Cinnamon Apple Crumb Cake

For those of you who will be celebrating Rosh Hashanah, the holiday begins at sundown on Sunday evening and includes eating sweet apples as part of the festivities. For those of you not celebrating Rosh Hashanah, apple season begins in autumn and includes eating many delicious apple desserts. In our house, we celebrate both!

Rosh Hashana (literally the head of the year) is the Jewish New Year and families will gather to enjoy each others company and feast lavishly. We always head to Brian's mother's house where the guest list includes my family, his family, siblings and various friends who have attended for many years. But both our mothers are up there in years and neither can create the entire feast anymore. And so, various courses have been parsed out to various siblings and I am in charge of vegetables and dessert (and interesting pairing, don't you think?)

As I said, eating sweet apples is part of the holiday tradition so it seemed logical to bake an apple cake. A moist, cinnamon scented cake with plenty of sweet apples and a generous cinnamon crumb topping because...well, everyone knows the crumb topping is the best part! So, Shana Tova (good year) and happy apple season. Enjoy!

Ingredients

Crumb Topping Layer:
1/2 Cup sugar
1 Teaspoon cinnamon
1 Stick unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 Cups all purpose flour
Dash of salt

Cake Layer:
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter (at room temperature)
3/4 Cup sugar
2 Eggs
1 Teaspoon vanilla
1 Teaspoon grated lemon zest
2/3 Cup sour cream
1 1/4 Cups all purpose flour
1 Teaspoon baking powder
1/4 Teaspoon baking soda
1/2 Teaspoon salt
1 Teaspoon cinnamon
2 Apples, peeled, cored and diced *
Confectioner's sugar for dusting

To make the crumb topping, combine the sugar, salt and cinnamon in a bowl. Stir in the melted butter and then the flour. Mix well and set aside.

To make the cake, cream the butter and sugar together using either a stand mixer or a hand mixer. Add the eggs, vanilla, lemon zest and sour cream and continue mixing until combined. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Stir into the batter. Add the apples and mix just until combined.

* I used Red Delicious apples because I like a softer consistency.If you prefer a firmer texture, use Granny Smith apples instead.

To assemble the cake, pour the cake layer batter into a greased 9" round spring-form pan (you can also bake this in a 9" square baking dish). Crumble the crumb topping evenly over the batter and bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for approximately 1 hour or until a cake tester comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before removing from the spring-form pan. Dust the top with confectioner's sugar before serving. Makes approximately 10 servings.