Apple Crumble Cake (Good & Easy)
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This good & easy apple crumble cake recipe will bring your tastebuds back to days in grandma’s kitchen. Filled with apples and topped with a delicious pecan crumble, I like to serve it warm with homemade whipped cream gently melting on top.
I first had this apple crumble cake when I was eight years old. I really enjoy it because it isn’t too sweet. I’m not a big icing person, but give me fresh whipped cream oozing down over warm cake and you got a happy camper on your hands!
Fortunately, this coffee cake recipe is super easy to make. If you’re new around here, let me in on a little secret… I love using box cake mix in so many of my favorite cake recipes. It’s quick, easy, and always results in a perfectly soft and moist cake, so what’s not to love?
Today we’re using a white cake mix and adding some scrumptious apple pie filling and chopped nuts for added flavor and texture. The filling absorbs into the cake so it’s deliciously moist! But as the name suggests, this apple crumble cake recipe isn’t complete without its crumble topping. This buttery, nutty, and cinnamon-spiced topping is the cherry on top, let me tell you!
Every bite will have you dreaming of crisp fall days. Alright, who’s ready to bake an easy apple crumb cake? I know I am!
Recipe Ingredients
Apple Cake
- Box of white cake mix
- Chopped pecans
- Can of apple pie filling
- Eggs
Crumble Topping
- Plain flour
- White sugar
- Unsalted butter or margarine
- Ground cinnamon
- Chopped pecans
How to Make Apple Crumble Cake
Pour the apple pie filling onto a plate or into a bowl, then get a knife and kind of coarsely chop it up a bit.
The original recipe said to “beat the apple pie filling” to break it up a bit. But I guess apple pie filling must be sturdier these days than it used to be because the one time I tried to beat it, nothing happened except the whole apple slices sloshed around in my mixing bowl for a minute or so.
Now, place all ingredients for the cake into a mixing bowl. Using a large spoon or spatula, stir this up until well combined. Set aside.
Prepare the crumb topping by placing flour, sugar, pecans, ground cinnamon, and softened butter into a small bowl.
Cut butter in with a fork and stir the entire mixture until crumbly.
Spread the cake batter into a greased 9×13 baking dish and sprinkle evenly with the crumb topping.
Bake the apple crumb cake at 350 for 50 to 55 minutes.
I love to serve this warm with homemade whipped cream on top!
I’ve included an easy homemade recipe below, but check out this post to learn how easy it is to make whipped cream at home with evaporated milk.
Storage
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. You can easily reheat it quickly in the microwave.
- You can also store leftovers in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature before serving.
Recipe Notes
- Use whatever cake mix brand you prefer. I know they’ve changed sizes slightly but this recipe still works fine. Unfortunately, after a lifetime of devotion, I no longer recommend Duncan Hines due to several test kitchen failures with their current formulation.
- This apple crumb coffee cake also tastes amazing served with custard or vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce. Try my pecan praline sauce (YUM).
- For the crumble topping, you can use just granulated sugar, just brown sugar, or a combination of both.
- For extra sweetness, top your apple cake with a simple vanilla glaze (visit this post for a recipe).
- If you like, you can totally substitute the pecans for walnuts. We all know they’re so much more budget-friendly.
Recipe FAQs
Can I substitute the apple for something else in this apple cake recipe?
You totally can! Adapt this apple cake recipe to suit you. An easy substitution is to swap the apple pie filling for a different pie filling, like cherry.
You may also like these other appetizing apple desserts:
Jack-o-Lantern Apple Pie With Puff Pastry
Caramel Apple Cheesecake (Unbelievably Blissful)
Ingredients
Apple Cake
- 1 box white cake mix
- 3 eggs
- 1 can apple pie filling 21 ounces
- 1 cup chopped nuts
Crumble Topping
- 1/2 cup plain flour
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 cup butter at room temp
Homemade Whipped Cream
- 1 - 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 2-4 tablespoons sugar
Instructions
- Pour the apple pie filling onto a large plate and coarsely chop it up a bit with a knife. Place it in a mixing bowl along with all the other cake ingredients. Stir until well combined with a large spoon. Pour into a greased 9x13 baking dish.1 box white cake mix, 3 eggs, 1 can apple pie filling, 1 cup chopped nuts
- Prepare topping by mixing all the ingredients together with a fork. Sprinkle the crumble mixture over the cake batter. Bake cake at 350 for 50-55 minutes. Serve warm with homemade whipped cream.1/2 cup plain flour, 1/2 cup white sugar, 1 cup chopped pecans, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 cup butter
To make whipped cream
- Place the heavy whipping cream in a chilled mixing bowl and add sugar to taste. I suggest starting with two tablespoons because you can always add more later.2-4 tablespoons sugar, 1 - 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- Mix on high for about one minute, until soft peaks and ripples form. Serve over warm cake (don't forget to lick the bowl!).
Notes
Nutrition
I am the same as you in preferring my cream not
too sweet. I love the taste of the cream and not the sugar. A couple of weeks ago I went on a cream binge and ate scones with jam and cream for two weeks straight. Very Brtitish but this is a former convict colony I live in! 😉
I’m moving house this weekend, my house is a mess! I dont know what I’ll be eating over this weeked!
Oh honey! My middle daughter inherited a 1950’s Airstream trailer that was loaded with vintage treasures. Among them were a set of Johnson Bros. english redware, and some fireking Jadeite. I was blessed to be gifted with the vintage batter bowl and the small swirl bowl. I too long for the covered casserole, along with the grease jar and s&p shakers. I must confess that I covet your 9 X 13 pan. Mea culpa.
Searching for a recipe for truly “southern” chicken n dumplings like we had as children, I chanced upon your column today and was delighted. With the recipes, of course, but as much by your writing. It’s so entertaining that I completely forgot to save and had to go back after going through more recipes just for the fun of reading.
I clearly remember stirring Mother’s dumpling pot (after she left the kitchen)…she had to throw it out and start from scratch! And, incidentally, I’m 75 years old and still refer to my Father as “daddy.”
Thanks for making me smile…a lot.
Jamie
well I tried sticking my nose to the screen but it didnt work. guess I am gonna have to make this to get a whiff.
I also still call my father “daddy”… I think it is a southern thing…although, I call my mother “mom”+what about you? I know in Eastern Kentucky the grown women still call their mothers “mommy” which I think is so cute!
I don’t know if calling your Father “Daddy” is a southern thing or not. I have a sister that is 8 years younger than me(she is 61) and from the day she could talk she called our Dad “Daddy” and our Mom was always “Mother” to her. She doesn’t even know why she called them such different terms. Now myself I always called our parents by their first name, because until I was 6 years old we lived with my Grandma and a teen age aunt, and that is what I always heard them referred to.
You don’t know how much I envy people that have enough room to collect all those pretty antique dishes. I have a set of mixing bowls, I think it says Pyrex on the bottom, but from different things I have heard that and Fire King are one and the same. I received these bowls as a wedding present back in 1964. I have never liked them. I like the pattern, just not the color. They are white with what looks like a Pennsylvania Dutch design on them, done in turquoise. It is the turquoise that I don’t like, in a kitchen. I can’t figure out one of the bowls has what looks like a rust spot on the outside. When I first noticed it I tried everything I could think of to get it off, and nothing worked, so I am assuming that it is a flaw of some kind. Well enough rambling, other than to say I rarely use these bowls, all three of them are completely intact.
OMG- PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do a post about the casserole dishes and antique mixing bowls!!!! My hubby things my head is screwed on backwards because I think that cakes and brownies and cookies mixed in ANTIQUE bowls and baked in “heritage” pans have a better taste- and they do…..I think it has to do with years and years of seasoning….and LOVE that the foods have been baked with along the years. Oh and wooden spoons- everything has to be mixed with a wooden spoon- NOT a metal one.
I now know- I AM NOT ALONE!!!!!
😉
LOVED IT! Everyone loved it. My topping, though, came out more like paste. The margarine started to get very soft by the time I got done incorporating all the ingredients. It was also a warm night in Honolulu so that didn’t help. Half the cake is gone, and I just made it last night! Thank you for the recipe, it’s a keeper.
hey, you’re in Honolulu-who cares if the topping is a little pasty! 😀 wish I was there!
I haven’t read the comments to see if anyone else suggested this, but to chill the bowl (and beaters) for making whipped cream, I put them in the freezer for a few minutes. Don’t even have to dry them! They stay cold for quite some time.