Apple Streusel Cake is a cinnamon apple crumb cake with 3 layers – vanilla sponge, juicy apples, and a cinnamon crumb topping. It’s good for tea or pudding (with cream or custard).

Apple Streusel Cake

When my mother first made Apple Streusel Cake we thought it was very Continental and quite exotic. Perhaps it was just the name. In fact, it’s really an apple cake with a sweet crumb topping and a hint of cinnamon. You can have it for tea, or for pudding with cream.

The original recipe doesn’t have cinnamon, but I like the extra flavour it gives. If cinnamon isn’t your thing, double the vanilla extract in the cake and you will still have a lovely Apple Streusel Cake.

For me, Apple Streusel Cake marks the end of summer and the start of a few weeks of making everything with apples as the trees finally give up their fruit. Sadly, I don’t have apple trees of my own, but I have plenty of friends and relatives who, in years of plenty, are pleased to offload some of their fruit. There seems to have been a bumper crop this year and I’m looking out all my old recipes for things to do with apple. We don’t eat a lot of jams so apple jelly isn’t a good option, but I’m particularly fond of apple cakes like this as they’re so versatile and adding apple makes cake seem a bit more virtuous.

There has been a good harvest in the hedgerows too this year and my freezer is already full of blackberries and sloes. Some of the apples have gone in too, ready to chuck into a crumble when needed. This is part of my Investment Cooking, although no cooking is involved in this case. I spend some time when I have it, e.g. at the weekend to make life easier, foodwise, during the week. Now I have apples, plums and blackberries ready to go. I also have some crumble mix from the Strawberry and Rhubarb Crumble that I made last month. I always try to make 2-4 times as much as I need for days that we feel like having a pudding or, more likely, days when someone is coming to eat and I need a pudding but don’t want to spend the time!

This autumn I suspect all my guest will be getting crumble or Apple Streusel Cake.

Apple Streusel Cake

Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Yield: 16 pieces 1x

Print Recipe

Description

A 3-layer cake – vanilla sponge, juicy apple, and sweet cinnamon crumb. Perfect for tea or pudding.

You will need a 20cm square baking tin.

Scale

Ingredients

For the crumb topping:

175g butter
160g soft brown sugar – dark or light
75g demerara sugar
240g self-raising flour
1–2 teaspoons (5-10ml) ground cinnamon (according to taste)

For the apple layer:

3 medium cooking apples – 500-600g. About 400g of prepared apple
1 teaspoon (5ml) ground cinnamon

For the cake:

150g butter (room temperature)
150g caster sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon (5ml) vanilla extract
200g self-raising flour
1 teaspoon (5ml) baking powder

Instructions

Preparation:

Set the oven to 170°C fan, gas mark 4
Lightly grease the baking tray, optionally lining the base with a parchment square.

For the crumb topping:

Melt the butter gently in a saucepan or in the microwave
Mix the flour, cinnamon, and both sugars in a medium bowl
Add the melted butter to the dry ingredients and mix well
Crumble with a fork.

For the apple layer:

Peel and core the apples
Chop apples into 1-2cm pieces
Put apples into a bowl with the cinnamon and mix to coat the apple evenly.

For the cake:

Mix all the ingredients well with a mixer or food processor
Spoon the mixture into the tin and smooth the surface (e.g. with a palette knife)
Put the apples on top. They should form a single layer
With your hands, sprinkle the crumb topping onto the apple, rubbing the topping slightly in your fingers to break it up and form a crumb
Press the crumb topping into the cake
Cook for 50 minutes, or until a cocktail stick comes out clean
Cool in the tin or serve immediately with cream or custard.

Notes

Storage:

Cut the struesel cake into squares when cool. They will keep for at least a week in an airtight container in the fridge.

Everyday Cooks tip:

If you don’t want a cinnamon flavour, leave out the ground cinnamon and double the vanilla extract in the cake.

Category: Cake
Method: Bake
Cuisine: British

Keywords: quick, easy, apple cake

Apple Streusel Cake