Apple Cinnamon Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Sour Cream Coffee Cake has always been a favorite of mine. Its moist cake and crunchy topping make a perfect combination. Coffee Cake was the first cake I ever made myself from scratch, just an fyi.

In the house, we had some leftover apples and I wanted to use it in some fashion. Then I remembered how Costco has an "Apple Streusel" type muffin and I decided I would try and recreate it in Coffee Cake form.

I used Ina Garten's recipe from her Blueberry Crumb Cake and tweaked the cake portion to contain apples and cinnamon and tweaked the crumb topping to contain some oats.

For an experiment recipe, it was a step in the right direction. It was moist, and I liked how I added in the oats into the crumb topping, giving it a nutty aspect. I would maybe add more apples to really get a prominent apple flavor in every bite though. Overall, a good day's work in my book!

Apple Cinnamon Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Adapted recipe by Me

Original recipe (Blueberry Crumb Cake) by Ina Garten

Ingredients
For the streusel: 
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

For the cake:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature (3/4 stick)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2/3 cup sour cream
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup diced apples, (Gala or Granny Smith)

For the icing:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 tbsp maple syrup

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9-inch round baking pan.

For the streusel: Combine the granulated sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a bowl. Stir in the melted butter and then the flour, oats and walnuts. Mix well and set aside.

For the cake: Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed for 4 to 5 minutes, until light. Reduce the speed to low and add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla, cinnamon, and sour cream. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the batter until just combined. Fold in the diced apples and stir with a spatula to be sure the batter is completely mixed. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and spread it out with a knife. With your fingers, crumble the topping evenly over the batter. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool completely.

For the icing: Combine the powdered sugar and maple syrup until smooth. Drizzle over the cooled cake and allow to harden.

-Aaron John