Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with this easy recipe for a small Irish apple cake. This 6-inch cake is moist, full of tart green apples, and topped with a sweet oat streusel crumble. Serve the cake with a caramel cream drizzle for dessert, or a sweet breakfast treat!
Make the caramel sauce first - In a small saucepan, add the cream, milk, and caramel sauce. Heat to a low-boil over medium heat, stirring frequently with a spatula, until the mix starts to thicken. This may take about 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer the sauce to a glass jar (or heatproof container) and allow to cool at room temperature. The sauce will thicken more as it cools. Note - The sauce can be made head of time and refrigerated.
¼ cup heavy cream, 2 tablespoons whole milk, 3 tablespoons caramel sauce
Streusel Topping
In a small mixing bowl, add the flour, oats, sugars, and cubed butter. Cut the cubed butter into the mix using a pastry cutter, two forks, or your fingers. Place in the refrigerator until ready to use.
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour, 3 tablespoons rolled oats, 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, 2 ½ tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes
Apple Cake
Preheat the oven to 350F degrees and adjust the oven rack to the middle position. Lightly grease a 6-inch cake pan. Cut two 3-inch strips of parchment paper long enough to hang over the sides of the pan, and lay in a cross in the cake pan. The overhang is used as a sling to lift the cake out of the pan.
Peel, core, and slice the apple into thin slices. Cut the apple slices into thirds.
1 Granny Smith apple
In a small mixing bowl whisk togher the egg and milk.
1 large egg, room temperature, 2 tablespoons milk, any kind
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and spices. Add in the cold cubed butter. Cut the butter into the flour mixture - using a pastry cutter, two forks, or your fingers - until the butter is in small (gravel size) pieces.
½ cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, ¼ cup granulated sugar, ½ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon ground ginger, ¼ cup unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes
Add the prepared apples to the flour mixture and toss to coat the apples. Pour the wet ingredients over the top of the dry and stir until no flour streaks remain.
Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and smooth out evenly. Sprinkle the streusel topping evenly over the top of the batter.
Bake the cake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the top of the cake is golden brown, and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out mostly clean, and the cake has pulled away from the sides of the pan. Note - The apples and the streusel may make it difficult to use the toothpick test. You may have to test a couple different areas in the middle until you don't hit an apple. You can also use a long skewer to test.
Cool the cake in the pan set on a wire cooling rack for 10 minutes. Then carefully lift the cake out of the pan using the parchment paper overhang, and cool the cake completely on the wire rack. Drizzle with the caramel cream sauces and the cake can be served slightly warm or at room temperature. Enjoy!
Notes
Serving Size - This is a small batch recipe that can be doubled and made in an 8-inch cake pan. Start checking the cake at 40 minutes.
Yield - The recipe as written will yield a small 6-inch cake. You can get 4 to 6 slices of cake - depending on how large you make the slices.
Caramel Sauce - I used store bought caramel sauce. If you want to make your own, try my maple syrup caramel sauce.
Apple - I recommend tart and crisp apples for this recipe - such as Granny Smith.
Storing - The cake can be stored covered at room temperature for up to 3 days. Beyond that, and it may start to dry out.
Freezing - You can freeze the baked cake for up to 3 months. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and place in a freezer bag. Thaw in the refrigerator, then bring to room temperature.