sugar, oats, cinnamon, and salt and stir to combine. Add softened butter, using your hand mix with dry ingredients until mixture begins to come together when held in the palm of your hand. For larger pieces of crumb topping, keep larger pieces.
To prepare the cake add sugar and butter into a bowl fitted for a standing mixer. Beat until light and fluffy about 3 to 4 minutes. Add sour cream, cinnamon, vanilla extract, salt, and beat to combine. Add flour, baking powder, and baking soda and mix just until incorporated. Using a rubber spatula, fold in apples.
To assemble, place half of cake batter into the bottom of prepared pan. Add half of crumb topping on top; add remaining batter and top with the rest of crumb topping. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes** or until a knife can be inserted into the middle and it comes out clean. Let cool completely before carefully removing from pan and enjoying.
*For a thicker cake, use a smaller cake pan with taller sides.
**If you are using a taller cake pan, baking time will take longer than if you are using a shallower dish.
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