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! This little winner 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 with a good dollop of softly whipped cream and you’re on your way to German apple and pecan crumble cake heaven.
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……..
Apples and lemons are two of our favourite fruits for dessert making. Perhaps our very favourite is apple tart tartine…..absolutely devine. Caramelised apples dark and sticky caramel, sweet apples and crisp pastry combine to make this heavenly French dessert. Or our lemon curd sponge roulade filled with cream and lip-puckering lemon curd. OMG!
Weʼve made this German apple crumble cake 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
So, do you have a favourite apple cake recipe?

German Apple and Pecan Crumble Cake
This little winner is a cross between a cake and a tart almost. Itʼs, not a high cake, itʼs more a little bit of cake batter with mixed spice layered with apples and topped off with a delicious nutty pecan crumble. Served with a good dollop of softly whipped cream and youʼre on your way to apple cake heaven.
Ingredients
Pecan crumble
- 5 ounces (150 g) lightly toasted pecan nuts
- 2 ounces (60 g) light brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 1/2 ounces (40 g) butter, cut into small cubes
Cake batter
- 1 cup (150 g) self-raising flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon mixed spice
- 7 ounces (200 g) castor sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 5 ounces (150g) butter cubed - room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup milk
- 4 small pink lady apples, peeled, cored and cut into thin slices
Instructions
Springform cake pan
- lightly butter and flour 26 cm springform cake pan
- line base of pan with baking paper
Crumble Topping
- pulse all ingredients till nuts are broken up being careful not to over pulse
- place crumble mix in fridge
Cake
- turn oven on to 350 f (180 c) on bake (not fan)
- in a food processor add sugar and eggs and whizz for 1 minute
- add butter and process, scraping sides if necessary till blended
- mix in vanilla and milk
- add flour, mixed spice, baking powder and salt and whizz till combined thoroughly
- note: mixture may look curdled but this is fine
- pour batter into cake pan
- place apples starting from the outside till whole cake is covered - see photo
- sprinkle crumble mixture evenly over batter
- gently press the crumble mix into the apple and batter mix
- bake for 55-60 minutes - check cake at around 40 minutes as you may need to loosely foil the pan if crumble is getting too dark
- serve and enjoy!
Notes
- peel and slice apples and pop slices in a bowl of cold water with some lemon juice if there is a delay in layering them onto cake.
Nutrition Information
Yield
10Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 120Total Fat 2gSaturated Fat 1gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 1gCholesterol 38mgSodium 176mgCarbohydrates 23gFiber 2gSugar 10gProtein 3g
Nutritional information provided here is only intended as a guide.