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This Easy Apple Crumb Cake (or Apple Coffee Cake) is like Apple Pie meets Coffee Cake. Soft and moist cake with a layer of juicy, tender apples topped off with a thick layer of crispy, buttery crumble = absolute perfection. It is also incredibly simple to make and takes only 20 minutes of work!
Apple Crumb Cake, or Apple Coffee Cake, is a take on a classic coffee crumb cake with the addition of apples. It is a simple moist cake with apples mixed into the batter, topped off with a buttery crumble for a crispy texture. The apples add a delightful warmth and tartness perfect for fall, and smell heavenly! The cake has the perfect balance of sweet, nutty and spicy.
3 simple components
This cake has three simple components:
- Moist, soft cake. This cake is sweetened with brown sugar for the caramel-y flavor, and has lots of sour cream which makes it extra moist. It comes together in just one bowl and is delicious
- Cinnamon apples. Chopped Granny Smith and / or Honeycrisp apples are tossed in cinnamon, and added on top of the cake batter as their own layer. Some recipes suggest mixing apples into the cake batter, but I prefer to keep them in their own layer, because they make the cake batter kind of soggy when mixed into it
- Brown butter crumble. This is a very simple crumble made with melted browned butter, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. It’s a thick layer added on top of the cake which gives it a wonderful crispy texture reminiscent of the crispy crust in an apple pie
Step by step photos
The detailed recipe is in the recipe card at the bottom of this post, but let’s quickly go over the steps with photos to help you visualize everything.
For the crumble, brown the butter and mix it with the rest of the ingredients until just combined:
For the cake, whisk together the sugar, butter and oil. Add the eggs and vanilla and whisk until creamy and lighter in color:
Whisk in the sour cream:
Sift in the dry ingredients and whisk until just combined:
Lastly, chop the apples and toss them in cinnamon powder:
Spread the cake batter in the pan, and top off with a layer of the cinnamon apples:
Add the crumble on top and decorate with sliced apples. Cover with any remaining crumble:
Bake, serve and enjoy!
Tips to perfect this cake
A few tips to help you perfect this simple recipe:
- Weigh the ingredients with a kitchen scale, especially the flour! It’s a common mistake to stuff too much flour into measuring cups, which can cause the texture of cake to become dry and dense
- Use high quality European butter for the best flavor and texture! This the crumble is quite heavy on butter, splurging on high quality butter does pay off. I love KerryGold!
- Don’t overmix the crumble. It’s meant to be crumbly, so mix only until you don’t see any unmixed streaks of flour. It’s also best to leave the crumble in chunks for added texture
- Don’t overmix the cake batter. After you sift in the dry ingredients, mix only until they are combined. If you see any lumps of flour, gently use a whisk to get rid of them
- Use a mixture of Honeycrispy and Granny Smith apples. They are both crispy so they don’t become too mushy when baked, and together create a good balance of sweet and tart
- Adjust the ratio of cake batter to apples to crumble to your liking! You can see in the pictures that this cake has a thick crumble layer, but you can always add more or less apples, or more or less crumble, to your preference
- Let the cake set in the pan for 20-30 minutes before removing it. It can be quite delicate when hot, so trying to remove it from the pan will cause it to break
FAQs
Yes, you can replace the brown sugar with white sugar (or even dark brown sugar) in this recipe.
Browning the butter adds a deeper nutty flavor to the crumble. However, if you’re short on time, you can simply use melted butter instead.
You’re welcome to reduce the sugar but remember that it will also impact the texture of the cake.
If you want to turn this into a plain coffee cake, you’re welcome to skip the apples! I also recommend checking out my Coffee Coffee Cake and Blueberry Coffee Cake for other variations!
I don’t remember substituting the sour cream in this recipe. Instead, if you can’t find it easily where you live, you can make your own at home! Check out my homemade sour cream recipe.
Yes, you can bake this cake 1-2 days in advance and keep it in an airtight container at room temperature. However, please note that due to the moisture from the apples, the crumb will lose its crispy texture and become softer with time, so it’s best to bake this cake fresh.
Store this cake in an airtight container at room temperature for 1-2 days or in the fridge for up to 5 days. I recommend warming it up in the microwave before eating!
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Ingredients
Brown Butter Crumble:
- 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour (227g)
- 1 cup light brown sugar, packed (200g)
- 1 tsp cinnamon powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter (170g)
Cake:
- 2/3 cup granulated or light brown sugar (133g)
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted (56g)
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil (30g)
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 3/4 cup sour cream, room temperature (180g)
- 1 1/3 cup all purpose flour (173g)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
Cinnamon Apples:
- 2 cups peeled and cubed apples, ideally a mix of Honeycrisp and Granny Smith (+ more for decoration, optional)
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
Optional simple icing:
- 1/2 cup icing sugar
- 1–2 tbsp heavy cream or milk
Instructions
Brown Butter Crumble:
- Preheat oven to 350F (conventional / no fan) and prepare a 9″ cake pan with parchment paper
- Place the butter in a nonstick pan and melt over medium-low heat. Continue to cook and stir until the butter becomes brown – it will become frothy and bubbly first, but keep stirring until you see brown bits in the butter and it smells very nutty. Do not overcook as it can burn easily
- Add the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt to a bowl, and whisk until combined and no lumps remain
- Pour in the browned butter. Use a spoon to mix the butter into the dry ingredients gently. It will become crumbly as you do this; do not overmix, only mix until no dry streaks of flour remain
- Place in the fridge
Cake:
- Add the sugar, melted butter and oil to a bowl and whisk for 2-3 minutes. It’s ok if the sugar doesn’t fully dissolve
- Add the vanilla and eggs, and whisk for another 2 minutes so until the mixture becomes smooth, caramel-y and lighter in color
- Add the sour cream and whisk until it is combined. Scrape your bowl, if needed
- Sift in the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Whisk very gently until just combined and no lumps remain; do not overmix
Cinnamon Apples:
- Cut the apples into small cubes and toss with cinnamon in a bowl
Assembly and baking:
- Spread the cake batter in the prepared 9″ cake pan
- Top with a layer of the cinnamon apples
- Bring the crumble out of the fridge and use your hands to spread it on top of the apples. It should be in chunks, and doesn’t have to be perfect! I like to save a little crumble, thinly slice some apples and add to the pan for decoration before sprinkling over the remaining crumble (see images in blog post above)
- Bake at 350F for ~50-55 minutes. Test with a toothpick inserted in the middle at the 45 minute mark; it should have light crumbs but no wet batter. If the crumble is becoming too dark, you can cover the pan with aluminum foil as the cake continues to bake
- Let the cake rest in the pan for 30 minutes before carefully taking it out
- If adding icing, mix the sugar and cream / milk to your desired consistency and drizzle on top of the cake with a whisk or spoon
- Slice & serve!
Video Tutorial
Notes
- Due to moisture from apples, the crumble will become softer with time, so I recommend baking and serving this cake the same day
- Please read the blog post above for frequently asked questions, tips, and details on this recipe
More Fall Recipes
Here are some more warm and comforting fall recipes you will love:
- Snickerdoodle Apple Pie Cookies with a chewy snickerdoodle base and a caramely apple pie filling
- Sticky Maple Pecan Cinnamon Buns with a pillowy soft dough and a nutty, caramely pecan topping
- The BEST Salted Caramel Cheesecake with a biscoff base, creamy luscious caramel cheesecake filling and salted caramel sauce on top
- Gooey Pecan Pie Brownies with a fudgy brownie base and nutty pecan pie filling on top
Comments
Lucy
The best dessert I have ever eaten. Remarkable cake and thoughtful recipe. Thanks Zoha!
Zoha Malik
Thank you so much, Lucy! I am so glad you liked it 🙂 x
Rubryx
Wow! This is the BEST apple cake that I’ve ever had! I woke up craving apple cake, and this exceeded expectations! I am saving this as it’s going to be my new bring along. I ended up grating the apple so that it would meld better (I used 3 apples). It took longer than the time stated to bake (approx 1h 15m), but it is so worth the wait! I burned my mouth eating some straight out of the oven, but couldn’t restrain myself. Eating it the next day at room temp was also a delight. My new fave!!!!! Thank you for sharing it!!!
Zoha Malik
This is so kind of you, thank you so much for the kind review! And such a fun tip on grating the apple, I will try that next time too!
Rubryx
🍎🍏🍎🍏 Making this again for Memorial Day weekend! Can’t wait for our friends to try it!
Zoha Malik
YAY! Best of luck!
Tina
Amazing! My family loved it and my only regret was that I didn’t double the recipe and make a larger amount!
Zoha
Aw thank youuuuu!!!
Steph
I really appreciate how this recipe is actually easy – especially the part where the crumb is made with melted butter!
Sahar Zaidi
The whole family loves this recipe, thank you for creating it and sharing it. Kent, UK.
Zoha
Thanks so much, Sahar!
Raania Malik
I finally got around to making your Apple Crumb Cake 🍎and OMGG words cannot describe how amazing it was 😋 everyone in my family loved it and it was just the perfect way to celebrate fall 🍁The warm,crispy apples with the sweet crumble and the moist sponge was just the best thing ever. It wasn’t that hard and it would be so impressive for dinner parties. Looking forward to trying many more of your recipes ♥️
Zoha
This made me SOOO incredibly happy! Thank you Raania!
Zoha
Thank you so so much!