Apple Crumble Cake

Recipe

Apple Crumble Cake

Can be served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side, and caramel spread over top. In Rockaberry We Trust… Original cake recipe by Nicole Brunelle.

Ingredients

Apple Filling
  • 4 Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup light brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons water
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • cornstarch slurry (in a small bowl - 2 teaspoons cornstarch, mixed with 1 tablespoon water)
Cake Batter
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup granulated (white) sugar
  • 1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 2 eggs, room temperature
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1/2 cup sour cream, room temperature
  • 2 tablespoons milk
Crumble Topping
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and diced
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup light brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • pinch of salt
(Optional) Caramel Spread
  • Caramel or dulce de leche spread
(Optional) Vanilla Ice Cream
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream (35% whipping cream)
  • 1/4 cup whole milk
  • 3 tablespoons granulated (white) sugar
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • pinch of salt

Instructions

(Optional) Vanilla Ice Cream
  1. Mix all the ingredients in a container.
  2. Freeze for (ideally) 24 hours, or much less, then thaw once ready.
  3. Mix in shaker (or a similar machine with a low blend setting) before you're ready to serve it.
Apple Filling
  1. Peel and slice the apples on a cutting board.
  2. Add them to a pan, along with the butter, sugar, cinnamon, water, and lemon juice. Cover the pan.
  3. Once you've cooked them down over medium heat to the desired softness, add the cornstarch slurry.
  4. Turn off the heat and cover the pan again.
Cake Batter
  1. Start by mixing the wet ingredients first. Beat butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
  2. Add eggs, followed by vanilla, beating well after each addition.
  3. After mixing the wet ingredients, now the dry ingredients can be added. Fold in the flour until just combined.
Assemble & Bake
  1. Pour batter into a greased tin and smooth the top.
  2. Layer the apple filling evenly over the batter.
  3. Scatter crumble topping evenly over the apples.
  4. Bake at 350 °F for 50–55 minutes until a skewer/knife comes out clean.

Notes

For easy, uniform slices: halve each apple through the core, quarter each half, then slice the quarters crosswise. This gives you evenly sized pieces that cook down at the same rate.

If you don’t have cornstarch on hand, that’s fine. You can use all-purpose flour as a substitute instead. It will thicken just as well:

  • mix 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour with 3 1/2 tablespoons water, and stir until it reaches the consistency of a slurry

I used Bonne Maman’s Caramel Dulce de Leche Spread. You can definitely use your own caramel spread. However, when making caramel (either dry or wet method), you need to be very precise so that the sugar doesn’t over/undercook.

Updated: