Apple Crumb Cake

The crumb topping on coffee cake is arguably the best part - right?! This apple crumb cake recipe puts the emphasis on the crumbs with them piled on top of sweet, cinnamon apples and a sour cream cake. I plan to bake this for Christmas morning to enjoy with a second cup of coffee after Jack opens his gifts from Santa.

The original recipe is from Smitten Kitchen, although I found it on Cupcakes and Cashmere. I added some chopped pecans to the top for some crunch, which was delicious but totally optional.

ingredients

{apples}

1 pound apples (3 medium or 2 large), peeled, cored and cut into 1/2 inch wedges

juice of half a lemon

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp granulated sugar

{crumbs}

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

1/3 cup light brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/3 cup flour

{cake}

6 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1/3 cup sour cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup flour

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

directions

{1}

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly coat an 8-inch or 9-inch square pan with butter or non stick spray.

{2}

Prepare apples - toss with lemon juice, then cinnamon and sugar and set aside.

{3}

Make crumbs - whisk butter, sugars, cinnamon and salt together until evenly mixed. Add flour and mix until it disappears (will be very thick!) Set aside.

{4}

Make cake - beat butter with sugar until light & fluffy. Add egg, sour cream and vanilla and beat until combined. Add baking powder and salt and beat well to combine. Add flour and mix only until it disappears.

{5}

Scrape batter from bowl into the greased cake pan and smooth it flat. Arrange apples on cake, slightly overlapped. Pour any remaining cinnamon-apple juice in the bottom of the bowl over the apples. Sprinkle crumbs over apple slices. *Pro tip: for bigger crumbs, squeeze the crumbs into small fistfuls and break these up into a couple bigger chunks over the cake.

{6}

Top with chopped pecans if desired - I used about 1/4 cup.

{7}

Bake for about 50-55 minutes - until a toothpick inserted into the apples doesn't hit any crisp spots, and you see juicing bubbling around some apples if you look closely.