Apple Breakfast Cake

I am an advocate for eating cake for breakfast. In fact, I advocate for eating most desserts for breakfast – cake, pie, sweetbread, and sweet rolls (like these easy Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls).

These “desserts” are often easy, delicious, and I would argue a whole lot healthier for me to eat than store-bought cereal.

This cake is no exception. It is easy to make, tastes delicious, and is an excellent breakfast to keep my energy up and hold me through ‘til lunch time.

Breakfast Apple Cake is a favorite in our family – a breakfast I definitely make more than once during the fall when apple season is at its height, as well as a breakfast we enjoy in our rotation all year long.

Aging apples in the crisper can be chopped up and baked in this cake. Or maybe a half-bottle of applesauce that needs used up.

This recipe can be as diverse in using up apples (and apple products) as it is delicious.

Ingredients for Apple Cake

This Breakfast Apple Cake recipe has two parts – the batter, which forms the cake; and the crumble, which forms a streusel-like topping.

THE BATTER

Butter: You will want to use salted butter for this recipe. In many cakes, substituting with oil works just fine. For this cake, though, I strongly recommend using actual butter. The butter gives this cake a soft, delicate that is so much tastier (and healthier) when eating this cake as a breakfast treat.

Sugar: When it comes to sugar, either white or brown sugar taste just fine. Trust me, I have used only white sugar, only brown sugar, and a combination of the two. Personally, I prefer using part white sugar and part brown sugar.

Using white sugar gives this cake sweetness, but with an overall lighter feel. Brown sugar gives this cake an added rich flavor, which just tastes so good (especially when paired with the nutty flavor of whole wheat flour, but more on that later).

When baking a cake like this, where either white sugar or brown sugar can turn out a perfectly delicious cake, I always consider the cost difference – because there is a cost difference between white sugar and brown sugar (often, even, between light and dark brown sugars). Though the brown sugar adds that added richness of flavor, it also costs more. And again, this isn’t a delicate dessert meant to impress guests or satisfy a sweet tooth, this is a breakfast cake. A downright delicious breakfast cake at that! But the beauty of this cake is it can be so versatile in its ingredients, yet always taste delicious. So don’t be afraid to use whatever sugar you have you in your cupboard because the result will taste scrumptious.

Eggs: This recipe calls for two eggs which you can grab straight out of the fridge or fresh from the coop.

Vanilla: Real vanilla, also knows as Pure Vanilla or True Vanilla, tastes better in every recipe, including this one.

Bought from the store, Pure Vanilla can be a little pricey, but you can easily make your own at home for a fraction of the cost. All you need are vanilla beans, an alcohol base (like Vodka or Rum), and time (because it does need to set for several months). 

Of course, if imitation vanilla is all you’ve got, then that can work as well.

Flour: I love using a blend of flours or this apple breakfast cake. Of course, an all-purpose flour will give this cake a nice light color and lighter texture. But I actually love the added nuttiness and nutrition of using whole wheat flour, especially where this is a breakfast dish and not just a dessert. By using a combination of all-purpose and whole wheat, I get a fluffy, seemingly sweeter flavor that my little ones appreciate eating, while also getting the added benefit (and in my opinion, flavor) of whole wheat.

Baking Powder and Baking Soda: These work together as rising agents for this recipe, helping to give some fluff and cakiness to this breakfast cake.

Salt: This recipe uses just a pinch of salt, but it is a needed pinch. Simply use whatever preferred salt you keep stalked in your kitchen.

Sour Cream: This Apple Breakfast Cake recipe uses sour cream. Though, like my Giant Sheet Pan Sugar Cookies, this recipe can be made using sourdough discard as well, simply substitute the sourdough cream with half discard and half refrigerated milk.

Apples: These are the star of the show in this breakfast cake. I never follow any recipe that says to use a particular variety of apple – I simply use whatever type of apple I have in my refrigerator or pantry. Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Pink Lady, Fuji – it doesn’t really matter.

Often, I am blessed to have a wonderful neighbor with apples falling off their trees, who offers me a chance to pick – which I jump and rejoice in. Or, if buying apples at the grocery store, I usually go for the most affordably priced apples, not a particular variety. Ultimately, I am using whatever apples came off the neighbors tree or was one sale. And whatever apples need used up in the moment.

Of the course, the different apple varieties will give a different flavor because the apples have different flavors, but hey, I’m just not that picky and I don’t think you need to be either.

As for peels, you can choose to peel your apples or leave the skins on – it really is up to you. Years ago, I was gifted this apple slicer-peeler, and it is such a convenient tool to keep in my kitchen . We use it weekly, often multiple times a week, to help in prepping Sunday Apple Salad, toppings for a green salad, or when making apple pie or this here Apple Breakfast Cake.

Of course, a well-sharpened pairing knife works just fine.

As I mentioned above, this recipe can flex to use freshly sliced apples (with or without skins) or applesauce. I’ve even used up a jar of homemade Apple Butter in this recipe before, and the added spices took the flavor of this cake to a different level. I’ve also been known to use up Charoset leftover from an Easter or Passover dinner, and the result was delicious.

Yes, apples are the star of the show in this cake, but the star can take on a lot of different shapes and still shine to make this cake such a morning delight.

THE CRUMBLE

Butter: When it comes to making a crumble, there is no substitute for butter. Use real, salted butter for this crumple.

Brown Sugar: Unlike the batter, we want to make sure to use brown sugar for the crumble. The molasses content in the brown sugar helps this crumble to caramelize on top of our batter.

Cinnamon: Adding cinnamon to the crumble helps to complete that baked apple flavor from the cake.  

Nuts: Nuts really give this cake a delicious flavor. I prefer adding walnuts or pecans, though I suppose any other nut would taste nice as well.

Because I have little mouths who “are not much fans of nuts”, I will often mix my butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon together; sprinkle that across half the cake, and then add nuts to the remaining half of the sugar and cinnamon to sprinkle over the other side of the cake.  

Making the Cake

This Apple Breakfast Cake can really come together quickly. By far, the longest part of preparation to getting this cake into the oven is slicing apples (though this apple peeler really does make that job a breeze).

Start with mixing your butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla.

Add in your dry ingredients such as flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.

Next add the sour cream, and finally the apples.

Spread your prepared batter into a pre-greased 9×13 pan.

Sprinkle the crumble on top and bake.

With your cake batter and crumble finished, your cake is ready to go into the oven. Bake this cake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until cooked through.