“Surely the apple is the noblest of fruits.”
Henry David Thoreau
Cinnamon, apples, walnuts, brown sugar…these are a few of my favourite fall ingredients. Put them in together to make a Classic Spiced Apple Walnut Buttermilk Coffee Cake and you will rock October!
This is just what Abby Dodge guaranteed when she put out the #baketogether recipe for October … a Classic Spiced Coffee Cake with ‘your twist‘ to the recipe. 
She says, “I selected Classic Sour Cream Coffeecake for this months’ #baketogether because it is, well, a classic – one that should be in every recipe box even if yours in stashed on your computer. The flavors are traditional: cinnamon, nutmeg (I like mine freshly grated), butter, brown sugar and sour cream. The method is straight-forward and the batter can even be made with a hand-held mixer (just like my Mom used). It’s these qualities that make it such a great #baketogether recipe. This base recipe is perfect as is YET there’s literally hundreds of ways for everyone to switch things up. It’s the perfect vanilla canvas that’s just waiting for some twisting and shaking.”
Coffee cakes are usually single layer cakes that may be square or rectangular like a Stollen or loaf-shaped rectangular cakes, and are are typically flavored with cinnamon, seeds, nuts, and fruits. These cakes sometimes have a crumbly or crumb topping called streusel and/or a light glaze drizzle.
I love it when I have a classic basic recipe that I can play around with, which is why I like to #baketogether each month despite the obvious lack of time I feel.
Moist, delicious, packed with flavour, light, FALL, fruity … these were the thoughts that buzzed through my head as I tasted the first bite. Even though the cake is said to taste better on day 2, it tasted fab on day 1. No cake can sit there in it’s ‘whole’ shape in our home; justice has to be done to it asap!
The first bite into the lads mouth…and he said, “Mmmmmm, tastes just like pumpkin pie Mama!” It’s amusing to see how he connects to food. He loved that Praline Pumpkin Pie I made exactly two years ago. Anything with similar flavours takes him back to that gorgeous pie I baked from Park Avenue Potluck CELEBRATIONS for a virtual dinner party for the ‘fight against cancer‘ with the The Society of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
The house filled with fall aromas as the cake baked, warm cinnamon aromas wafting through lazily, a good morning that day where there were thankfully no power cuts. I substituted the sour cream in Abby recipe with half home made yogurt and half buttermilk as we don’t get sour cream locally here. The substitiution worked a charm resulting in a fabulous moist texture.
Before I get to the recipe, I’d like to thank the very talented and wonderful Jennifer Bartoli {who also blogs at Chocolate Shavings} for interviewing me for an article in the National Post, Toronto, that was published today. ‘Gear up for gastronomic greatness‘ makes for an interesting read. Its about me and 2 other very talented food bloggers and our favourite kitchen tools and appliances.
I’d also like to thank Best of the Web for showcasing Passionate About Baking in this weeks Best of the Web’s picks.
A moist and packed with 'fall' flavours coffee cake. It's got a few of my favourite things - apples, cinnamon and walnuts!
Ingredients
For the streusel:
2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup oats {ground}
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled
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For the cake:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
100gm unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup yogurt
1tsp lime juice
1/2 cup walnuts, finely chopped
2 apples, cored, peeled, diced
Instructions
- To make the streusel:
- Combine the brown sugar, flour, oats and cinnamon in the bowl of your food processor and mix briefly. Add the diced chilled butter and pulse until the ingredients are well blended and form small crumbs. Pop in the fridge while you make the cake batter.
- To make the cake:
- Heat oven to 180°C. Line the base and sides of an 8" springform tin.
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Whisk until well blended.
- In a large bowl, beat butter, sugar and vanilla on medium speed until well blended, about 3 minutes.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stop to scrape the bowl and beaters as needed.
- Add about half of the flour mixture and mix on low speed just until blended.
- Add the buttermilk / yogurt mixture and continue mixing just until blended. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the remaining flour mixture, followed by 3/4 of the chopped walnuts. Reserve 1/4 for the topping.
- Scrape half of the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Evenly scatter the diced apples followed by half of the streusel mixture over the batter. Spoon the remaining batter evenly over the streusel and spread evenly. Scatter the remaining streusel and reserved walnuts evenly over the top.
- Bake until the top is browned and a pick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, 43 to 45 minutes {mine took an extra 15mintes}. Cool the pan on a wire rack until warm or room temperature.
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