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    Home » Recipes

    October 9, 2019 Dessert

    Easy Sour Cream Coffee Cake with Apples

    Jump to Recipe - Print Recipe

    Easy sour cream coffee cake with apples is the best way to start your day! This coffee cake is so easy to make and it is perfect for breakfast or brunch. The apples add the perfect amount of sweetness and the streusel topping is just delicious. I always make this coffee cake when we have company because it is always a big hit.

    Sour Cream Coffee Cake with Apples is just what you need to make when its apple season! A fluffy and moist coffee cake with a surprise layer of apples and a crunchy almond cinnamon sugar topping.

    Everyone should be totally adjusted to back-to-school days and it's totally time for a slice of sour cream coffee cake with apples. Yes! You all deserve a coffee break and a generous slice of this delightful cake!

    Why is a coffee cake called a coffee cake?

    I've been asked that by some Italian friends and even a relative or two, when it doesn't have to necessarily have coffee in it. A coffee cake is a cake to enjoy with your friends (or family)with a cup of your favorite coffee. It's so much fun to make a coffee cake or something a little different than a typical Italian cake when we stay in Italy.

    My sister-in-law has  such a sweet tooth and as soon as we arrive in Italy she wants to know what is new and different that I'll bake for them. And let me tell you, it's not easy getting into my mother-in-law's kitchen to bake something. This Sour Cream Coffee Cake with Apples is a cake you'll make all fall!

    It's sort of a challenge at first to convince her we will be baking something without her help. Then once she's convinced, it's the matter of gathering the ingredients. Sometimes she's out of butter or eggs and she sends one of the grandkids down to the local shop to get what I need.  Flour runs out pretty quickly there and she sends my father-in-law down to the cantina to get a bag.

    There are often times the mixer is being used by her for something she's making and I have to wait my turn. I'm telling you, I have often lost my desire by the time we get every thing lined up to make the dessert. Or we have every thing ready to go, but we have to to the store to get something for dinner. It's always an adventure baking in Italy at my in-laws, and once in a while, we do get baking!!

     

     
    HOW DO YOU MAKE A COFFEE CAKE?
     
    Coffee cakes are usually made with baking powder (not typically risen with yeast, unless it's this fantastic apple cake) and they usually have a crumble topping that includes cinnamon. They can be square, rectangular or round and filled with fruit, chocolate chips or even the same crumble used to top the cake. So the most typical characteristic of a coffee cake is the fantastic crumble topping.
     

    HOW DO YOU MAKE A VERY MOIST COFFEE CAKE?

    The cake is usually very moist from the addition of buttermilk or sour cream. And if you are baking one of these cakes while in Italy, it may be difficult to find sour cream. You could use 1/2 fresh cream and 1/2 low-fat natural yogurt mixed together to make your own sour cream. Make your coffee cake featuring seasonal fruit (like now, how about some fabulous end of summer peaches or plums), apples, pears, chocolate, apricots, lemon, and even a little caramel!
     

    HOW TO MAKE SOUR CREAM?

    Now if you're in Italy and want to make you're own sour cream, this is what you do:

    Say you need 250 g sour cream:  mix together 125g fresh cream + 125g of plain low-fat yogurt

     

     

    PIN for later!

    This coffee cake is adapted slightly from this overnight coffee cake that we make for Christmas morning every year!!

    Other recipes you will enjoy:

    • Easy Apple Bundt Cake
    • Caramelized Apple Bundt Cake
    • Sourdough Discard Apple Cake

    slightly updated Oct 2016

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    SOUR CREAM COFFEE CAKE WITH APPLES

    A fluffy and moist coffee cake with a surprise layer of apples and a crunchy almond cinnamon sugar topping.
    Prep Time10 minutes mins
    Cook Time45 minutes mins
    Total Time55 minutes mins
    Course: Dessert
    Keyword: apples, coffee cake
    Servings: 1 9-inch round springform cake
    Author: Lora

    Ingredients

    • 2 cups all-purpose flour
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt
    • 1 teaspoon baking soda
    • 1 teaspoon baking powder
    • 8 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
    • 1 cups plus 2 Tablespoons sugar divided
    • 2 large eggs at room temperature
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • 1 cup sour cream at room temperature
    • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
    • 1 apple peeled, cored and sliced in thin pieces
    • 1/2 cup chopped almonds or pecans

    Instructions

    • Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a springform pan and line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper.
    • In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
    • Mix together in a small bowl 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 1 Tablespoon sugar (you could use less sugar), set aside.
    • Mix together in another small bowl the almonds, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1 tablespoon of the sugar in a bowl and set aside.
    • Beat butter and 1 cup sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
    • Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition. Beat in the vanilla.
    • Add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with sour cream, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition.
    • Pour 1/2 of batter into pan. Smooth out with a rubber spatula.
    • Layer on the sliced apples in a concentric circle making sure the apples don’t touch the edge of the pan and toss on the first cinnamon sugar mixture.
    • Spread remaining batter on top and smooth out with a rubber spatula; sprinkle with remaining cinnamon sugar and almonds.
    • Bake until a skewer inserted in center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack 15 minutes. Invert onto wire rack; let cool completely.

    Nutrition Disclaimer

    Please keep in mind that the nutritional information presented below is an approximation and may vary depending on the exact ingredients used.

    Notes

    All images and text  ©Savoring Italy.  Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe.
     

                                   DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?

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    Tried this recipe?Mention @savoringitaly or tag #savoringitaly!
    « Sourdough Starter Recipe
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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Laura Capello says

      October 03, 2016 at 12:38 pm

      This looks so delicious! I have a baking apple in need of a recipe, and I think this is on my agenda today!

      Reply
    2. Jessica | The Novice Chef says

      October 03, 2016 at 2:11 pm

      I love sour cream cakes! The apples really make this! Looks delicious!

      Reply
    3. Brandy | Nutmeg Nanny says

      October 03, 2016 at 2:12 pm

      I can see myself sitting on my back porch wrapped in a blanket drinking my coffee while enjoying this!

      Reply
    4. Annie says

      October 03, 2016 at 3:57 pm

      Hurray for apple season! This cake looks perfect!

      Reply
    5. Erin Dee says

      October 03, 2016 at 6:41 pm

      Yeeeeah. Europeans don't really get coffee cake, do they? That and calling banana bread and other quick breads "bread" when they think they're so clearly cake. 😀

      And this is a great looking cake! Love that you added a sour cream sub.

      Reply
    6. Savory Experiments says

      October 03, 2016 at 8:52 pm

      Sour cream in cakes is just divine!

      Reply
    7. The Food Hunter says

      October 03, 2016 at 9:12 pm

      Pinning. this is a wonderful fall dessert!

      Reply
    8. Faith (An Edible Mosaic) says

      October 03, 2016 at 9:32 pm

      This cake is an absolute beauty! I can imagine there's no better way to spend an afternoon than with a slice of this and a cup of coffee. Thanks for sharing that sour cream trick too, I'm going to remember that!

      Reply
    9. Ginny McMeans says

      October 04, 2016 at 1:33 am

      These look so moist. Perfect for apple season!

      Reply
    10. Heather Schmitt-Gonzalez says

      October 04, 2016 at 3:07 pm

      Coffee cakes are the best, especially when they have an amazing streusel/crumble layer on top. This sounds like one I need to try!

      Reply
    11. Jocelyn Delk Adams says

      October 05, 2016 at 3:13 am

      This is one seriously perfect fall cake!

      Reply
    12. What The Fork Food Blog says

      October 06, 2016 at 2:02 am

      Coffee cake with apples, yes PLEASE!

      Reply
    13. Souffle Bombay says

      October 10, 2016 at 11:24 am

      Love the addition of apples! They give such a delicious flavor & texture to cake and adding them to a coffee cake is a great idea!! I'm a tea drinker, never have had a taste for coffee. This right here would go perfect with a hot cup of tea 🙂

      Reply

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    Welcome to our Italian kitchen! We are Lora and Gabriella, the mother-daughter team behind Savoring Italy. With more than 30+ years of experience in the kitchen, Lora has had a great advantage – receiving guidance from both her husband who is an executive chef/restaurant owner and her mother who is a renowned private chef. 

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