Holiday Apple Kuchen
This German Apple Kuchen is a cross between bread and coffee cake. A yeast bread on the bottom, topped with an apple pie layer, and finished with a sweet streusel coffee cake top.
This month I’m baking with the Bread Baking Babes. The Bread Baking Babes Kitchen of the month is Gretchen, Provecho Peru, and she chose Holiday Apple Kuchen. I served my Kuchen for breakfast, but Gretchen served it with a luscious cream cheese topping, which dresses it up nicely for dessert.
I added old fashioned oatmeal to the streusel topping because I like the extra texture it gives streusel. You can omit the oatmeal if you’d like.
This recipe isn’t super sweet like most coffee cakes, which my daughter really liked. She can’t handle eating very much sugar in the morning. If you like a less sweet dessert, I think you’d like this one too.
Holiday Apple Kuchen
Ingredients
Crumb Topping
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
- 3 tablespoons butter, melted
Apple Kuchen
- 4 cups apple slices (about 4 medium baking apples)
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon quick cooking tapioca
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon allspice
- 2 1/4 - 2 3/4 cups flour, divided
- 1 package active dry yeast
- 1/2 cup milk (I used lowfat)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
Instructions
Crumb Topping
- In a medium bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, and oatmeal. Add melted butter and mix with a fork or your hands until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside.
Apple Kuchen
- Grease a 13x9x2 baking pan; set aside. In a large bowl, combine apples, brown sugar, tapioca, lemon juice, cinnamon and allspice.
- In a small saucepan, heat and stir milk, granulated sugar, butter and salt just until mixture is warm (120F-130F) and butter almost melts.
- In large mixing bowl, combine 1 cup of the flour and the yeast. Add milk mixture and eggs to flour mixture. Beat with an electric mixer on low to medium speed for 30 seconds, scraping sides of the bowl occasionally. Beat on high speed for 2 minutes or until smooth. Beat in as much of the remaining flour as needed to make a stiff batter.
- Spread batter into the prepared baking pan. Place apple mixture on top of the batter. Sprinkle with Crumb Topping. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour.
- Bake in a preheated 375ºF oven for 30 minutes or until top is browned and apples are tender. Cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes.
- Cut into 12 pieces and serve warm or at room temperature.
More apple desserts you might like:
Perfect Apple Crisp, Barbara Bakes
Torta di Mele (Apple Cake), Barbara Bakes
Baked Apple Pie Egg Rolls, Cookin’ Canuck
Apple Tarte Tatin, The Comfort of Cooking
Caramel Apple Blondies, Gonna Want Seconds
Hi Barbara, should I bring the eggs to room temperature first?
Thanks,
Tara
Hi Tara – room temperature eggs are usually best when baking cakes. Although I admit I don’t always take the time. It will help the yeast get working faster if the eggs are room temperature.
Me too! Sugar is deadly in the am if you ask me and this is very nice as dessert and/or breakfast in my book.
Thanks for baking with us.
Love your kutchen, Barb!!
This would be the perfect dish to make next time I have to bake breakfast for our church class!
I’ve never heard of Kuchen but it sounds delicious…cake + apple + crumb topping would be a definite hit in my home!