Apple Chai Coffee Cake
It has felt more like Autumn here than August lately. The mornings are cooler, we have not been cracking even 80 degrees mid-day and the evenings have that damp chill to them, perfect for getting cozy with a piece of Apple Chai Coffee Cake made with traditional Chai spices.
We love apple season at my house. The kids nosh on apples all fall, and I love baking apples into practically everything when they are plentiful. But I definitely have a soft spot for apple cakes, this is my 3rd apple cake I have shared here 🙂
The Chai spices are what really make this cake special. I am not a huge fan of the tea, but you can’t really go wrong with cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, cloves and star anise combined with apples.
Apple Chai Coffee Cake
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/8 tsp star anise
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 5 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground cardamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup butter, melted & cooled
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 2 small apples, peeled, cored and coarsely chopped
Instructions
Streusel topping
- Mix together sugar, flour, salt, and spices. Cut in cold butter with a pastry cutter or two knives, until well blended and crumbly, set aside.
Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and lightly flour 9-inch springform pan. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and the spices. Blend well and set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine brown sugar and eggs, whisking until smooth. Add sour cream, and mix until all the lumps are gone. Stir in butter and applesauce. Fold in dry ingredients until just combined, and then gently stir in the chopped apples.
- Transfer batter to prepared cake pan and sprinkle streusel on top. Gently press streusel into batter to ensure that it sticks.
- Bake for 55-65 minutes top of cake is rich golden brown, and a toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for a couple minutes before unmolding. Let cool for 15-20 minutes before serving.
Where does the ‘coffee’ come in?
Hi Philip,
Coffee Cake is a North American, informal, everyday cake. It is not layered or frosted for a fancy presentation. Just a simple cake people usually serve at breakfast or brunch with coffee.
This looks and sounds amazing. Those flavors make me excited for fall! Unfortunately it’s still in the 90’s here…