What are the best apples to use to bake a cake?

According to New England Today, the best apples for baking are firm-tart apples, and firm-sweet apples . Firm-tart apples are apples like Granny Smith, Esopus Spitzenburg, Northern Spy, Ida Red, and Pink Pearl. Firm-sweet apples are Ginger Gold, Golden Delicious, Jazz, Jonagold, and Pink Lady.

What is the sweetest apple?

For example, the sweetest apple on the chart, Fuji, has naturally high sugar levels inherited from its parents: Red Delicious and Virginia Ralls Janet. The tartest apple, Granny Smith , has high acidity and is best to be cooked down or tossed into a salad due to its extra punch of sour flavor!

What kind of apples are good for apple crisp?

Apples: Granny Smith, Gala apples, Honeycrisp, Golden Delicious, or any tart apple work great for baking.

What are the top 5 apples for baking?

For the best pies, crisps, and other baked treats, apples need to be firm enough to hold their own during the cooking process. We call these apples “baking apples” and to namedrop, they include Braeburn, Cortland, Honey Gold, Jonathan, Fuji, Gala, Granny Smith, Haralson, and Newtown Pippin .

Are Gala or Fuji apples better for baking?

Gala apples are better for eating raw and are best if you wanted to do salads with apples or if you wanted to add sweetness and crunch to your lunchtime sandwich. Fuji apples, on the other hand, are the better choice for cooking . This is because of the different textures of the two types of apples.

Are Gala apples good for baking?

Gala: If you want extra sweetness without the soft texture, choose Gala apples for your pie . As with Golden Delicious apples, bakers sometimes reduce the sugar in their recipes due to this variety's extra-sweet flavor.

Are Honeycrisp apples good for baking?

Honeycrisp. One of the sweetest apples around, this Midwestern favorite is good for anything—including baking . It boasts a distinctive juicy crispness and is firm enough that it won't cook down much. It complements just about any other apple variety to make a stellar pie.

Recipe for Apple Streusel Cake - A German Style Cake in an American Pan (2024)

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This recipe for Apple Streusel Cake is a family favorite, and is the recipe I’m asked for most frequently. It has everything a good German Apple Streusel Cake Recipe should have… Apples, Streusel, it’s not too sweet, and it’s fabulous with whipped cream. I call it a hybrid. This recipe is one of my go-to recipes when I need to bring a dessert, but want to bring something besides brownies, and it’s a good “everyday” cake (plus, it’s a big seller at school bake sales!). Despite it’s simplicity, you can serve the apple filled squares on fine china to your Kaffee Klatsch guests.

And if there is any left over, my kids love to eat it for breakfast.

German Apple Streusel Cake Recipe

Instead of a round cake form, it’s baked in the same pan you use for American bar cookies or brownies. It is sweeter than most German cakes (but still not overly sweet), and you add a bit of cinnamon to the apples. Also, because it’s just a flour, sugar, butter, & eggs dough… do NOT substitute margarine. Use the butter. Believe me, it makes a difference.

Recipe for Apple Streusel Cake

4 from 1 vote

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Total Time 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Ingredients

2 cups unbleached flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 cup butter
1 slightly beaten egg
4 med apples- peeled cored and sliced (4 cups)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup unbleached flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon

If Desired:

1 cup sifted powdered sugar
few tsp milk

Instructions

Preheat oven 350 F
Grease a 9 x 13 inch baking pan

Prepare the Apples:

-In a large bowl, mix the 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup flour and the cinnamon.
Add the Apples, toss to combine thoroughly . Set aside while you make the crust.

Prepare the Crust:

-In medium bowl stir together 2 cups flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and baking powder.
Cut in butter with a pastry cutter, until looks like wet sand.
Stir in beaten egg with fork.
(note, you can also do this with a Food Processor... just don't over process it! Pulse till you have sand, then a few more pulses after adding the egg)
Dump about 2/3 of the dough into the baking pan. Press evenly and firmly into pan.
Lay the apple slices over the crust. Spend a few minutes, lay to them out neatly. I make long rows down the length of the pan... keeps it looking nice, and makes slicing a lot easier.
(Sprinkle any remaining flour/sugar/cinnamon stuff from the bowl over the apples)
Take the other 1/3 of the dough and crumble it over the apples. I grab it in my fist and sprinkle it through my fingers, making small and big lumps evenly over the apples. This makes the Streusel.
Bake 45 minutes.. until beginning to brown
Cool on rack for 1 hour.

Now you get to choose:

You can sprinkle powdered sugar over the cake and serve it...
Or
You can make a thick glaze by combining the powdered sugar and a few spoonfuls of milk... make sure it's not too thin... less milk is better...pour the glaze over the cake, let sit a bit, cut and serve
See Also
Mud Kitchen Cake Recipe Teaching 1 more 1 less
Or
You can eat it plain.
No matter which you choose, it will be delicious! Top it with whipped cream and it's bliss.

Notes

This recipe makes bar type apple streusel cake squares... Use a 9 x 12 inch Brownie Pan.

And it travels fairly well!

Step by Step Apple Streusel Sheet Cake

This Apple Streusel Cake Recipe is a SNAP to Make!

Pat 2/3 of the dough into the bottom of a greased brownie type pan (9×12)

Line up the sliced apples in rows down the length of the pan… overlap them a bit. If you have extras, squish them in. More apples is better!
Then top with the other 1/3 of the dough… crumble it over the apple slices

Bake for 45 minutes … until it begins to brown a bit.

Cut yourself a slice…. top with whipped cream (home made!)

ENJOY!

Recipe for Apple Streusel Cake - A German Style Cake in an American Pan (9)

So I made the apple streusel cake according to your directions and even though I like the sugar cut back like you did, my hubby says he likes it sweeter, so next time I will add 1/3 more and see if he still complains, haha
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1. Hahaha! It’s hard to switch back and forth for some between German Cakes and American Cakes… my daughter came home from Berlin, where she ate cake almost every day, and now HATES sweet American cake and frosting.
  So it goes… You can try a bit more for him. (It always pays to have a sweet hubby!)
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Hey, I like your article. I recently completed an post on preserving gammon. I love to make my own food for Christmas!. I will be making a fun ice cream to go with it. The teenagers will be on holiday and I am positive they are going to love it.
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Thsnks to your detailed instructions and step-by-step photos, this cake was so easy to make. It tastes delicious, even without whippef cream. This recipe is definitely a keeper. Thank you! 🌹❤🌹
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1. thank you! It’s a favorite in our house
  Reply
Just put this in the oven. But, I am thinking I only used one cup of flour instead of two, haha. It wasn’t nearly streusel-ly enough to sprinkle over the top. A pretty moist dough! So, I took all the pieces back off and added a bit more flour to make it more like Streusel. I still think it will be great. My mother was a wonderful Afpelkuchen baker. She would have liked this recipe as well. I too am a German Girl in America, but they settled in a very rural area so we were isolated from other German immigrants. I do treasure my upbringing, though, and appreciate the “odd” things of my childhood!
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I don’t know what I did, but the dough was way to wet!! It was still a dough and it held its shape but too wet to make the streusel. Oh well! I added more flour and got the right consistency. Havnt tried it yet but I’m sure it will be amazing!
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