This Apple Cinnamon Crunch cake is the best thing I have baked all year. The inspiration for this cake came from Heather over at curlygirlkitchen. She made a Coffee Layer Cake. To make the cake design more special, she baked the top layer in a Bundt pan. The simple, bare look of the naked cake emphasizes the beauty of its layers. Such a striking and unique presentation.

Crafting Texture: Apple Cinnamon Crunch Cake

What makes this Apple Cinnamon Crunch Cake so outstanding is all the different textures of the component parts.

• We start with three dense, apple-filled layers of cake. It’s a misconception that all cakes are meant to be light and fluffy. Sometimes a dense, moist cake, with a melting texture is a good thing.
• Silky cinnamon Swiss meringue buttercream creates a luxurious contrast. It holds the layers together while adding a smooth, spiced sweetness.
• The texture party continues with a gingersnap-pecan crumble that delivers an amazing crunch.
• Each layer is brushed with melted butter and then showered with glittering combination of cinnamon and sugar.
• Finally, a drizzle of tart apple cider caramel sauce adds just the right amount of tangy brightness. It balances the richness of the buttercream and ties all the flavours together.

Keys to Success:

• Grease the pans very well. I use a homemade mixture of equal parts flour, vegetable shortening and vegetable oil. It keeps in the fridge forever.
• If your buttercream looks like it is splitting or not coming together, be patient. Keep beating it at high speed until it becomes silky.
• Simplify your life. Prepare the buttercream, ginger-pecan crumble, cinnamon-sugar coating, and apple cider caramel a few days before baking the cake.

Apple Cinnamon Crunch Cake

This delicious apple spice cake has all your favourite fall flavours. It's layered with a cinnamon Swiss meringue buttercream, a ginger crunch crumble and topped with an Apple Cider Caramel drizzle.

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Servings 16 servings

Calories 1088 kcal

Equipment

• 1 offset spatula
• 2 8" round cake pans
• 1 8" Bundt pan
• 1 candy thermometer
• 1 French Star Tip (Ateco 867) or Open Star Tip (Ateco 829)
• 1 Plain round tip, with 1/2 inch opening
• 1 stand mixer

Ingredients

  

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Cake

• 540 grams all-purpose flour
• 445 grams granulated sugar
• 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1.5 teaspoons baking soda
• 1.5 teaspoons Diamond Crystal Kosher salt or 3/4 teaspoon Morton's Kosher salt
• 5 large eggs
• 225 grams vegetable oil
• 84 grams full fat sour cream (14%MF)
• 1.5 teaspoons vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
• 3 large Apples, (Honeycrisp or Granny Smith), peeled, cored and cut into 1/8 inch dice

Ginger Crunch

• 200 grams ginger snap cookies, any store bought cookies are fine
• 30 grams pecan halves
• 35 grams malted milk powder
• 25 grams granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon Diamond Crystal Kosher salt, or 1/4 teaspoon Morton's Kosher salt
• 85 grams unsalted butter, melted

Cinnamon Swiss Meringue Buttercream

• 300 grams egg whites
• 495 grams gramulated sugar
• 680 grams unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes removed from fridge 30 minutes before making buttercream
• 1/4 teaspoon Diamond Crystal Kosher salt, or 1/8 teaspoon Morton's Kosher salt
• 2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Apple Cider Caramel Drizzle

• 1 cup apple cider
• 107 grams light brown sugar
• 7 grams corn syrup
• 28 grams unsalted butter

Assembly

• 113 grams unsalted butter, melted
• 98 grams granulated sugar
• 2 Tablespoons ground cinnamon

Instructions

 

• Make cake: Preheat oven to 350° F. Prepare baking pans. Grease the bottom and sides of two 8" round cake pans and one 8" round Bundt pan with "cake release", a homemade mixture of equal parts vegetable oil, flour and vegetable shortening. Recipe for cake release is also in this blog post. It really works well for Bundt pans.
• In a large bowl, sift or whisk, together flour, sugar, spices, baking soda and salt and set aside. In a medium bowl whisk eggs. Add oil, sour cream and vanilla, whisk for another 30 seconds. Pour liquid ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Using a sturdy wooden spoon, mix until all the dry ingredients are evenly moistened. Add diced apples and mix just until they are evenly blended into batter. It will seem like there are way too many apples, but trust the process. This cake is perfect.

   
• Divide batter evenly between the 3 cake pans. If you want your layers to be perfectly equal, weigh the batter so you can divide it exactly. Bake cakes for 23-25 minutes, until a cake tester or wooden skewer inserted into the center, comes out dry, or an instant read thermometer, inserted into center of cake reads 210°F. Cool on wire rack for 20 minutes. Turn cake out of pans and allow them to cool completely on the wire rack.

   
• Make Ginger Crunch: Preheat oven to 300°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Place gingersnap cookies and pecans in a plastic bag and use a rolling pin to roll over the bag to finely crush cookies and nuts. Place crushed cookies and nuts into a medium sized mixing bowl. Add malted milk powder, sugar and salt and mix to combine everything. Pour melted butter over the crumb mixture and stir until clumps form. Scatter clumps on baking sheet in a single layer. Bake for about 12-14 minutes, until fragrant and browned. Let cool completely. Break up into small clusters.
• Make Buttercream: In a medium saucepan, bring an inch or two of water to a simmer. Place egg whites and sugar in a large stainless steel mixing bowl. Place over simmering water and whisk gently until mixture registers 160°F on a candy or instant read thermometer. Immediately pour egg white mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.
• Using the whisk attachment, mix on medium high speed until the egg whites have doubled in volume, hold medium peaks and have cooled to room temperature, about 10-12 minutes. The best way to gauge this by putting the inside of your wrist to the outside of the bowl. It's more accurate than your hands. Switch from the whisk to the paddle attachment.
• Turn the mixer to medium low speed and slowly add butter, a few cubes at a time, increasing the speed to medium high after each addition and beating until the butter is fully incorporated before adding more. Resist the temptation to dump all the butter in at once. Be patient. Once all the butter has been added, continue to beat on medium-high until buttercream is light and fluffy, 1-2 minutes. Stop mixer and scrape down sides and bottom of bowl. Add vanilla extract, salt and cinnamon and beat at medium speed for an additional minute. Buttercream is ready to use immediately or can be stored in an airtight container in fridge for 1 week or freezer for 3 months. Bring to room temperature and re-whisk in mixer until smooth before using.

   
• Make caramel: Place apple cider in a medium sized saucepan and bring to a boil. Turn down heat to low and simmer until cider is reduced to ½ cup. Add brown sugar and corn syrup and increase heat to high. Continue cooking until caramel reaches 240°F on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat, stir in butter and transfer to a heatproof container and set aside to cool while you assemble the cake.

   
•  Assemble cake: Mix sugar and cinnamon together to make cinnamon sugar. Brush the sides of both 8" cakes with melted butter and then coat them with cinnamon sugar. Brush top of Bundt cake with melted butter and coat with cinnamon sugar.
• Place 1/3 of Buttercream into disposable pastry bag fitted with a 1/2 inch plain round tip. Place remaining buttercream into a disposable pastry bag fitted with either an Ateco French Star Tip #867 or Ateco Open Star Tip #829.
• Place a small dollop of the buttercream on a cake plate or serving platter. Lay down one 8 inch cake layer and press gently to adhere it to plate so it does not slide around when assembling cake. Use the piping bag with the plain tip and pipe a border around the edge. Use the offset spatula to smooth icing into a thin layer. Spread out half the ginger crunch into an even compact layer. Use the piping bag with the star tip to pipe a layer of stars over the surface of the crunch. Top with second layer and repeat with buttercream and ginger crunch. Top with Bundt layer.
• Drizzle apple caramel sauce around the edge of the cake. You can use a spoon or put caramel sauce into squeeze bottle.  Use your offset spatula to encourage it to drip over sides of cake. Chill cake until ready to serve. It can be made a day ahead.

Notes

Makes one 8” round cake (3 layers). You will need two 8” cake pans, a Bundt pan measuring about 8-9 inches (8-10 cup capacity), candy thermometer and an offset spatula. 

Apple cake recipe adapted from The Preppy Baker’s Apple Spice Cake. Caramel drizzle recipe from Tessa Huff’s book, “Layered”. The crunch recipe is from Caroline Wright’s book, “Cake Magic”.

Nutrition

Calories: 1088kcalCarbohydrates: 120gProtein: 10gFat: 66gSaturated Fat: 33gPolyunsaturated Fat: 11gMonounsaturated Fat: 17gTrans Fat: 2gCholesterol: 183mgSodium: 574mgPotassium: 256mgFiber: 3gSugar: 83gVitamin A: 1566IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 78mgIron: 3mg

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!