Apple Crumble Loaf Cake

A spiced brown sugar loaf cake, topped with cinnamon buttercream, stewed spiced apples and crunchy crumble topping

Course Dessert

Cuisine British

Keyword Cake

Prep Time 45

Cook Time 1 10

Total Time 1 55

Servings

Calories 549kcal

Author thebakingexplorer

Ingredients

For the stewed apples

150 g Apples weight after peeling and coring, about 2-3 eating apples
30 g Light brown soft sugar
½ tsp Cinnamon
½ tsp Mixed spice
1 tsp Cornflour also known as cornstarch

For the crumble topping

20 g Plain flour
10 g Light brown soft sugar
¼ tsp Cinnamon
15 g Butter unsalted

For the cake

200 g Butter or baking spread unsalted, softened
200 g Light brown soft sugar
4 Eggs large
200 g Self raising flour
1 tsp Cinnamon
½ tsp Mixed spice

For the buttercream

125 g Butter unsalted, softened
250 g Icing sugar
1 tsp Cinnamon
2-3 tbsp Milk

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

To make the stewed apples, peel and core the apples, then chop into small chunks. Add to a pan on a low heat along with the light brown sugar, cornflour, cinnamon and mixed spice, and stir together
Cover with a pan lid, and cook the apple for 10-15 minutes until soft. Remove from the heat and leave to cool completely
To make the crumble topping, pre-heat your oven to 180C Fan/400F/Gas Mark 6, and line a baking tray with baking paper
Put the plain flour, light brown soft sugar and cinnamon into a bowl and stir together. Add the butter in small chunks and use your fingers, a fork or a pastry blender, to rub the butter into the dry ingredients until it resembles breadcrumbs
Spread it out onto a lined baking tray and bake for 10-15 minutes until it is golden and feels firmer to the touch (it will firm up more as it cools). You can use a fork to break it into smaller bits. Once it's completely cool, you can store it in an airtight container until ready to use
Pre-heat the oven to 160C Fan/350F/Gas Mark 4 and grease and line a 2lb loaf tin
To make the cake, mix together the butter (or baking spread) and the light brown soft sugar, ideally using an electric mixer, until smooth and fluffy
Add the eggs and mix in well
Gently fold in the self raising flour, cinnamon and mixed spice. Pour the mixture into the tin, spread it out into an even layer
Bake for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool fully either in the tin or on a cooling rack
Make the buttercream by mixing the butter in an electric mixer with the paddle attachment for a few minutes.. Then add the cinnamon, icing sugar and milk, and mix until smooth. If the buttercream is too stiff you can add a little more milk
Spread or pipe the buttercream all over the cake. Add the stewed apple mix over the top, then sprinkle the crumble all over the apples
Store any leftovers in an airtight container in a cool place and eat within 3 days

Notes

Make sure all your ingredients (particularly the butter and eggs) are at room temperature before you start baking.
I used unsalted butter for the buttercream and the crumble topping, for the cake I used a baking spread.
Mixed spice is a British spice blend containing cinnamon, coriander seed, nutmeg, clove, pimento and ginger. If you can't get hold of it, you can use a mix of ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon, or use a Pumpkin Spice mix instead.
I really recommend using light brown soft sugar if you can, as it gives the cake and the stewed apples a lovely caramel flavour. But if you can't get hold of it, you can use golden caster sugar or regular caster sugar (superfine sugar) instead.
You will need a 2lb loaf tin for this recipe (you can test the size of your loaf tin by seeing how much water the tin can hold, 2lb will hold about 2 pints/1100ml of water). If you have a 1lb loaf tin, simply halve the ingredient amounts.
For easy lining of the tin, use a loaf cake tin liner.
Although I provide cup measurements, I highly recommend weighing your ingredients out using digital kitchen scales. It is the most accurate way to measure ingredients and will ensure the best results. Digital scales are very low cost and can be purchased for around £12 ($16.50).
For teaspoon (tsp) and tablespoon (tbsp) measurements, please use measuring spoons and not the type of spoons you eat with. Again this will ensure accuracy and provide the best results.

Nutrition