Brown Butter Caramel Apple Crumb Cake

This recipe for Caramel Apple Crumb Cake is absolutely delicious with the aroma and flavors of brown butter and apple pie! It is very simple to make and is great to bake all year 'round, especially during Fall/Autumn when apples are in season and baking is in full swing. The cake is so soft and tender soft with a layer of tender cinnamon apples, caramel sauce and buttery brown sugar crumble on top. I drizzle more of my easy salted caramel sauce on top, and wow! You will love this! If you love the idea of this cake, check out my Brown Butter Peach Crumb Cake and my Lemon Blueberry Crumb Cake too!

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS

• Soft and tender brown butter cake - this simple one-bowl cake recipe makes a soft and tender cake! It's so flavorful and nutty from brown butter.
• Fresh sliced apples - there's a layer of very thinly sliced apples over the batter and they bake to a soft jammy apple pie filling consistency.
• Buttery crumb topping - you just need 3 ingredients to make a delicious crumble topping. Mix together flour, sugar and butter and sprinkle it over the apples.
• Easy to make - you won't believe how easy it is to make! Although there are three components (the cake, fruit and crumble), it comes together in no time without even pulling out your mixer. You can make this all by hand.
• Salted caramel drizzle - this is the finishing touch that really elevates this cake. I use my Easy Salted Caramel Sauce recipe. Serve a slice with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and that is pretty much heaven!

INGREDIENTS FOR APPLE CRUMB CAKE

• All purpose flour - unbleached all-purpose flour works great for tender butter cake. I would avoid cake flour which absorbs more moisture and could actually make this cake a bit dry without altering the other ingredients.
• Unsalted butter - for this recipe, you will brown the butter. Follow my tutorial here to learn how. It's easy! Use unsalted butter as there is already salt added in the recipe.
• Granulated sugar - simple granulated sugar keeps this cake soft and doesn't interfere with the pureness of the brown butter flavor.
• Brown sugar - a bit of brown sugar gives the crumb topping a bit of a caramel-like richness.

• Eggs - two large eggs will add nice structure for the butter cake.
• Pure vanilla extract - vanilla is essential to make this delicious butter cake. I like this Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla extract.
• Sour cream - use full fat sour cream to balance the sweetness and add more richness to this recipe. If you don't have sour cream where you live, read down below in my FAQ section for my substitution recommendations.
• Milk - any type of milk will do. I prefer whole milk for baking. It should be at room temperature so measure it out of the fridge about 30 minutes before baking.
• Apples - you must use fresh apples for this recipe. It really works with any kind of apple, but I prefer tart apples such as Granny Smith or Red Prince, which is what I used here.
• Caramel sauce - use my Easy Salted Caramel Sauce to drizzle over the cake and it will be absolutely divine. There's a full video tutorial on how to make caramel here.

STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS

• STEP 1). Make the crumb topping. Combine flour, both sugars and salt (if you're using unsalted butter) in a medium bowl and whisk to blend evenly so that there are no lumps of brown sugar. Add melted butter to the dry ingredients and stir with a spoon until evenly combined, then toss with your fingertips to form large crumbs. Cover with a tea towel and set aside.
• STEP 2). Make the cake batter. Combine wet ingredients. Combine cooled brown butter, sugar and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl and whisk until pale and creamy-looking. It should fluff up a bit if your brown butter is cooled well enough. Whisk in eggs one at a time until very light and creamy. Mix in sour cream.
• STEP 3). Combine dry ingredients. Sift flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt into a small bowl and whisk to blend evenly.
• STEP 4). Combine wet and dry ingredients. Add it to the butter mixture and fold it in by hand with a spatula until mostly incorporated. It will be thick at this point. Pour in milk and fold it in until it is combined.
• STEP 5). Prepare the apples. Place thinly sliced apples, sugar and cinnamon in a medium bowl and toss gently to coat the apples.
• STEP 6). Assemble. Spread batter evenly into prepared pan. Place the apples evenly over the batter, fanning them out with your fingers. Then, scatter clumps of crumb topping evenly on top to cover the apples.
• STEP 7). Bake. Bake for 35-45 minutes until the crumbs are lightly golden and the cake feels firm to the touch. Let cool and drizzle salted caramel sauce on top before serving.

EXPERT BAKING TIPS FOR CARAMEL APPLE CRUMB CAKE

• Use room temperature ingredients. Since this is a simple melt-and-mix method, it is important to have all ingredients at the same temperature (not cold!) in order to help them blend evenly together. Make sure the milk is at room temperature since you need to mix it in at the end.
• Sift the dry ingredients. This is optional, but it will minimize the amount of mixing needed to combine the ingredients evenly so that you do not over-mix the batter. It will give you the best results for a finer texture crumb as well since the sieve will break up all the flour particles.
• Do not over-mix the batter. It's ok if there are a few streaks of flour remaining when you fold in the dry ingredients since the last step is to fold in the milk which will continue to incorporate all of the ingredients.
• Use salted butter for the crumb topping. Salted butter will add extra richness to the topping and it means you don't need to add salt. If you use unsalted butter, it's no problem - just add a pinch of salt.

RECIPE FAQ

STORING AND FREEZING

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Video

Brown Butter Caramel Apple Crumb Cake

Christina Marsigliese

Tender vanilla brown butter cake infused with cinnamon with a layer of cinnamon apples baked in and topped with buttery brown sugar crumble. This cake is not too sweet, yet perfectly sweet and full of flavor. It's so wonderful during the Fall season when we all celebrate apples! Don't forget to top it with my Salted Caramel Sauce.

5 from 6 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 35 minutes mins

Servings 9 servings

Ingredients

  

Crumb topping:

• ¾ cup (105g) all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoon (40g) granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoon (30g) packed light brown sugar
• 5 tablespoon (70g) salted butter, melted and cooled (or add ⅛ teaspoon salt if using unsalted butter)

Cake batter:

• 6 tablespoon (84g) unsalted butter
• ¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon (5ml) pure vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs at room temperature
• ⅓ cup (80ml) full fat sour cream
• 1 ¼ cups (180g) all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ⅓ cup (80ml) whole milk

Apple layer:

• 2 medium apples very thinly sliced (as thin as possible!)
• 1 tablespoon (12g) granulated sugar
• ⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ cup (60ml) Easy Salted Caramel Sauce

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Line an 8x8-inch baking pan with parchment paper leaving a 2-inch overhang at each side.
• First brown the butter. Follow the instructions in this post here to learn how to brown butter. It's easy!
• Make the crumb topping. Combine flour, both sugars and salt (if you're using unsalted butter) in a medium bowl and whisk to blend evenly so that there are no lumps of brown sugar. Add melted butter to the dry ingredients and stir with a spoon until evenly combined, then toss with your fingertips to form large crumbs. Cover with a tea towel and set aside.
• Make the cake batter. Combine cooled brown butter, sugar and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl and whisk until pale and creamy-looking. It should fluff up a bit if your brown butter is cooled well enough. Whisk in eggs one at a time until very light and creamy. Mix in sour cream.
• Sift flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt into a small bowl and whisk to blend evenly. Add it to the butter mixture and fold it in by hand with a spatula until mostly incorporated. It will be thick at this point. Pour in milk and fold it in until it is combined.
• Prepare the apples. Place thinly sliced apples, sugar and cinnamon in a medium bowl and toss gently to coat the apples.
• Spread batter evenly into prepared pan. Place the apples evenly over the batter, fanning them out with your fingers. Then, scatter clumps of crumb topping evenly on top to cover the apples. Bake for 35-45 minutes until the crumbs are lightly golden and the cake feels firm to the touch. A toothpick inserted into the center should comes out without any wet batter. Do not over-bake. Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cool for at least 30 minutes. Drizzle salted caramel sauce on top and serve with vanilla ice cream if you have it!