Apple Crumb Cake
This apple crumb cake is made extra delicious with a layer of caramelized spiced apples and a thick layer of buttery, brown sugar crumble all over an extra soft and moist apple cake. It’s ultra decadent- autumn crumb cake perfection!
What makes Apple Crumb Cake so good?
The best part is of course the crumble. It’s made with all brown sugar for a really deep caramely flavor, and a hint of fall spices add delicious warmth. We’ll make the crumble first, then chill it so it can firm up into the perfect consistency before getting sprinkled over the batter and baked into a perfectly crisp, golden brown layer.
Below the crumble we have a layer of slightly sweetened, spiced apples. They’re gooey, caramelized and delicious. By precooking them we avoid a soggy crumb cake.
Finally, below the perfectly crunchy crumb topping and caramelized spiced apples, we have a very moist and fluffy apple cake. Apple butter is used in the crumb cake batter to give it a strong apple flavor on top of the actual apple layer. Each bite of crumb cake is full of delicious spiced apple flavor, sure to be a new favorite this fall season.
Pre Cooking the Apples
By precooking the apples, as opposed to throwing raw apples into the batter, we avoid a soggy crumb cake. This little extra 10 minute step is really important to give you the best, moist and fluffy apple crumb cake.
My favorite apples to use in this recipe are honey crisp or pink lady apples, instead of the usual granny smith apples. I think they have a better flavor, and hold up really well while baking.
Peel your apples, you’ll need about 2 large apples in total, then dice into half inch pieces. Toss them with brown sugar and spices and cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes, just until they’re slightly tender and the juices in the pan have thickened. They don’y need to be completely cooked because they will continue baking in the crumb cake.
Tips for baking a soft apple crumb cake
Room Temperature Ingredients- You’ll have the best textured cake if you use room temperature ingredients instead of cold. Cold wet ingredients, like eggs and buttermilk, can cause the cake to bake with more of gummy consistency, and we don’t want that. We want a moist and fluffy crumb cake!
Mixing the Batter- You’ll want to cream the butter and sugar together until pale in color and fluffy, and the eggs should be mixed in until smooth. It’s okay at this point to mix a lot, as we’re adding air into the eggs, helping to give the batter a “lift”. However, mix the dry ingredients on medium-low speed just until they are blended into the wet ingredients to avoid an overly dense crumb cake.
Measuring Your Flour Properly- If you learn anything from making this recipe, please let it be this: measure your flour (and all other ingredients) with a digital kitchen scale. Please don’t bring me to tears; don’t scoop your measuring cup into your flour. This will always lead to inaccurate flour measurements and therefore, a wonky bake.
Baking Pan- I recommend using a light colored metal baking pan. This will help to ensure that the crumb cake gets baked evenly. A glass or dark colored baking pan can cause baking variations, like the cake baking too quickly, being over-baked in some areas, while not baked in others.
Apple Crumb Cake FAQs
It’s best stored at room temperature, in an airtight container, for about three days.
I really recommend sticking with an unsweetened apple butter as it will add the best deep apple flavor to the cake. Unsweetened applesauce could work in a pinch, but will not add nearly the same apple flavor profile that apple butter will. This is my favorite apple butter for baking.
If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, you can easily make it but mixing 3/4 cup (180 ml) of whole milk with 2 1/4 tsp of fresh lemon juice or white vinegar.
I have not tested this recipe as being doubled, so I can’t recommend it. I think if it were to be baked in a 9×13 pan, it might bake differently/not as well as the original recipe.
I have been on my own gluten free journey lately and have found that most of my recipes turn out great GF- Hooray! There is a caveat though, I can only say the recipe will come out good with Bobs Red Mill 1 to 1 gluten free baking flour. This is not sponsored, but my true opinion. This is the only gluten free flour I use as it bakes most similarly to regular, all-purpose flour.
For more apple recipes, check out:
Apple Cider Cheesecake Cookies
If you make this delicious cinnamon apple crumb cake recipe, please leave a star rating! Tag me on Instagram @inbloombakery_ and TikTok @inbloombakery so I can see! Follow me on Pinterest for other dessert ideas!
Apple Crumb Cake
Ingredients
For the Crumble Topping
- 1/2 cup (112 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup (220 g) brown sugar, packed
- 1 cup (125 g) all purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 2 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp allspice
- pinch of salt
For the Spiced Apples
- 2 cups (268 g) apples peeled and diced into ½ inch pieces, about 2 apples
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- pinch of allspice
- 2 tbsp (28 g) brown sugar
For the Apple Cake
- 1 3/4 cups (219 g) all purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp allspice
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup (112 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated white sugar
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup (244 g) unsweetened apple butter
- 3/4 cup (180 ml) buttermilk, at room temperature
For the Cream Cheese Frosting Drizzle
- 2 oz (56 g) cream cheese, softened
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) pure maple syrup
- 3-4 tbsp (25-32 g) powdered sugar add to your sweetness preference
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) whole milk
Instructions
For the Crumble Topping
- Add the butter, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and salt to a medium bowl.1/2 cup (112 g) unsalted butter, softened, 1 cup (220 g) brown sugar, packed, 1 cup (125 g) all purpose flour, spooned and leveled, 2 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1/8 tsp allspice, pinch of salt
- Mix everything together until you have thick, coarse crumbs. Pop the crumble in the fridge while working on the rest of the crumb cake.
For the Spiced Apples
- Add the chopped apples, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and brown sugar to a medium pan.2 cups (268 g) apples peeled and diced into ½ inch pieces, about 2 apples, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, pinch of allspice, 2 tbsp (28 g) brown sugar
- Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes, until the juices have thickened and the apples are slightly tender. Remove from the heat and let cool while working on the batter.
For the Apple Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×9 inch light metal baking pan and line it with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, baking soda, and salt. Then set aside the flour mixture.1 3/4 cups (219 g) all purpose flour, spooned and leveled, 1 tbsp cinnamon, 1 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp allspice, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt
- Add the softened butter and granulated white sugar to a large bowl. Cream together for 2 minutes with an electric mixer on high speed.1/2 cup (112 g) unsalted butter, softened, 1 cup (200 g) granulated white sugar
- Then add in the eggs and vanilla and mix on medium speed until pale in color and smooth, about 1 minute.2 eggs, at room temperature, 1 tsp vanilla
- Add in the unsweetened apple butter and buttermilk and mix on medium low speed until combined. (The batter will look curdled at this point but don't worry. It will pull together once the dry ingredients are added.)1 cup (244 g) unsweetened apple butter, 3/4 cup (180 ml) buttermilk, at room temperature
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on medium low speed just until the batter is combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as necessary
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the apples on top of the batter, then sprinkle the chilled streusel on top of the apples, making sure to cover the entire top in an even layer.
- Bake the coffee cake for 65-80 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center with only a few moist crumbs.(If the top is getting too brown towards the end of the baking time, loosely cover with aluminum foil.)
- Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes, then pull up on the parchment paper to release it from the pan. Let the crumb cake continue cooling on the cooling rack until completely cooled.
For the Cream Cheese Frosting Drizzle
- While the cake cools, make the cream cheese drizzle by adding the cream cheese and maple syrup to a small bowl. Mix with an electric mixer on medium high speed until smooth.2 oz (56 g) cream cheese, softened, 2 tbsp (30 ml) pure maple syrup
- Then sift in the powdered sugar a little at a time, mixing on low speed, until all is combined. Lastly, mix in the milk.3-4 tbsp (25-32 g) powdered sugar add to your sweetness preference, 1 tbsp (15 ml) whole milk
- Once cooled, cut the crumb cake into 16 slices. Drizzle the cream cheese frosting on top of the cake, then serve!
This cake is perfection! I can always rely on your recipes turning out delicious & come to your tiktok and ig for inspiration ? Thank you for putting the ingredients into the recipe instructions—I absolutely love this and wish all recipes were presented in this format!
Can I sub the apple butter with apple sauce in a 1:1 ratio?
It was better than I expected. I made a double batch, and everyone is loving the cake. Perfect autumn vibes.
I’ve been an admirer from afar for a while and finally decided to try this as my first ‘In Bloom’ bake and dannng, was this good! The only things different I did was use homemade apple butter, left out the allspice (I thought I had some but didn’t) and used the vinegar and cream trick instead of buttermilk. Moist cake, gooey apples, and the crumble was the perfect texture. I can’t wait to try more of your recipes!
It was a hit! I always have luck with your recipes, will definitely be making again!!
Hi! I’m planning on making this cake for Thanksgiving. I was wondering if you recommended any specific apple butter for this recipe? If so, where can I find it?
Thank you!
Cant wait to try this recipe 🙂
Another amazing recipe! This site has given me so much baking confidence. The deep apple taste with this recipe was so good you don’t even need the drizzle. I did make the drizzle though! I’m not sure what I did wrong but it turned out watery and kind of separate. I added some more cream cheese and powdered sugar and it turned out fine. Maybe my cheese was too cold? But I had it out all day. Anywho, it was a crowd pleaser!
Genuinely the best cake I have ever had