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This is a simple and scrumptious country apple cake. Tanya, one of the ladies I sit next to in choir, shared this recipe with me. It’s also known as “Domashny” which translates loosely to “from home.” It sure is homey and so easy to put together. It reminds me of the Russian sharlotka cake, but this one is more exciting. It’s perfect with tea or coffee and can be completed in 1 hour start to finish; no fancy frostings or frills required.
The sour cream cake layers have just the right amount of sweetness complementing the sweet tart apples and plump raisins. And that crumbly topping adds just a hint of crunch – you will clean your plate, you’ll see!
Apple Crumb Cake Ingredients:
3 Eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups (10 oz) sour cream (I used regular, not low fat)
4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour *measured correctly
1 tsp baking powder
2 large (about 1 lb) granny smith apples
3/4 cup raisins
Crumb Topping Ingredients:
2 Tbsp butter, softened (20g butter)
4 Tbsp all-purpose flour *measured correctly
3 Tbsp granulated sugar
Apple Crumb Cake Prep:
Preheat Oven to 350˚F.
1. Butter and flour a 9″ springform mold. Peel and core apples, then cut into 6 wedges and slice into 1/4″ thick pieces. (P.S. We love this steel apple slicer). 
2. Soak raisins in hot water for 5 minutes then drain and pat them dry with paper towel.
How to make the Apple Crumb Cake:
1. Beat 3 eggs with 1 cup sugar with the whisk attachment on high speed until foamy and thick (5 min).
2. Reduce mixer to medium speed and add 1 1/4 cups sour cream, 4 Tbsp melted butter, and 1 tsp vanilla.
3.Whisk together 2 cups flour and 1 tsp baking powder and add them to your batter. Continue mixing until well combined.
4. Fill prepared baking pan with half of the batter. Place apple slices and raisins evenly over the top of the mixture. Fill baking pan with the remaining batter. Bake at 350˚F for 20 minutes. While cake is in the oven, make the crumble topping.
5. For the Topping: Use your hands to rub together 2 Tbsp butter and 4 Tbsp of flour, rolling between your fingers until small crumbles form. Add 3 Tbsp of sugar and mix until incorporated. Remove cake from the oven after the first 20 min and sprinkle topping evenly over cake.
6. Immediately place the cake back into the oven for an additional 20 minutes. When it’s done baking, remove the ring and let it cool. If you want the top to turn a little golden, set oven to broil and keep in the oven an additional 2 minutes.
Apple Crumb Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Cake Ingredients:
- 3 Eggs
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/4 cups 10 oz sour cream (I used regular, not low fat)
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, *see notes
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 large, about 1 lb granny smith apples
- 3/4 cup raisins
Topping Ingredients:
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
- 4 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 3 Tbsp granulated sugar
Instructions
Prep: Preheat Oven to 350˚F.
- Butter and flour a 9" springform mold.
- Peel and core apples, then cut into 6 wedges and slice into 1/4" thick pieces. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside.
- Soak raisins in hot water for 5 minutes then drain and pat them dry with paper towel.
How to make the Apple Cake:
- Beat 3 eggs with 1 cup sugar with the whisk attachment on high speed until foamy and thick (5 minutes).
- Reduce mixer to medium speed and add 1 1/4 cups sour cream, 4 Tbsp melted butter, and 1 tsp vanilla.
- Whisk together 2 cups flour and 1 tsp baking powder and add them to your batter. Continue mixing until well combined.
- Fill prepared baking pan with half of the batter. Place apple slices and raisins evenly over the top of the mixture. Fill baking pan with the remaining batter. Bake at 350˚F for 20 minutes. While cake is in the oven, make the crumble topping.
- For the Topping: Use your hands to rub together 2 Tbsp butter and 4 Tbsp of flour, rolling between your fingers until small crumbles form. Add 3 Tbsp of sugar and mix until incorporated. Remove cake from the oven and sprinkle topping evenly over cake.
- Immediately place the cake back into the oven for an additional 20 minutes. When it's done baking, remove the ring and let it cool. If you want the top to turn a little golden, set oven to broil an additional 2 minutes.
Notes
Thank you Natasha for this recipe! The cake turned out delicious and I’m about to make it again ! I love your website!
I’m so happy you enjoyed it Oksana! Thank you so much for taking a moment to leave a great review. You. Are. Awesome! 🙂
Natasha, I have to say I Love your website. I am still learning and I am just so grateful that you post pictures of every step! 🙂
I also have a question. What is the consistency supposed to be for this cake?
Mine came out a little too mushy. I have an older oven and sometimes I have to add extra baking time but I wanted to know what I am looking for, so the next time I bake it I know how much longer to leave it for.
Thanks again for all your work!
I’m so glad you are enjoying the site. The consistency is kind of similar to a boxed cake but a little denser, especially the portions surrounding the apples since you’re getting moisture from the apples. It isn’t supposed to be mushy, so yes, do try a little longer baking time; it wouldn’t hurt 🙂 It gets more dense after refrigeration so it’s best the same day but still good the next day.
Natasha thank you so much for sharing this cake I have to say I’m not a big raisen person so I did it with wuluts and it turned out awesome thank you so much. I’m going to sharing it with my family Tommarow and for sure making it for thanksgiving!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you Lilly 🙂
I already made this cake twice with only a couple of days between the first and second one. My family loved it! It’s simple to make with all ingredients readily available, yet it’s very delicious. Thank you for posting the recipe. Please say thanks to Tanya who shared this recipe with you and with all of your readers.
I sure will and thank you so much for the great review! I sure appreciate it. It’s awesome that you like it enough to make it twice in two days! 🙂
Made it 🙂
Was amazing ! Easy and Delicious !
That’s so great! I’m happy you loved it 🙂
If I bake this cake the night before I would like to serve it, will it still be fresh the next day? Would I store it at room temperature or put it in the fridge?
We kept it in the fridge overnight, then let it sit for an hour or so at room temp before serving. It’s still good after being chilled, but it is best eaten the same day it’s made.
I made this yesterday–it was delicious! I did what another commenter did–left out the raisins and put a little cinnamon in the crumb topping. Would definitely make it again.
Yep! I’m definitely doing cinnamon next time! Thanks Liza 🙂
I just love your website ! always the best recipes and step by step instructions that are easy to use! thank you so much! your website is the one I always use for breakfast lunch and dinner lol..no one else’s! thank you so much Natasha! keep up your hard work and god bless(:
That is just awesome! Thank you Alina. I guess the pressure is on for me! 😉
You have the best cooking blog ever! Easy to navigate and down to earth recipes:). I mean I actually know what it will turn out like!!! Thank you so much!!!
Mila, thank you so much for your great feedback! It means so much to me 🙂
I just tried that recipe. Delicious! The dough is really tasty. But my pie had to take 15 more minutes to bake through. I couldnt resist the temptation and tried a piece and as the Natasha promised – ate every tiny crumb on my plate. Thank you for sharing )))
I’m so happy you enjoyed it! Thank you so much for a great review 🙂
Wow, Natasha, this is great! Quick and easy to put together and really tasty. I baked this last night and took it to work today, where it was a big hit. I was a little naughty and soaked my raisins in rum instead of water. It wasn’t overpowering, just added a hint of something extra. For those who don’t have a spring form pan, I used a 9 inch square pan and it worked great. I just greased and floured the pan, then lined it with a strip of parchment paper which was long enough to hang over 2 sides and greased and floured the paper. This made it easy to remove the cake when cooled. I really liked how the relatively short bake time left the apples with some nice texture (not mushy). This cake batter is so good, I’m already thinking of different combinations of filling to try. First up will be apples and dried cranberries, with some orange zest added to the cake batter. Thanks so much for sharing this stellar recipe! It is definitely a keeper, just like everything else I have tried from your site.
My goodness you are giving me so many great ideas! Apples and cranberries and orange zest. YUM!! Thanks so much for sharing your tips with the 9″ square baking pan. I’m sure that will be super helpful to others :). Also, rum raisins is brilliant! We need to buy another bottle of rum. I used mine up on a cake roll so I didn’t even think about it. Thank you!! 🙂
It was easy to make and is delicious! Thank you!
-I substituted the raisins for walnuts.
That sounds like a really good substitution! Thank you so much for sharing 🙂
Do you think that thick yogurt would work instead of sour cream? Thanks!
To be honest, I haven’t tried it. If you do substitute, I would use regular plain Greek Yogurt since that is almost the same in consistency, fat content and flavor.
Thank you Natasha for the nice recipe.
You’re welcome Liz :). It’s always so nice to hear from you.
This cakes looks great 🙂 i was wondering if you think it would be possible to make it with something other then apples ? i love apples but i have apple hater in he house who wouldn’t touch it haha
To be honest, I haven’t tried it with any other fruit. I would caution against using any fruit that is too juicy though since it might change the texture of the cake. Pears would probably work really well. 🙂
That might be an option, i might try that, i don’t think we have any pear haters in the house 😀
I hope you enjoy it! 🙂
I was wondering can I use Gala’s or Macs instead of Granny Smith ???
Yes, ofcourse! Really any kind of apple would work in this cake. I like the slight tartness of granny smiths but you can use your favorite apple 🙂
I love apple cakes! This seems like a amazing recipe. Do you have to put raisins in it?
No, they aren’t necessary and can easily just be omitted. One of my readers even added cinnamon to the crumb topping and was raving about it. 🙂
I made this cake for my mother-in-law’s birthday and she loved it. Thank you Natasha for sharing this great recipe with all us.
Happy birthday to your mama-in-law! I’m so happy to hear that she liked it 🙂 Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
This cake looks so lovely. I bet it was delicious.
Thank you Teresa :). It sure was! I’ve been working on an apple cake for awhile and this one was everything I wanted in an apple cake, plus it was easy to boot! 🙂
This is a delicious cake! I skipped the raisons and added cinnamon to the topping it turned out perfect and it was easy to put together. Thanks for posting
I love the cinnamon idea, thank you for sharing :). I’m so glad you like the cake.
Hi Natasha, I always love your recipes. The sponge has quickly become the main base for most of the cakes I bake and gets many compliments. Just wondering if one could leave out the sour cream in this recipe? Thanks!
Thank you! To be honest, I haven’t really tried that yet to advise. You can probably try to substitute it with regular plain Greek Yogurt since that is almost the same in consistency, fat content and flavor. Let us know how it goes!