Great-Great-Grandma’s Dutch Apple Cake

This dutch apple cake recipe has been in my family for generations.  It is a simple cake topped with apples and plenty of golden streusel topping.  It is great as a coffee cake at breakfast, for an afternoon treat or as a simple dessert.  You can take it straight from my great-great grandma’s recipe box and put it into yours!

This vintage Dutch apple cake features a simple cake base, fresh apples and plenty of buttery golden crumble topping.  It is easy to whip up and is perfect served any time of the day. 

It is a wonderful simple treat for your family or perfect for impressing guests.  It is no wonder it has been a favorite in our family for so many generations!

This recipe is straight from the recipe box of my dad’s father’s mother’s mother.  My family usually serves it as a breakfast cake, like an apple coffee cake.

It would also be a great afternoon tea time treat.  My grandparents used to make a bunch of these up in the fall when they had a lot of apples and freeze them for the rest of the year. 

What a great way to use the harvest and have that autumn taste all year long! Plus having these apple crumb cakes in the freezer means you can have a special breakfast with almost no effort later.

Old Fashioned Apple Crumb Cake Recipe

The original instructions that came with the recipe left a few holes.  Here they are in their entirety:

• Put dough in pan, then press apples into the dough.  
• Rub sugar, flour and butter into crumbs and sprinkle on top of dough and apples.  
• Bake slowly in a moderate oven.

I have to admit, I almost broke out the old stand mixer. I rely on that thing pretty heavily and pull it out of the pantry whenever I get the chance.

But, that seemed untrue to the recipe.  My guess is that my great-great-grandma didn’t have a nice stand mixer.

So, I went after it with nothing but a bowl and spatula.  It was kind of fun.

I baked the cake in a 9″ cast iron skillet because I thought it seemed right.  However, you don’t have to bake it in a skillet.

This recipe would work in an 8 or 9-inch cake pan or a square baking dish. You could even bake it in a deep dish pie plate if that is what you have handy.

Serving Your Old Fashioned Dutch Apple Cake

This yummy cake is an excellent coffee cake.  The cake itself has a moist, slightly dense crumb like you’d expect from a breakfast cake.

It’s almost like a shortcake cake with thick batter and good rise.  The sliced apples retain just  bit of crunch and the buttery crumb topping adds a little crunch as well.

Serve it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for a dessert treat. If you warm it up a bit and let the ice cream melt into it, the combination is extra delicious.

The contrast in texture and light flavor will have you clamoring for another slice. Plus it is fun to serve something to my little guy that his 3xgreat-grandma made.  That is a lot of greats!

Update:  I originally shared this recipe very early in 2015.  In fact it was during the first month of collecting and sharing recipes.

I shared it and that quickly inspired my mom, grandma and a cousin to all bake dutch apple cakes that weekend.  It was a lot of fun!

I thought it was time to come back and refresh the post a little bit with a video and printable recipe card. I hope you enjoy it!

Possible Adaptations to the Original Recipe:

Not surprisingly, I suppose, the original recipe did not call for vanilla extract.  I like to add a little because it feels so strange to bake without it.  It is delicious either way. 

Over the past few years we have tried this base recipe with a number of different fruits.  One of our favorites is the peach breakfast cake, it is great with blueberries as well!

There is something really nice about the simplicity of this recipe.  However, I think it would also be great with a half teaspoon (or a bit more!) of cinnamon mixed into the streusel topping.

If you are adding cinnamon, why not a little brown sugar too? Substitute half of the sugar in the topping with brown sugar for a warmer flavor profile. 

Storing Your Cake:

As with most cakes, this is best when it is fresh.  It can be stored loosely covered on the counter for a few days.  We like to warm up the leftover slices in the microwave a bit to ensure they are soft and delicious.

As I mentioned above, my grandparents used to bake up a bunch of these during the fall and freeze them.  Just wrap them well to keep air and freezer smells out and then freeze them to up to several months.

You could also freeze individual slices.  Just wrap them tightly and freeze them for up to several months.  

Why is it called a Dutch apple cake?

I believe it is the buttery crumb topping that makes this a Dutch apple cake. It is similar to the topping on a Dutch apple pie.

More Vintage Recipes That Have Been in my Family for Generations: 

Great grandmas on both sides of my family were known for making wonderful scalloped corn. Their recipes were slightly different, but the results were both delicious.  This simple but tasty side dish still makes an appearance on our table every so often and my grandpa often requests it. 

Frozen fruit salad is still a holiday staple with my dad’s family.  It is a creamy, cool change of pace to a big holiday meal.  It is a perfect make ahead recipe that is our little way of keeping great grandma a part of the party. 

Great grandma was also known for having a jello salad on the table, I suppose that may be a sign of the times! This green jello salad was a favorite and Little Dude has taken a liking to it and not requests it.

My great grandma on my mom’s side made a fabulous apple crisp with no added sugar.  The recipe is simple but absolutely delicious.  Of course we love ours with a little vanilla ice cream, but it is fabulous on its own too. 

My mom’s other grandma was famous for her homemade apple pie. She made a lard pie crust for the pie and the combination brings back all of the feelings for my mom (and for good reason!)

Did you make this great recipe? Please leave a review in the recipe card below!