Fresh Apple Coffee Cake

by cakeduchess on May 30, 2012 · 40 comments

We don’t seem to take enough coffee breaks these days. How did it happen that our worlds became so rushed? I remember growing up and being at my great-aunt’s house and watching her bake.

Mariskaneni always had a sweet Hungarian cake ready for her friends that would come over for a visit and a good chat. There was great conversation and delicious desserts to be shared with her company. And always some steaming hot coffee. I need to do that a little more over here.

I am very happy to announce I will be partnering with Red Star Yeast in the next few months. Red Star Yeast is a brand I love to use for recipes that require yeast. It seemed natural to be baking some of their recipes here and sharing them with my readers.

If you’ve ready my blog for a while, you may have noticed that I’m comfortable baking with yeast. Some recent recipes I made: Caramelized Onion and Cherry Tomato Focaccia, Raisin Focaccia, Italian Easter Bread, Pandolce Genovese, and a Christmas Stollen.

It was not easy to decide on which Red Star Yeast recipe I would try first. Their site is full of delicious recipes. There is an entire section on coffee cakes and since apple desserts are my all-time favorite kind of dessert, I had to make their Fresh Apple Coffee Cake. Plus, my dad adores my apple desserts. He recently hinted it’s been a while since I’ve made him one of my apple pies and he was excited to get a half of this apple cake.;)

I first time I baked it, I put the crumble topping ingredients on the bottom of a bundt cake. When it cooled, I flipped it and oh my goodness…what a topping it had!It was a hard caramel/toffee like topped apple cake. I honestly liked that “oops” version better than with a crumble topping because I go gaga for any thing caramel or toffee.

You may wonder what the consistency is like in the cake. It’s more dense than your regular coffee cake. Almost bread like. Fabrizio said it was like a panettone in consistency. As for the spices (cinnamon/nutmeg), adjust it to your liking. I added a little more cinnamon to the batter. I like a stronger cinnamon flavor. The nutmeg amount for me was perfect. If you prefer more nutmeg, adjust to the way you enjoy it.

The cake is so easy to make and rises up nicely. It is sweet and moist from the apples and the crumble topping is wonderful. Perfect for an afternoon coffee break and delightful for breakfast.

Fresh Apple Coffee Cake
recipe used with permission from Red Star Yeast

1 cup water
1 egg
2 Tbsp. shortening
2 3/4 cup bread flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon (I used 1 tsp)
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
2 1/4 tsp (1 packet) active dry yeast
1 cup apple, peeled, chopped or shredded
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped (cake is also delicious when you omit walnuts)

Topping:
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, softened

Directions:
Preheat Oven to 375ºF.

Grease and flour (or spray with baking spray) a tube pan or a 9-inch square cake pan.

In saucepan, heat water and shortening until very warm (120°-130° F; shortening does not need to melt). In large mixer bowl, combine 1+1/2 cups flour, yeast, brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon; mix well. Add water with the shortening to the flour mixture. Add egg. Blend at low speed until moistened; beat 3 minutes at medium speed. With a spatula, mix in the remaining flour, the apples and walnuts a little at a time until combined and you have a soft batter.

Prepare Topping: Combine brown sugar, flour, and spices. Mix the butter in with your hands until the mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle topping over the dough.

Cover; let rise in warm place about 30 (I let mine rise about 45 minutes) minutes. Bake at 375º F for 35 to 40 minutes until golden brown. Serve warm.

Disclosure – This post was sponsored by Red Star Yeast. All opinions are my own.