Apple cake with streusel topping recipe (2024)

FAQs

Should the streusel topping be added before or after baking? ›

You add streusel topping before baking your pies, cakes, or muffins. It bakes along with whatever you are making. Why is my streusel topping not crumbly? If your crumb topping isn't crumbly you need to add a little more butter.

Streusel is similar to crumb topping and the terms are often used interchangeably. Traditionally, the two have different ratios of the same ingredients, with streusel containing more flour, and crumb topping more sugar, so they offer a different texture and flavor on top of baked goods.

the prep person made my streusel or crumb topped coffee cake and when i saw it there was NO crumb topping at all. the batter had swallowed up the entire amount. it turned out the oven was way off and the baking time was too long. the structure of the cake has to set quickly to hold the crumb topping up.

There are two main reasons why an apple cake would fall apart: (1) it was simply too warm when you were trying to cut and serve it or (2) you used too many/the wrong kind of apple.

Room-temperature butter falls somewhere in between, creating softer pieces of streusel. Melted butter can be stirred directly into the dry ingredients, cold butter needs a pastry cutter or your fingers to rub it into the flour, and room-temperature butter is easier to work into the mixture by hand.

Use the Right Amount of Butter

Not enough butter, and your topping will be a dry, floury mess. Too much butter and your topping will become a greasy blob or disappointingly soggy.

How to Tell When Crumb-Topped Bars Are Done. Bar cookies with a crumb or streusel-type topping are done when the topping turns light brown. Even toppings made with brown sugar take on a golden color when the sugar caramelizes. Sometimes the bottom crust is partially baked before the filling and topping are added.

Why is my streusel not crumbly? Often this happens if the crumb topping is over-mixed or if the butter was much too hot. Over-mixing will leave you with a pasty, batter-like mixture rather than the crumbly topping you are aiming for.

Double-baking the crumb topping keeps it wonderfully crisp over its jammy fruit filling.

Visual Inspection: Look at the color and texture of the cake. A fully baked apple cake should be golden brown and may start to pull away from the sides of the pan slightly. Knife Test: Similar to the toothpick test, you can insert a thin knife into the center of the cake. If it comes out clean, the cake is ready.

Why is my apple cake raw in the middle? ›

Why is my cake dry? Cakes crumble because they've dried out too much. From years of baking, I know that dry cakes happen for one of two reasons; using too much of your dry ingredients or over-baking your cake.

For this technique, you'll want to decorate your cookies before baking. We recommend using decorative sugar (also known as colored sanding sugar), Turbinado sugar (coarse golden sugar) or pearl sugar (coarse clear sugar).

If you want to add sprinkles to cookies, cupcakes, breads, or cakes before baking, that is totally and completely ok. Add sprinkles to the tops of these baked goods right before they go into the oven. Adding sprinkles to “wet” batter is the only way to get them to stick without an additional “glue” like frosting.

As a result, the classic order of “toppings on top” ensures that every ingredient gets just the right amount of heat. There are some variations to this, of course: Chicago's “deep dish” pizza, for example, reverses the order by covering thick layers of sausage and cheese with a final topping of sauce before baking.