Yes, I am a fan of adding fruits to my bakes especially when it comes to cakes and that explains this Apple Crumb Cake. Perhaps it could also be an unconscious effort to try and mask that guilt of eating cakes.
So here is the theory, fruits are healthy right? Fruits in cakes, would make the cake healthier. So it is absolutely okay to eat cakes, provided you have fruits in them. Yups. And I have also learnt that, It is not about getting the facts right all the time. At times, you just need to confidently say it out aloud and believe that it’s true. If you are good enough, you might even convince everyone else too.
On another note, I personally feel that having bits of fruits in the cakes makes them a tad lighter on the palate. Like how oranges goes really well with chocolate mousse or how a strawberry topping accentuates a cheese cake. It’s like yin and yang. Opposites that are complementary to each other. In this case, the richness of the cake pair with the freshness of the fruits.
Anyhoo, these cakes are delicious. So basically to make the apple crumb cake, you get on with the crumb topping first so that you can keep it back in the fridge to harden while working on the cake batter. When you bake the crumbs while they are solid, they would crunch up better on the cake. You can bake the cake in a pan too, but I prefer mine individually sized. The paper liners just make grabbing a cake while passing the dining table a whole lot easier and mess free. So easy that you end up going for multiple visits to the dining table. Practicing damage control ain’t easy when it comes to these babies.
If you love fruits in your cakes, this apple crumb cake is definitely for you. HOW can you go wrong with brown sugar, cinnamon and apple? These 3 ingredients combined, is already a winner.
You do not need to serve the cake with ice cream or whipping cream by the side. This cake is gorgeous on it’s own but if you have better things to count other then calories, go with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Having ice cream along with apples, makes the dessert healthier, me think?
- 50 g salted butter, cold
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ tsp cinnamon powder
- 1.5 cups apples (peeled and cut into cubes)
- 80 g butter
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ⅔ cup sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- In a bowl, give the flour and cinnamon powder a good mix.
- Rub in the butter using your fingertips.
- Once it looks like coarse breadcrumbs, mix in the brown sugar.
- Press a piece of plastic against the surface and refrigerate.
- Preheat oven to 170C.
- Arrange cupcake liners in a muffin pan or you can also bake in a greased 8x8-inch cake pan.
- Sift the 2 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar with a mixer until light, for about 2 minutes.
- Add the eggs one by one, beating for about 1 minute after each addition. Add in vanilla extract.
- Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour mix and the buttermilk alternately.
- Remember to start with the flour mix and end with the flour mix too.
- Fold in the apples gently.
- Pour spoonfuls of the batter in the muffin cups or baking pan.
- Take the crumb mix, break it up with a fork.
- Scatter the crumbs on top of the cake. It is okay it the crumbs are irregular and has large bits.
- Bake the little cakes for 20-25 minutes and a whole cake would take about 50-60 minutes.
- The crumbs should be golden and a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Transfer the cake to a rack and let it cool.
Looks lovely!