I love fall. The leaves change color and the air gets cooler… ok… maybe not in Florida. A girl can dream right? One thing I do love about fall is the season foods. You know, things with lots of spices and pumpkin (one of my favorites!). My friend Jaclyn is sharing one of her favorite fall-inspired recipes.
Happy September, friends!
It’s hard to believe that fall is upon us already…hasn’t this year just flown by? Perhaps here in Florida it doesn’t quite feel like autumn, but I think the weather might be starting to come around just a little. It’s not quite as humid, the afternoons have been lovely and windy, and dare I say that the evening air has the slightest hint of a chill.
Even if fall isn’t quite in full-swing, I’m going to do my best to will the weather to cool down even more. Baking autumn-inspired desserts is my way of getting into the spirit of the season, even if it’s still pretty warm outside!
When I think of the onset of autumn, the first thing that comes to mind is apple cider. What could be a more perfect beverage for this time of year? From September right on through the end of November, there’s nothing better than apple cider in my book.
Right now, we love enjoying it ice cold, preferably in a frosty mug. When the weather finally decides to cool down, I love setting a pot of cider on the stove and letting it mull with spices for hours.
Know what else I love doing with apple cider? Baking with it!
This apple cider crumb cake is everything I could ever want in a fall dessert. The cake is deeply flavored throughout with the crisp tartness of apple cider, and the crumb layer on top is, in a word, gigantic. I’ve always felt that the crumb topping is the best part of a crumb cake, but most recipes leave you with a disappointing crumb to cake ratio. Well, I decided to remedy that by making a crumb layer that’s the exact thickness of the cake layer. Trust me, you’ll find that there’s plenty of crumb topping in this cake!
I topped this crumb cake off with a simple apple cider glaze, and kicked it up a bit by adding some applejack to the glaze. The resulting dessert is simple, rustic and incredibly satisfying!
It goes without saying that this apple cider crumb cake is best enjoyed with a tall glass of–what else? apple cider!
I hope you have a lovely September, friends!
Sweetly,
Jaclyn
food + words.
{Click the image above for the delicious recipe. Photos and recipe by Jaclyn}
Wow. I never thought of making an Apple Cider flavored crumb cake. This looks fantastic!
I may try the recipe to serve after Easter supper. A friend of mine actually opened a new york style-crumb cake business called Crumb Cake Creations a few months ago. She’s doing real well with it, so I wanted to share it seeing as though they look similar to this recipe but she definitely doesn’t make Apple Cider cakes. Not sure if she lists any recipes on the website, but the cakes are darn good. I’ll check back here once (if) I go forward with the this apple cider recipe myself.