Name: German Apple and Pecan Crumble Cake
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 1 h
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Yield: 10
Cuisine: German
Ingredients: 150 g lightly toasted pecan nuts (5 ounces); 55 g light brown sugar (2 ounces); 2 teaspoons cinnamon; 40 g butter, cut into small cubes (1 1/2 ounces); 1 cup self-raising flour (150 g / 5 1/4 oz); 1 teaspoon baking powder; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon mixed spice; 200 g castor sugar (7 ounces); 2 large eggs; 150g butter cubed - room temperature (5 ounces); 2 teaspoons vanilla extract; 1/2 cup milk; 4 small pink lady apples, peeled, cored and cut into thin slices

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Who doesnʼt like apples… Who doesnʼt like apples baked into an apple crumble cake then topped with a delicious pecan crumble topping… No one we know! German apple and pecan crumble cake is almost a cross between a cake and a tart. It’s, not a high cake, it’s more of a little bit of cake batter with mixed spice, layered with apples and topped off with a delicious nutty pecan crumble.

Serve German apple and pecan crumble cake with a good dollop of softly whipped cream and you’re on your way to heaven.

apple crumble cake cooked and removed from cake tin — ingredients for crumble

apple crumble cake pean topping processed in food processor — crumble topping ready

apple crumble cake adding sugar, eggs and butter to processor bowl — blitz the sugar, eggs and butter then remaining batter ingredients

apple crumble cake batter in floured cake tin ready to add apples and crumble — batter ready for apples and crumble topping

We grew up in a rural area and apple orchards were all around us. We would get to pick our own apples straight from the tree. None of this cold storage for 9 months business. Ah, memories……..

apple crumble cake layering apples starting from outside of floured cake tin — start on outside of tin

apple crumble cake apples finished layering on top of batter in floured cake tin — apple layer

apple crumble cake with apples on cake and crumble topping sprinkled over the top — german apple crumble cake

apple crumble cake with crumble sprinkled on top — ready for the oven

German Apple Cake Is Best Made With Cooking Apples

We’ve made our German apple cake on several occasions, using either Granny Smith or pink lady apples. Both apples work well but we particularly liked the pink lady as they brought a little sweetness to the cake.

Cooking apples come with so many varying characteristics from verging on the sweet side to very tart but they all have the ability to hold their shape when cooked. So it’s worth asking your grocer about what apples are in season and how sweet or tart they are.

Cutting into this German Apple Cake is a sensory explosion as you’re firstly met with the sweet scent of vanilla and spices then the texture of the apple and pecan crumble. YUM!

Apples and lemons are two of our favourite fruits for dessert making. Perhaps our very favourite is Apple Tarte Tatin with Star Anise and Black Pepper ……..absolutely divine. Apples buried into dark and sticky caramel and married with Star Anise and Black Pepper then finished with a crisp pastry, all combine to make this heavenly French dessert.

Or our lemon curd sponge roulade filled with cream and lip-puckering lemon curd. OMG!

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What’s your favourite Apple Cake

Serves 10