Easy Apple Crumb Cake

Easy Apple Crumb Cake is the perfect fall dessert loaded with cinnamon, walnuts, and delicious cooking apples.

It is extremely easy to make from scratch and is perfect for breakfast, dessert, or afternoon snacks. 

Whether you serve this buttery cake warm with a scoop of ice cream or at room temperature with a dollop of vanilla custard, the whole family will fall in love with it!

Jump to:

• Why This Recipe Works?
• Ingredients You'll Need
• How To Make Cinnamon Apple Crumb Cake?
• Top Tips From the Chef
• How to Serve Apple Crumble Cake?
• Storage Instructions
• Recipe FAQs
• Related Recipes
• Easy Apple Crumb Cake

This buttery and warm Apple Crumb Cake is made with three different layers.

A moist and soft sponge cake base, slices of cooking apples, and a crunchy crumble topping loaded with walnuts and cinnamon.

It's a feast for all of the senses and is perfect for enjoying alongside a cup of coffee.

If you enjoy apple dessert recipes, you might want to check out my other simple yet delicious recipes such as Apple and Blueberry Crumble, Apple Crisp without Oats, and Apple and Blackberry Pie.

Why This Recipe Works?

• This Apple Crumble Cake is very easy to make with step-by-step instructions and pictures.

• Same as Orange Cranberry Muffins and Strawberry Cream Cheese Muffins, you can have them as a coffee cake for breakfast, as an afternoon snack, or as a pudding after dinner.

• It is versatile. You can use other fruits or berries if you don't have any apples available. Or you can replace the walnuts with other nuts such as almonds, pistachio nuts, pecans, or hazelnuts.

• The leftovers freeze beautifully. Slice any leftover Apple Crumb Cake, wrap them individually, and keep them in the freezer for up to three months.

Ingredients You'll Need

Please scroll down to the recipe card below for the full ingredients list with measurements, complete recipe method, recipe notes, and nutritional information.

Best Apples For Apple Crumble Cake

It is often difficult to choose the right one among hundreds of varieties.

For this recipe, I recommend using slightly sour cooking apples such as Braeburn, Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Bramley, and Cox's.

I sometimes use Gala apples for extra sweetness and some texture.

The type of apples you want to use depends on how sweet or sour you want your Apple Crumble Cake.

Simply make sure you pick the apples that don't fall apart when cooking.

• Sugar -  I use caster sugar but granulated sugar, light brown sugar, or dark brown sugar would be great too. The amount of sugar given in the recipe works perfectly for the apples I used in this recipe. Adjust the amount of sugar to your taste and the apples you are using.

• Eggs - Use fresh free-range eggs at room temperature.

• Unsalted butter - This Apple Crumb Cake recipe requires soft unsalted butter at room temperature.

• All Purpose Flour - Also known as plain flour. It is perfect for making cakes, cookies, pastries, and thickening sauces. You can use self-raising flour instead and leave the baking powder out.

Ingredients For Crunchy Cinnamon Crumb Topping

• Walnuts - Baking with nuts is a great way to add flavor and texture to your crumble. Use pecan nuts, hazelnuts, or almonds if you prefer. Lightly toast them for a more intense flavor before adding them to your baked goods.

• Cinnamon - I love adding cinnamon to apples to intensify the flavor. You can omit it or use vanilla instead.

• Butter - Melted butter works better for the crumble mixture with this Apple Crumb Cake recipe.

How To Make Cinnamon Apple Crumb Cake?

It is very easy to make this moist and buttery coffee cake and to achieve the best results, you need to follow a few simple steps:

Prepare the Sponge

Preheat the oven to 175° C (350° F) and lightly coat a 23 cm (9") springform pan with butter or nonstick spray.

Beat softened butter with sugar in a bowl of a stand mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, for about 4 to 5 minutes.

Lower the speed to medium-low, add the eggs one at a time along with the vanilla extract, and keep whisking until fully incorporated.

Mix the flour, salt, and baking powder and gently fold them with a spatula into the wet ingredients until nicely combined, without overmixing them. 

Pour the cake batter into the prepared springform cake pan.

Evenly distribute thinly sliced apples on top of the batter.

Set it aside and start preparing the crumb mixture to cover the top of the cake.

Prepare the Crumble

Melt the butter in a microwave or on the stove and let it cool down for a few minutes.

Combine the melted butter with sugar, cinnamon, and flour, and mix until it forms a crumbly mixture.

Add the chopped walnuts into the crumble mixture and mix until combined.

Cover the top of the apples with the buttery crumble.

Bake it for 35 minutes or until the crumble looks golden brown and the cake is fully cooked. 

Let it rest for an hour to cool down before serving.

Top Tips From the Chef

• Make sure your eggs and butter are at room temperature before using them for making the cake.

• When adding the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, do not use an electric whisk as it will cause the cake to be denser and less spongy.

• Make sure to measure the flour correctly using an electronic scale. However, if you don’t have a scale, be sure to fluff your flour with a spoon and then spoon it into your cups before leveling it off with a knife to avoid overfilling the measuring cup.

• Adjust the amount of sugar to your taste, and the type of apples you are using for your cake.

How to Serve Apple Crumble Cake?

Just as Easy Puff Pastry Apple Pie and Apple and Blackberry Pie, you can serve this delightfully light and buttery apple cake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream when it is still warm and fresh out of the oven.

Or you can drizzle on caramel or maple syrup if you fancy some extra sweetness.

Homemade vanilla custard, heavy cream, or a dollop of cream / Kaymak (clotted cream) is perfect if you want to serve this coffee cake as a dessert after dinner.

Storage Instructions

To store the leftovers, allow them to cool down completely, then slice and wrap each individual portion with cling film.

They will remain fresh for up to two days at room temperature, for up to five days when refrigerated, or for up to three months in the freezer.

Recipe FAQs

Related Recipes

For more scrumptious fall desserts why not try:

Did you make this recipe? Please let me know how it turned out! Leave a comment below and tag @cookingorgeous on Instagram and hashtag it #cookingorgeous.

I hope you enjoy the process of making this delectable Easy Apple Crumble Cake as much as you enjoy eating it! 🙂 

Bon appétit! / Afiyet olsun!

This post uses affiliate links. This means that if you click on them and then buy something, we get a small amount of commission to keep the site running, but it doesn’t cost you anything more.