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Apple Cinnamon Roll Streusel Cake

Course Cake
Cuisine American
Diet Vegetarian
Keyword apple, cake, cinnamon

Ingredients

Cake batter

  • 75 g unsalted butter vegan block butter is fine
  • 90 g caster sugar
  • 1 medium egg (see notes for vegan sub)
  • 80 g milk non-dairy is fine
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 150 g plain white flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/8 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 1/4 tsp fine table salt
  • 1 small eating apple peeled, cored, roughly chopped

Cinnamon roll streusel

  • 100 g plain white flour
  • 50 g unsalted butter vegan block butter is fine
  • 1 tbsp caster sugar
  • a pinch salt
  • 2 to 3 tbsp cold milk non-dairy is fine
  • 45 g dark brown sugar
  • 25 g unsalted butter, very soft vegan block butter is ifne
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Sliced apples

  • 2 small eating apples cored and thinly sliced

Instructions

Make the cake batter

  • To make by hand: Cream the butter and caster sugar together until smooth. Mix in the egg, milk and vanilla. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and stir together to get a smooth, thick batter. Fold the chopped apple into the batter.
  • OR To make in a food processor: Blitz the butter and sugar in a food processor until smooth. Add the egg, milk and vanilla, blitzing to combine. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and blitz until just combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the chopped apple and fold into the batter (don't blitz) until just combined.

Make the cinnamon roll streusel dough:

  • To make by hand: Combine the flour, 50g butter, caster sugar and salt in a medium bowl. Rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips until you get a fine, mealy texture. Add the milk a little at a time and mix, kneading gently with your hands in the bowl as needed, until you get a smooth dough.
  • OR To make in a food processor: Clean out the bowl of the food processor. Combine the flour, 50g butter, caster sugar and salt. Blitz until you get a fine, mealy texture. Add the milk a little at a time and pulse until the dough comes together. Remove from the food processor and set aside.

Fill the cinnamon roll streusel dough:

  • Take the cinnamon roll streusel dough you just made and roll it out on a piece of floured baking paper, dusting on top of the dough lightly with flour to prevent it sticking to the rolling pin. Roll out into a roughly 16 x 30 cm rectangle.
  • In a small bowl, mix the dark brown sugar with the very soft butter and cinnamon. Spread this mixture out over the surface of the dough in an even layer.
  • Starting at a long edge of the rectangle, roll the dough up into a log. Freeze the log for 10-15 minutes until firm. Slice the log into ~5mm thick slices.

Assemble & bake:

  • Spoon the batter into a lined 7-inch cake tin. Top with the sliced apples and decorate with the cinnamon roll streusel slices.
  • Bake for 35-45 minutes, covering the cake with foil if it looks like it's browning too quickly, until a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before slicing and serving.

Notes

Make it vegan: use vegan block butter (I like naturli) in place of the butter. Use a non-dairy milk, soy milk works best. In place of the egg, use 4 tbsp smooth, unsweetened applesauce