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Candied Apple Crumb Cake – Fall’s Best Dessert

By Elaine Mellen

Posted on October 18, 2016

Fall’s best dessert combines fresh picked baked apples in a rich pound cake with crumb topping and caramel drizzled on top. My Candied Apple Crumb Cake, so good you’ll make two.

This cake is richly flavored with just a hint of orange juice, cinnamon and crisp apples. I use Granny Smith Apples for their tart flavor and firm consistency after baking. With each slice of this cake, I want you to bite into the apple as if I just picked it off the tree. As gorgeous as this cake looks, it is quite easy to make. Delicious, dazzling and easy to duplicate; what could be better?

Candied Apple Crumb Cake

Cake Ingredients:

4 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup oil
1 cup orange juice
3 large eggs (use 4 if small)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Apple Filling Ingredients:

4 Granny Smith Apples, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Crumb Topping Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Caramel Sauce Ingredients:

1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon sea salt

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Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease your tube cake pan and set aside. Sift together flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. Place in a large mixing bowel, making a well in the middle.

2. Combine oil, orange juice, eggs and vanilla in a small bowl. Pour into the center of the well and beat for three minutes.

3. Combine sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and set aside.

4. Pour one-third of the batter into your prepared pan. Add half of your sliced apples and half of your cinnamon-sugar mixture. Cover with half of the remaining batter. Top with remaining apples, followed by the remaining cinnamon-sugar. Add remaining batter on top.

5. Combine all ingredients for your crumb topping in a bowl, blending until thoroughly combined. A pastry blender works best to make the crumb topping, but you can cut the butter in with two knives if necessary. Set aside.

6. Sprinkle crumb topping over cake. Bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes, or until tester comes out clean.

7. Cool for 1 hour before removing from tube pan.

8. Make your caramel sauce while cake cools. In a medium saucepan, over medium-high heat, combine the sugar with 1/4 cup cold water and stir to combine. Cook, without stirring, until the sugar has turned a deep amber color, about 10 minutes.

9. While the caramel cooks, warm the cream in a small saucepan. When the caramel is ready, slowly whisk in the warm cream and continue simmering for another 2-3 minutes until the mixture is smooth.

10. Remove from heat and whisk in the butter, followed by the salt. Slowly drizzle over cake.