Don’t get me wrong. I really like coffee cake… but I never really think to make it because it seems, well, boring. It’s very plain and very simple.
But perhaps that’s its strong suit. It isn’t full of all kinds of spices or chocolate or whatever; it focuses in on a couple specific flavors. In this case, crème fraîche and cinnamon.
Sour cream coffee cake is a standard, but making it with crème fraîche is a foodie upgrade. The difference is subtle, but I think it adds a little more depth of flavor.
The cake has a fine crumb, but it’s not too dense or dry. It has a light mouthfeel and is only slightly sweet, which gives you sugar latitude to top it with warm homemade apple sauce or really good jam.
I learned by making this cake that you can in fact make coffee cake without a bundt pan! This recipe baked up perfectly fine in a 9″ round cake pan, which is the only type of cake pan I own. I imagine it would work fine in a square pan too. If you have a bundt pan, by all means use it if you like.
I like to serve the cake slightly below room temperature and the apple sauce slightly warm. Store the cake in the refrigerator and then slice and plate it a little bit before serving. The warm/cool combination is a real delight.
I also like serving it with a bit of marscapone cheese. The cool, creamy, milky cheese goes really well with the warm apple sauce. Yes, it’s stupid decadent, that’s why I cut the slices small.
Crème Fraîche Coffee Cake with Cinnamon Apple Sauce
- 4 Apples, peeled, cored and chopped into 1/2″ pieces
- 2 tbs Sugar
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
- 2 cups All Purpose Flour
- 3/4 cup Organic Cane Sugar
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/2 cup Butter
- 1/8 tsp Sea Salt
- 2 Eggs
- 1 cup Crème Fraîche
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1/3 cup Brown Sugar
- 2 tsp Cinnamon
- Marscapone Cheese, for serving
- Put the apples, 2 tbs of sugar and 1 tsp of cinnamon in a medium saucepan along with a couple tablespoons of water. Cover and cook on low heat for about an hour, stirring occasionally.
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a 9″ cake pan with butter and line the bottom with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat together the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, butter and salt until the butter is completely worked into the flour. It will have a sandy texture.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, crème fraîche and vanilla. With the mixer running on low, beat the egg mixture into the flour mixture in three additions. Upon completion, the batter will be smooth but thick and paste-like
- In a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar and cinnamon. Pour half the cake batter into the prepared cake pan. Sprinkle half the brown sugar mixture on top, then top with the remaining batter followed by the remaining brown sugar.
- Bake for 50–60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out just barely clean.
- Let cool in pan for about 15 minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack. Let cool completely, then wrap up the cake and store in the refrigerator. The apple sauce should also be kept in the refrigerator.
- When ready to serve, slice off the rounded edges of the coffeecake, then slice into thin rectangular pieces. Reheat the apple sauce. Spread a bit of marscapone cheese on each slice if desired and top with a dab of the warm applesauce.
Love this. Mascarpone on a coffee cake is a revelation. Nice.