This seasonal apple crumb loaf puts all those fall apples to good use. Fluffy loaf cake surrounds a heaping layer of apples covered in cinnamon and sugar to make one tasty bite.
Apple Crumb Loaf Recipe
The fall season is all about apples — apple cake, apple pie cookies, and apple cider donuts. While those apple treats are all so tasty, sometimes you want something that is simple and shows off the apple in all of its glory. Enter this apple crumb loaf.
The apple crumb loaf takes your basic plain loaf cake and inserts a layer of cinnamon sugar apples right in the middle. The cinnamon apples complement the cinnamon crumb topping to tie the whole cake together. It's a plain cake that is perfect for a mid-day snack, great alongside a cup of tea, or a treat right after dinner.
This apple crumb loaf is great to make right after you go apple picking. It's versatile in that you can use any kind of apple that you'd like. Granny Smith allows for a more tart middle, while Gala or Honeycrisp adds more of a sweetness. Whatever apples you have on hand will be perfect for this simple apple crumb loaf.
Why You'll Love This Apple Crumb Loaf
- Simple In Flavor - The loaf cake is rather plain and lets the apples be the star of the show.
- Perfect Amount of Sweetness - The simplicity of the cake allows the apples to provide the main sweetness, allowing for a balanced bite that isn't over-sweet.
- Seasonal Treat - Apples are at their peak in the fall season, making this cake excellent for a seasonal treat.
Ingredients For Making Apple Crumb Loaf
See below for all the details on what you'll need to make the full recipe.
- Apples - Any kind of apple will work for this cake.
- Cinnamon - Cinnamon flavors the apples and the crumb topping.
- Sour cream - Keeps the crumb of the cake moist and light.
- Whole milk - Gives the cake a full flavor.
- Nutmeg - Adds a touch of nuttiness to the apples
How To Make Apple Crumb Loaf
- Prepare. Preheat the oven to 350 and prepare a loaf pan with grease or parchment and set to the side.
- Prep The Apples. Peel, core, and chop the apples into large chunks. You want to keep the apples chunky so they keep their form in the cake. In a small bowl, toss the chopped apples with brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set to the side.
- Mix The Dry Ingreidents. In a medium-sized bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix and set to the side.
- Mix The Wet Ingreidents. In a large bowl with a hand mixer or a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and the sugar. When fluffy, add in the eggs vanilla, sour cream, and milk. The batter may look a little curdled, but that's okay. Add in the dry ingredients and mix until combined. It will be thick.
- Make The Crumb Topping. In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and melted butter. Mix with a fork to form the crumbs.
- Assemble The Loaf. Pour half of the batter into the loaf pan, followed by all of the apples, and then the remaining batter. Top the batter with the crumb topping.
- Bake. Bake the loaf cake in the oven for 55-60 minutes. Let the cake fully cool before slicing.
Make-Ahead and Storage
While this cake is best made fresh, it can be made 1-2 days ahead of time. The apples will get softer as they sit, so keep that in mind. The cake will last 3-5 days after it is made. Store the cake in an airtight container.
Tips and Variations
- Swirls - Want apples all around? Instead of layering the layer, swirl the layers and the apples into one. The cake will be more like a traditional apple cake.
- Fruit Replacement - Not a fan of apples? Can't find them in season? Swap them out with another fruit instead. Try pears in the fall or blueberries and strawberries in the spring.
- Apple Chunks - Keep the apples nice and chunky in the cake. If you cut them too small, they will just disappear into the batter.
FAQs
Any type of apple will work in this cake. I would recommend Granny Smith or Honeycrisp.
If you find that the apples are falling to the bottom of the cake, chances are that the cake is underbaked. Make sure the cake is fully cooked before taking it out of the oven.
If your apple cake is really dry, it is probably overbaked. Leaving it in the oven too long can dry out the cake and make the apples slightly rubbery in texture.
Apple Crumb Loaf
Ingredients
Cinnamon Apples
- 2 apples, cored, peeled, and chunked
- 2 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
Loaf Cake
- 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ cup butter, softened
- ⅔ cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup sour cream
- ⅓ cup whole milk
Crumb Topping
- 2 tbsp melted butter
- 3 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 2-3 tbsp flour
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 and prepare a loaf pan with grease or parchment. Set to the side.
- Prepare the apples. Peel, core, and cut the apples in large chunks. Toss the cut up apples with the brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set to the side.
- In a medium-sized bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set to the side.
- In a large bowl with a hand mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowls and add the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla. Scrape down the sides of the bowl if needed and add in the sour cream and milk. The mixture will look soupy, but that is okay.
- Add the dry ingreidents to the wet ingreidents, in two increments. Make sure the batter is fully mixed together. It will be very thick.
- Make the crumb topping. Melt the butter in a heat-proof bowl. Combine the melted butter with the cinnamon, brown sugar, and flour. Use a fork to stir the mixture all together. This will allow the crumbs to form.
- Assemble the cake. Take the loaf pan and add half of the batter to the pan. Then, add in all of the apples, followed by the remaining batter of the cake. Add the crumb topping to the top layer of the cake, covering all of the batter in the process.
- Bake the cake for 55-65 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Let the cake cool fully in the pan on a cooling rack.
Leave a Reply