apple crumb cake

Summer is calling, school is out and picnics outside in the garden, on the porch or at the beach are the perfect setting for get-togethers with family and friends.

A German Apple Crumb Cake makes for a delicious dessert. You can enjoy it after a nice meal or with a cup of coffee for a typical afternoon -“Kaffeklatsch” (German afternoon coffee time with friends; also “Kaffeekränzchen”). The cakes slight tartness with crunchy crumbles on top makes it feel light and not heavy.

Apfel-Streuselkuchen was always one of my favorite cakes my aunt had made for us. And even though the recipe calls for apples in the original recipe, we have tried it with pears or peaches. In fact the photographs here are from a cake we have made with both, apples and peaches.

Side note: The cake is best when made and consumed on the same day. The crumbles are nice and crunchy that way. When kept over night or in the fridge for a few days, I recommend to put the cake in the oven for a short while to warm it up and give back some crunchiness to the crumbles.

Apple Crumble Cake /Apfel-Streuselkuchen

Ingredients:

For the Topping:

2 kg apples like Boskop or Fuji, juice of 1 lemon, 50 g Zucker, 1/2tsp cinnamon

For the Crumbs/Streusel:

150 g flour, 120 g sugar, 1 pinch of salt, 1/2 tsp grated lemon peel, 1 pinch of cinnamon, 120 g melted butter, 80 g slivered almonds

For the Crust/Cake:

250 g butter, 250 g sugar, 1 pinch of salt, 1 pinch of vanilla mark (or package of Vanillin sugar by Dr. Oetker), 5 eggs, 350 g flour, 1 package baking powder (Dr. Oetker)

1. Peel apples, quarter and core them, and cut into discs. Sprinkle with lemon juice. Mix sugar and cinnamon.

2. For the crumbs mix flour, sugar, lemon peel and cinnamon. Add melted butter and mix with your fingers until you have a crumbly mixture. Lightly mix in almond slivers. Put into fridge to get cold.

3. Preheat oven to 180 C / 356 F . Using a mixer beat softened butter with sugar, salt and vanilla mark unitl you have a creamy consistency. Adding eggs one by one beat with a hand mixer until mixture is thick and creamy. Add flour with the baking powder.

4. Prepare a baking tray by lining it with some baking paper. Spread the dough on it evenly and arrange apples slices over the dough leaving as little spaces as possible. At the end cover with the crumble dough. You might have to take little pieces of the cold dough and crumbled it up between your fingers while spreading it over the cake. Bake on the middle rack on the oven for about 40-45 minutes until golden brown and crunchy.

5. Take cake out of the oven, let it cool down a bit, then dust with powdered sugar and cut into pieces.

Zutaten:

Für den Belag:

2 kg aromatische Äpfel (z.B.Boskop), Saft von 1 Zitrone, 50 g Zucker, 1/2 TL Zimt

Für die Streusel:

150 g Mehl, 120 g Zucker, 1 Prise Salz, 1/2 TL abgeriebene Zitronenschale, 1 Msp Zimt, 120 g flüssige Butter, 80 g Mandelstifte

Für den Rührteig:

250 g weiche Butter, 250 g Zucker, 1 Prise Salz, 1 Msp Vanillemark (or 1 Päckchen Vanillinzucker), 5 Eier, 350 g Mehl, 1 Päckchen Backpulver

1. Die Äpfel schälen, vierteln, entkernen und in Scheiben schneiden. Mit Zitronensaft beträufeln. Zucker und Zimt vermischen.

2. Für die Streusel Mehl, Zucker, Zitronenschale und Zimt vermischen. Die flüssige Butter dazugeben und zwischen den Fingern alles krümelig verreiben. Die Mandelstifte locker untermischen. Kalt stellen.

3. Den Backofen auf 180 C/356 F vorheizen. Die weiche Butter mit Zucker , Salz und Vanillemark cremig rühren. Nach und nach die Eier dazugeben und so lange mit den Rührhaken eines Handgerätes schlagen, bis die Masse dickschaumig ist. Mehl und Backpulver darübersieben und untermischen.

4. Ein Backblech mit Butter ausfetten und den Rührteig darauf verteilen. Glattstreichen und die Äpfel gleichmässig darüber verteilen. Zum Schluss mit den Streuseln belegen und auf der mittleren Schiene des Backofens in etwa 40 bis 45 Minuten goldbraun und knusprig backen.