Brown Butter Apple Streusel Cake
This BROWN BUTTER APPLE STREUSEL CAKE is tender, brown buttery, and apple-forward thanks to the generous chunks of apples in the batter. It is essentially a classic French Apple Cake where melted butter is replaced with nutty brown butter, and topped with a chunky almond streusel topping. Because if there are two truths I believe in, is that brown butter and streusel are always good ideas!
I made this BROWN BUTTER APPLE STREUSEL CAKE twice for Canadian Thanksgiving and it was very loved especially with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and drizzle of caramel on top. The apple chunks and streusel give this cake almost an apple crumble pie vibe which is perfect for my crowd because we have a few silly people who don’t like pie.
The apple cake batter is adapted from the Marie-Hélène’s Apple Cake from Dorie Greenspan recipe from Food52 Genius Recipes cookbook. Let me know in comments below what you think, or tag me on social if you make this it. Or drop me any questions about the recipe, I’m happy to help.
Eat well and be well,
Sonia x
You May Also Be Interested in these other apple dessert recipes!
》apple and tahini frangipane tart
》spiced apple almond cake
》apple cranberry crumble
Recipe Note - brown butter apple streusel cake:
1. Should you wish to skip browning the butter to save time by skipping a step, reduce the amount of butter to 8 tablespoons (114g or ½ cup). Melt and cool to use in the cake batter.
2. To reheat, place in preheated 350f (175c) for 10 to 15 minutes or whenever center is warm. I also like to give it a very brief toast (if using a countertop oven) or broil to crisp up the streusel.
Brown Butter Apple Streusel Cake
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 60 minutes | Total Time: 70 minutes | Servings: 8-10
Adapted from Marie-Hélène’s Apple Cake from Dorie Greenspan recipe from Food52 Genius Recipes cookbook.
INGREDIENTS.
For the apple cake:
10 tbsp (140g or ½ C plus 2 tbsp) unsalted butter - Note 1 above
4 large apples (such as Granny Smith, Gala, Honey Crisp or a mix of them)
¾ C (100g) all-purpose flour
¼ tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
2 large eggs
2/3 C (130g) granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla paste
For the almond streusel topping:
1¼ C (165g) all-purpose flour
½ C (100g) granulated sugar
¼ C (50g) light or dark brown sugar
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp salt
4 tbsp (56g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
3 tbsp raw sliced almonds
To finish (optional):
Powdered sugar
METHOD.
Preheat oven to 350f (175c). Grease a 9” (23cm) springform cake pan. Tip: If your springform pan runs a risk of leaking, place it over a baking sheet during baking.
For the cake, brown the butter in a small pot over medium heat. Adjust heat as needed to maintain a strong simmer, stirring frequently. Once melted, the butter will foam, and later subside a bit. Cook until butter deepens into a golden brown colour and there are tiny black dots of milk solids at the bottom of the pan when you swirl it around, about 5-7 minutes. Transfer to a bowl to cool more quickly. You can re-use this pot to melt the butter for the streusel later (or now, so it has time to cool)
Peel, core and cut apples into 1” chunks. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
In the bowl of a stand mixer (or do it by hand with a whisk if you like), add eggs and whisk at medium speed until foamy. Add sugar and vanilla and whisk again until smooth and pale in colour. Add half the flour mixture, whisk until just incorporated. Add half the cooled brown butter and mix until combined. Repeat with remaining half of flour mixture and brown butter. The batter will be thick. Using a spatula, fold in apple pieces until well coated. Transfer into cake pan. Use the spatula to flatten and spread batter out to the edges.
For the streusel topping, mix flour, sugars, cinnamon and salt in a small bowl. Drizzle melted butter all over and use a fork to mix the ingredients together, making sure to maintain lots of big clumps and not to over stir. You can use your hands to clump pieces together too. Gently toss in almonds. Sprinkle streusel generously all over the cake.
Bake cake for 50 to 60 minutes, or whenever a skewer inserted in the center emerges clean. Cool on a wire rack for a few minutes before running a blunt knife or spatula around the edge to loosen. Remove the spring form cake pan ring. If desired, dust top with powdered sugar just before serving. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.
Enjoy as is or top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and caramel like I did!
Did you make this recipe? Leave a comment below to let me know or tag me on Instagram @saltnpepperhere so I can see. Or drop a note if you have any questions. I’m happy to help!