Lighter Spelt Apple Streusel Cake (with a simple drizzle)
This spelt apple streusel cake uses buttermilk to produce a fluffy cake. It has less sugar and butter making it a lighter alternative.
Servings: 8 slices
Ingredients
Streusel Topping:
- 90g (¾ cup) oat flour (see note 1)
- 60g (⅓ cup) brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- 50g (3 tbsp + 2 tsp) butter (melted)
- 1 large apple (very finely chopped)
Cake:
- 60g (4 tbs) butter (softened)
- 70g (⅓ cup + 1 tbs) brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 160ml (⅓ cup) buttermilk (see note 2)
- 175g (1½ cups) spelt flour (see note 3)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla sugar (or extract)
Drizzle:
- ½ tablespoon milk
- icing sugar
Instructions
Streusel:
- Chop the apple finely (I used a food processor).
- Melt the butter.
- Mix the brown sugar, oat flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, apple, and vanilla sugar in a bowl, then add in the butter.
- Stir until well combined then set to one side (please note: it is quite a soft mixture, but as the butter firms up, the streusel becomes more like a crumble topping. However, it is never crumbly).
Cake:
- Pre-heat the oven to 175°C (350°F) and grease / line a small springform pan (mine is 18cm/6").
- In a stand mixer (or by hand) cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
- Add in the egg and continue to mix just until the egg is well incorporated.
- Add the buttermilk.
- Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and vanilla sugar. Then, add to the wet ingredients, and work the mixture just until everything pulls together.
- Pour half of the batter into the prepared tin and using a spoon, dollop half the streusel mixture over the top. As mentioned above, it isn't crumbly, so just push it around with a knife so that there is an even, and fairly flat, coverage.
- Top with the remaining batter and then the remaining streusel (repeating the process above).
- Bake for around 45-50 minutes on a lower rack in the oven, until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.
Drizzle:
- Pour the milk to a small bowl.
- Add as much icing sugar as necessary to make a thick drizzle.
- Remove the sides of the springform and then drizzle icing over the cake. Cut into slices and enjoy!
Notes
This lighter spelt apple streusel cake first appeared on my former blog, The Culinary Jumble. The recipe has been tweaked to use spelt flour and the images are new. For more information about changes to the recipe, please scroll down a little further.
- You don't need to use oat flour if it's not something you have at home. Just substitute with the flour you are using for your cake.
- If you don't have buttermilk, you can either substitute it with Greek yoghurt, creme fraiche or even sour cream. To make your own buttermilk, add one tablespoon of lemon juice or white wine vinegar and top it up with milk until you have 160ml (⅓ cup).
- You can use any kind of flour in place of spelt (without any need to amend the specified amount).
