The cooler weather and falling leaves bring to mind warm and comforting desserts like cobblers, crumbles, crisps, pandowdy’s and buckles which are all pretty much the same type of dessert which includes fruit (or compote) and some kind of crumb topping.
I love to eat pies of all kinds, but I’ve never been much of a pie maker…just the idea of having to roll out the pie dough is a messy proposition that I just never really got into. When I have some fruit hanging around that needs to be used, a crumble is the way to go in my house.
Recently I’ve been experimenting with different flavors of snack cakes for a cookie route that my company runs several times a week. The snack cakes have become so popular with our customers that I find myself challenged on a regular basis to come up with flavors that will keep everyone interested.
Recently, a customer asked me if I sold pies and that got me thinking…what if I could incorporate a delicious pie filling into a snack cake? And before you knew it, the apple cobbler crumb cake was born. I could not wait to get back into the kitchen to try it…
I have a great base recipe that I use for many of my coffee cakes, and I just use different ingredients to change things up. I’ve used this for a blueberry crumb cake and also for my famous Aussie lamingtons which are also popular and absolutely delicious. If you have a cake batter of your own that you would prefer to use, just make sure that it is not a sponge or chiffon type batter…it should be something a little heavier that will hold the weight of the fruit that is placed on top, otherwise the fruit and the streusel will sink to the bottom.
For this cake I used an apple filling that I made, but you can use a canned pie filling of your choice. You can try the more traditional cherry or blueberry fillings, but I have even found strawberry, peach and fig. The streusel topping is a must because it adds another dimension of flavor and texture to the cake.
This is a great snack cake for anytime. It is delicious when it’s warm but equally good at room temperature with a drizzle of chocolate or caramel sauce or even a scoop of ice cream…either way, it’s simply delicious.
Streusel Topping (enough for 2 cakes)
1 sticks cold salted butter
1 cups flour
½ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
3 teaspoons cinnamon
½ cup ground pecans **optional
NOTE: Streusel topping can be added into cake batter to create a layer of caramel in the final product. If you would like to use the streusel topping in this way, reduce the amount of flour to 3/4 of a cup. You can still use this for a topping, but it will be less crispy after it bakes.
First make the streusel topping. Add all of the ingredients together into a bowl and cut the dry ingredients into the butter with your fingers until it resembles a coarse meal, then set this aside.
Cake Base (use 9” x 13” cake pan)
12 oz soft butter
21 oz granulated sugar
7 teaspoons of vanilla
11 oz whole eggs
11 oz whole milk
16 oz all purpose flour
8 oz cake flour
1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups apple filling (or use prepared apple filling)
Add the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment and beat them together until pale yellow. Slowly add the eggs and vanilla and continue to cream this mixture until fluffy. Scale out the dry ingredients and measure out the milk. Sift all the dry ingredients together and begin adding the flour (in 3 additions) and then the milk (in 2 additions) until it is all incorporated and you have a smooth batter. Pour 2/3 of the batter into a greased cake pan and then add the fruit filling of your choice over the entire surface of the batter. Then spoon over the rest of the batter on top of the apple filling (to create to ‘cobbles’) and then top generously with the streusel topping. Bake at 350°F for about 30-40 minutes until it is golden brown all over and cake tests clean. This freezes beautifully, so make extra!
Apple Pie Filling
4 small sized crisp apples (about 2 cups)
1 large lemon, zest and juice
½ cup fresh apple cider
½ cup granulated sugar
1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
1 tablespoon cornstarch (or you can use clear gel)
Pinch nutmeg
Pinch cloves
Zest and juice the lemon and set aside. Peel, core and slice all of the apples, and then add the lemon juice and zest to the apples to prevent browning. Next add all the other ingredients except the cornstarch together into a small stock pot. Bring this entire mixture to a boil and then reduce the heat to a medium low and cook until the liquid begins to reduce and get syrupy, and the apples soften slightly. At this point, add the cornstarch and stir for another 5 minutes until thickened. I don’t like to use too much cornstarch because apples have a lot of pectin and don’t need too much help. Set the filling aside to cool before adding this to the batter.
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