Honeycrisp Apple Crumble Cake! Combining the best of apples, the best of cakes, and the best crumble make for an irresistible Autumn treat that’s delicious all year round!
You know how when we know better we do better? I like to think that applies to all areas of our lives. I’m not talking about things personal or existential here. I’m talking about apples, people! (This time, anyway.) Specifically, the best apple there is (IMHO): the Honeycrisp! It’s truly the (mostly) perfect apple. Best eating apple compared to all the others – a crispier crisp, a sweeter sweetnes, a tangier tang, and juicier juice! It truly doesn’t get any better. I used to bake with a combination of Granny Smiths and Braeburns, and truth be told, I still do, because I can be old school like that. But, usually, this time of year, I have my favorite eating apples on hand. And you know what? They are great baking apples, too!
Now, if you’ve ever bought a Honeycrisp or two, you know they don’t come cheap. Ever. That’s the reason why they are “mostly” perfect. Because, unfortunately for apple lovers as well as apple growers, they are difficult and expensive to produce. (I like buying them at Trader Joe’s where they are priced by the apple instead of by the pound.) According to Wikipedia, Honeycrisp blossoms are self-sterile, meaning a Honeycrisp needs a different variety to pollinate the the blossom. They also produce better fruit when the trees are less populated with fruit, meaning fewer fruits per tree. Also, they were bred for superior eating, not for shipping or storing. So thank you, University of Minnesota, for creating the perfect expensive eating apple. I’ll have a bushel or two myself.
But, for the price of two or three big Honeycrisps, and some ingredients you likely have on hand, you can make this lovely, delicious Honeycrisp Apple Crumble Cake. The list of ingredients looks on the long side, but most are ingredients that are easy to find – often you might have them on hand. You’ll want to gather your ingredients first, especially because some of them appear in multiple recipe steps.
And, I can’t tell you how much I love this Honeycrisp Crumble Cake! It is moist, lightly sweet, studded with the beautiful Honeycrisps, and topped with crispy brown sugar crumble. I like to top it with a confectioners sugar glaze made with apple cider, but you can top it with dulce de leche, or whipped cream, or a big scoop of vanilla ice cream! Whatever you like!
So, have you ever tried a Honeycrisp apple? If so, do you love them like I do? If not, are you going to hunt one down just to see if you can do better in your apple game? What kind of apples do you bake with?
Enjoy!
Looking for other Autumn-themed sweets? How about one of these:
Pumpkin Bundt Cake with Easy Warm Salted Caramel Frosting
Apple Cinnamon Rolls with Salted Maple Glaze
Yummy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Scones
Pumpkin Bread with Chocolate Chips
How to make Honeycrisp Crumble Cake:
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Some things you may need to make this recipe:
Step-by-Step Instructions:
Whisk Dry Ingredients Add melted butter and vanilla Use fork to combine 3-4 cups chopped peeled apples
- Make the crumble. This step is super-simple. You’ll just whisk together the dry ingredients. Melt the butter, add the vanilla, then pour that mixture into the dry ingredients and mix with a fork until all the ingredients are moist, and you see clumps of varying sizes. Set aside.
- Peel and chop the apples. Pieces should be chopped small for even baking. Squeeze some lemon juice over them, add a bit of sugar, mix, and set aside.
- Mix the dry ingredients for the cake. They all go in a big bowl, where you’ll whisk them together.
- Mix the wet ingredients. When mixing the EVOO with the olive oil, it may look a bit curdled. DON’T WORRY! It all smoothes out when you add the eggs and sugar.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry. This is your cake batter, so don’t overmix. That way the cake will remain tender. Mix just until the ingredients are combined.
- Layer the ingredients in the following order: In your prepared pan, spread: Half the batter, 2/3 of the apples, 1/3 of the crumble. Then, the rest of the batter, rest of the apples, rest of the crumble.
- Bake! In my oven, this cake took about 65 minutes to be done, meaning the internal temperature near the middle of the cake was 190F. I tested it several times around 45 minutes and beyond, and it was very soft in the middle. It’s a thick cake, as it bakes up to the top of the 8x8x2″ pan.
- Cool 15-20 minutes before removing from the pan.
- If using the optional drizzle, mix that up and drizzle at serving time.
Smooth wet ingredients Mix wet ingredients into dry – there will be some lumps Thin layer of half cake batter Sprinkle around 2/3 apples Sprinkle 1/3 crumble over apples Add 2nd layer with remaining ingredients; bake
Questions you may have about baking Apple Crisp Cake:
Can I bake this in a 9″ square pan? Or a 9″ round pan?
You could bake this in either of those. A 9″ Round pan has similar area to an 8″ square pan, so you could bake it in roughly the same amount of time and at the same temperature (350F, around 60 minutes) Just make sure it has 2- or 3-inch sides. If you want to use a 9″ square pan, I would raise the temperature to 375F and reduce your time to 40-45 minutes, as outlined by The Food Network Kitchen. Now, I have not (yet) tested these changes, so be sure to check for doneness with a temperature probe (190-195F) or making sure the center springs back when you touch it.
Can I use other varieties of apple?
Definitely! Feel free to use your favorite baking apples – Granny Smith, Braeburn, or any combination of apple varieties. You’ll just want to end up with 3-4 cups of small apple chunks from peeled, cored apples.
Can I use butter instead of oil in this cake?
You can use butter, but you’ll need to make sure it’s softened to the point of almost being melted. I like extra virgin olive oil for its ease and lack of flavor. It keeps the cake moister, longer and also creates a wonderful texture. It’s awesome in this type of cake!
How should I keep this cake fresh?
You’ll want to loosely cover leftover cake and keep it at room temperature for 2-3 days. If you need to keep it longer, go ahead and cover it more tightly and keep in the fridge.
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Honeycrisp Apple Crumble Cake
Honeycrisp Apple Crumb Cake – perfect for dessert, snacks, alongside coffee, or breakfast! Tender, moist cake, not overly sweet, is stuffed with apples and topped with a cinnamon-y Brown Sugar Crumble!
Top with the optional confectioners sugar glaze, or caramel sauce, or whipped cream, or even ice cream!
Store leftovers covered at room temperature. If they last longer than 2 days, store covered in the fridge.
- Prep Time: 35-45 min
- Cook Time: 60-70 min
- Total Time: 1.5-2 hours
- Yield: 12 Servings 1x
- Category: Cakes
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
For the Crumble Topping:
- 1 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
- 3/4 cup Brown Sugar (I used light brown)
- 1/4 cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg
- (optional) 1/4 teaspoon Cardamom
- 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt (or 1/2 teaspoon table salt)
- 1/2 cup Unsalted Butter, melted, cooled a bit
- 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
For the Cake:
- 1 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 3/4 teaspoon Cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg
- (optional) 1/4 teaspoon Cardamom
- 3/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 6 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil (or other mild-flavor oil)
- 3/4 cup Sour Cream
- 1/2 cup Granulated Sugar
- 2 eggs, whisked
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
For the Apples:
- 2 Medium-Large Honeycrisp (or preferred variety) apples, peeled, cored, chopped small – about 1/2″ cubes (3–4 cups cubes)
- 2 Tablespoons Granulated Sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
(Optional) Topping:
- 1/2 cup Confectioners Sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Apple Cider
Instructions
Prepare your pan:
- Preheat oven to 350F. Spray or butter an 8x8x2 square pan. If you would like to remove the whole cake before slicing and serving, line with parchment paper, making sure there is enough overhanging on at least 2 opposite sides to remove the cake. Then spray or butter the parchment well.
Mix the Crumble:
- Melt the butter. In a small-to-medium bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, white sugar, spices, Kosher salt. Add the vanilla to the melted butter. Pour the butter mixture into the whisked flour mixture, and, using the fork in kind of a “fluffing” motion, combine the butter until there are pieces of varying sizes from a few crumb-like pieces to somewhat larger pieces. This makes for the crumble to be more bumpy. Set aside.
Prepare the Apples:
- Peel and core the apples. Then cut into small chunks, of about 1/2″ (around 1 cm) cubes. Add the sugar and lemon juice. Stir to distribute evenly. Set aside.
Mix the Cake Batter:
- Combine the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, Kosher Salt.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the olive oil and sour cream. It will look curdled. Don’t worry! Add the sugar, vanilla and whisked eggs.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and stir using a silicone spatula or large spoon, just until there are very few traces of dry flour mixture. It will be a bit lumpy.
Layer the Cake:
- Into the prepared pan, add half the cake batter. Spread it to the edges of the pan. The layer will be thin.
- Add roughly 2/3 of the apples, scattered evenly. Top with roughly 1/3 of the Crumble mixture.
- Spread the other half of the batter over the crumble mixture. Scatter the rest of the apples, evenly, over the batter. Scatter the rest of the crumble over the apples.
- Place the cake into the oven and bake until top is deeply golden, and the cake temperature in the middle is 190-195F. If you were to lightly press the middle, the indentation would not remain. This should take between 60-70 minutes. Mine was done at 65 minutes, but all ovens are different, so using the internal temperature is the best way to judge doneness, or the press test.
- Cool 15-20 minutes before removing from pan.
- Mix the Glaze and pour over the cake or individual slices when serving.
Greetings,
We have some “leftover” honeycrisp apples and I would like to make this recipe to freeze, so I can get it out for family on Thanksgiving weekend.
My two questions are:
1. Will it freeze well? Any tips?
2. What brand of kosher salt are you using, because Morton’s and Diamond are completely different sodium levels when measured by volume.
★★★★★
This looks delicious and I want to make it this weekend, but I wanted to know are the flour measurements spooned and leveled or should I just scoop it out with the measuring cup?
Hi Genah,
I am sure Laura will reply here, but in the event it takes longer than you need, I always bake in grams so for this recipe, which I have made twice, I use 132-135 grams per cup. I looked at the conversion that this website uses and it’s a little lower. King Arthur uses 120 grams per cup and Cook’s Illustrated uses 142 grams per cup conversions. I measured by volume by spooning and levelling while weighing my results and that is how I came up with my conversion. I bake often and use this unless the author of a recipe has specifically written in grams. (Not an automatic website conversion like this one has.) I know flours vary. I am in Canada and use Robinhood unbleached all-purpose flour, which I use for all kinds of recipes, mostly written by US and European authors. I have made this cake twice with excellent results. I hope this helps.
Looks great bot concerned about amount of butter ( Hearst condition) can I use less?
Hi, Patty! This is a good question. For most baking recipes, it’s not a great idea to use less butter, because it’s the ratio of fats:sugars:flour that makes the texture and flavor so inviting. However, I would suggest trying to substitute a plant-based butter or oil for some (or all) of the butter in the recipe. Plant-based butters (vegan butters) are delicious and can be used in baking. I’ve substituted vegan butter in cookies, but have yet to try it in cakes. I have used olive oil in cakes, but those were recipes that called for olive oil. You could use “margarine” as well. If you do decide to try a vegan butter, I’d be curious to see how it works out. Of course you could substitute half Vegan butter for half the dairy butter, or go all-in and just use vegan butter. But like I mentioned, I have not done this, so I can’t give a “two thumbs up” for the substitution.
Excellent recipe. The cake was very moist and measurements were great. I was a little worried at first, because the second portion of the batter barely covered the top, and I really had to spread it out carefully. There was nothing to worry about because it all came together, wonderfully. I didn’t have apple cider on hand so I used some cream with the powdered sugar until I got it to the right consistency. I think next time I’m going to try this with Granny Smith apples as I like the contrast of tart and sweet. The honeycrisps near me have been less flavorful lately.. although it has been a favorite apple, since it was first introduced at local stores.
★★★★★
Thanks so much for stopping by to leave this comment – I appreciate the detail you left about the second part of the batter – I wonder if your pan might have a larger surface area at the top than the one I used, but I’ll give this some thought. But happy it turned out well for you, and nice job on the substitution! Granny Smiths will be so tasty in this cake – and, I agree, sometimes apples are a little milder in flavor than I want, too. I feel like Granny Smith will do the trick for you – they are usually pretty dependable!
I would give this 5 stars, but we kept tasting bits of salt and I think they were in the crumble. It tasted like it was undissolved and I am wondering if I either used the wrong kind of Kosher salt or if the coarse version is the correct one. If I made a mistake there, then this recipe is definitely 5 stars the way it’s written,. I am going to try omitting the salt altogether in the crumble, switch to regular table salt for the cake just to be safe and I will use the measurements given for it in the recipe. Other than that, the cake was SO good and will be in my rotation from now on. Is there another variety apple you would recommend when I can’t get the Honeycrisp ones? We were lucky to have a friend give us some straight from his orchard.
★★★★
Thanks, Michelle, for your comment! Sorry about the salty bits. Yes, you can use regular table salt or sea salt, just use half the amount as the called for Kosher Salt. You really can use
ANY apples you want and enjoy eating out of hand. I like honeycrisp because of their well-balanced sweet-tart flavor, I also like baking with Pink Lady or Granny Smith, as they have similar sweet-tart ratio. I often choose Honeycrisp as they are reliably tasty, but feel free to experiment!
Hello Laura,
I am so sorry I didn’t see your reply until now. Thank you very much! I am making your cake recipe this weekend. It’s so good. I use Granny Smith’s in my apple pies, but I am going to use Honeycrisps again for this cake. Thanks again.
★★★★★
This recipe involved more mixing bowls than any recipe I have ever made before but it turned out deliciously so I cannot complain.
I decided to double the recipe to freeze half (before baking) so I used a 9×13 pan. Well, that didn’t work out for me because the pan wasn’t deep enough. I had to make TWO 9×13 cakes so each was only one layer. I just added an extra apple and miraculously it worked! The cake is a bit thin but can still be picked up and eaten and held the form well. The taste is lovely – a great coffee cake. Quite sweet and I cut out a couple tablespoons of sugar in the apple mix, and a bit more in the crumble but not a considerable amount. I would recommend this recipe if you’re looking for something yummy with lots of fall flavour.
If you decide to double it (be aware you will have LOTS of cake), I baked it at 350 for 40 minutes and that worked out.
★★★★★
Thanks so much, Kate, for your comment and recommendations! Sorry about all the bowls, but glad you loved it like we do! I appreciate all the details you left, too!
Made this with honeycrisp apples and added more cinnamon as my husband always requests. It was fabulous. Not too sweet , tender cake, no sogginess and the crumb topping was excellent. Wonderful receipe ,easy and my family keeps asking for it again .
★★★★★
Suzanne, thanks so much for stopping by to comment! I’m thrilled you loved it and it turned out well for you! I do love this cake so much and so glad you do too!
I have two honeycrsip apples leftover from another recipe and this sounds like the perfect way to use them. 😊
Thanks, Karen! You can’t go wrong with a honeycrisp!
Oh how I would love to have a slice of this beautiful cake right away!
★★★★★
Thanks so much! It’s definitely a favorite here!
This is lovely and it encapsulates the flavours of the Fall so beautifully!
Thank you so much, and I agree!
My favorite apple and how wonderful it would be in this crumble cake! That icing drizzle stopped me in my tracks! Beautiful!
★★★★★
Thanks so much, Kelly! Im totally in the “Everything’s better with a glaze” camp!
We love colder days ! And this dessert just makes these cozy days even more enjoyable ! Thank you so much !
★★★★★
I think “cozy is the perfect word for this delicious cake, Davorka!
This apple crumble cake looks divine, Laura! Honeycrisp apples are my favourite, so I’m gonna have to make this for the kiddos soon!
★★★★★
Thanks so much, Michelle!
Can’t say I’m familiar with Honeycrisp Apples Laura. Generally I’ll bake with just “cooking apples” as they are labelled here in our supermarkets. I’d love to try a Honeycrisp Apple though. And I’d love to try this apple crumble cake. It looks amazing!
★★★★★
Thanks so much, Neil! You definitely could use any apples you want! Honeycrisp are relatively new variety and are pretty special – I imagine they don’t make it across the pond too much – if you see one, you’ll need to try it!
Oh, how I love honeycrisp apples! I bet this crumble cake is so so good. And I can only imagine just how yummy it makes the kitchen smell as it bakes! Wishing I could grab a piece right through my screen right now (if only)!!
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Thanks so much, Dawn! If only for sure. But, on the other hand, I’d never get up from my computer if that trick worked.
Oh, this is the best of all things! I do love Honeycrisps, and I just recently discovered the Honeycrisps at Trader Joes. We are surrounded by apple orchards, but they’ve gotten a bit greedy with their prices. Trader Joes is the way to go! (I even brought the apples home and weighed them to see the price per pound. It’s a no-brainer!) And a good cake with a crumble topping is right up my alley, too. Save me a slice or three of this cake, please!
★★★★★
We’re totally on the same page here, David! I also noticed other apple prices coming up a bit, and strangely, the past few weeks, honeycrisps are coming down a bit. Economics – I’ll never quite get it! Glad you’re a fan of a good crumble topping. We all need that, don’t we?
This has my name written all over it, in white icing. I love apple season, and have never made a cake quite like this.
Thanks so much! I agree – apple season is awesome! This cake is kind of a apple crisp meets sour cream cake. It came about because I couldn’t decide which I wanted more. That’s how it all starts, isn’t it?
I extremely rarely use Honeycrisp apples for cooking because they’re almost too good to use for recipes. But on the other hand, they must be so flavourful that would fill the kitchen with some breathtaking aromas while baking the cake 🙂 Also, loving the addition of spices especially cardamom. And needless to say, the cake looks terrific!
★★★★★
Thanks so much Ben, for your kind comments. I get saving them for eating. for sure. But these days for me it’s Honeycrisp only for all purposes, at least during the honeycrisp season. They aren’t around the whole year, while other apples are. Glad you’re a cardamom fan, too! I can hardly have cinnamon and nutmeg without adding some cardamom!