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Apple Streusel Sheet Cake is so easy to make from scratch and tastes amazing! A simple but so flavorful German apple crumble cake that’s topped with the most delicious cookie-like streusel.
Apple Streusel Sheet Cake is made with fresh apple chunks and topped with crunchy German streusel. German streusel is different from an American crumb topping. It’s more cookie-like on top and soft on the bottom where it meets the cake. It’s my favorite topping for cakes and muffins!
The filling of this cake is a mixture of fresh apple chunks and apple sauce which guarantees a moist cake even on the next day! This cake is so easy to make! Just press it into the pan, top it with the apple mixture and scatter the streusel with your hands on top and you are done!
Apple desserts like this are perfect for fall but I make them all year round! This easy-to-make apple cake is a great dessert for potlucks and parties. I serve it still warm with a big scoop of ice cream or cold from the fridge. Everyone loves this easy apple dessert!
Tips and tricks for making this Apple Streusel Sheet Cake
- I like to use Elstar or Jonagold apples for this recipe but Granny Smith, Honey Crisp, or Pink Lady would work, too.
- I like to use unsweetened applesauce for my German Apple Cake because it gives you a balanced flavor that is not too sweet but if you like your cakes more on the super sweet side you can also use sweetened applesauce.
- You can use granulated sugar or brown sugar for the streusel topping. I prefer granulated sugar! Brown sugar is not common in Germany, you can’t get it in any German grocery store so if you want to make authentic German streusel use white sugar.
- No need to press the crumbs onto the cake, they will melt while baking and stick together!
- I recommend refrigerating the cake after it is completely cool. It keeps fresh, covered with plastic foil, for a few days in the fridge. The cake tastes great cold and will hold its shape better.
The secret of extra delicious German Streusel is to make them bigger. Use your hands and rub the dough between your fingers, press the smaller crumbs together and sprinkle them over the cake.
Looking for more Streusel-topped desserts?
- Easy Lemon Raspberry Cake
- Plum Cake with Streusel
- Apple Crumble Pie
- Banana Muffins with Cinnamon Streusel
Tools used for making this Apple Streusel Sheet Cake
9 x 13 inch Pan with Lid: I love this baking pan! It comes with a lid so it’s easy to transport baked goods or casseroles and it’s super easy to clean, everything slides right off. I use this pan for all my 9×13-inch cakes, bars, and casseroles.
Stand Mixer: The most beautiful appliance in my kitchen! I own it in the gorgeous Ice Blue but the new Imperial Black one is my current favorite color.
Apple Streusel Sheet Cake
Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
- 1 ½ cups unsalted butter, divided
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 5 apples
- 1 ⅓ cup applesauce, sweet or unsweetened
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest, freshly grated
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ cup granulated or brown sugar
Instructions
- Lightly grease a quarter-size baking sheet (9x13-inch) and preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C).
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add 3/4 cup butter, 1/3 cup sugar, vanilla extract, 2 cups all-purpose flour, and egg. Beat until everything is incorporated. Spread the dough onto the baking sheet. Put the baking sheet in the fridge while you make the apple and crumble layer.
- Leave the remaining 3/4 cup butter on the kitchen counter to get to room temperature.
- Peel and core the apples and chop them into small chunks. Mix the apple chunks with the lemon zest, lemon juice, cinnamon and apple sauce. Set aside.
- For the crumb topping: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment mix the remaining soft butter with 2 cups of flour and 1/2 cup sugar (see Note 4). The mixture will be crumbly.
- To assemble the cake, spread the apple mixture onto the dough layer. Then use your fingers to crumble the crumbs on top. Press some crumbs together to form bigger crumbs, you don't want the crumbs to be too fine.
- Bake for 45 minutes until the crumbs are lightly golden.
- Let the cake cool off completely. It will be a little bit soft while hot.
- Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream!
Video
Nutrition
I just made the plum streusel cake but used apples instead of plums and it was amazing!!! Everyone loved it!! I then came across this recipe but it says to use aple sauce. Is it possible to not use the apple sauce just use apples? Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful recipes!!
Yes, you could just use apples.
Love this recipe and have requests to make it
Wonderful! It was loved by all! Will be making it again.
A German friends adds soaked raisins (plump) and few broken walnuts mixed with apple mixture and it’s really good. Do German bakeries sometime add raisins & nuts ?
Yes, they do sometimes! If you like raisins feel free to add some, they are often soaked in rum overnight before they are added to the apples. So delicious!
Thank you for this recipe! I ended up baking for ~50minutes then switched to grill for another 4mins as the streusel on the top looked very soft and didn’t have much colour.
Cake was nice and not to sweet. Served it with whipped cream. I feel like it would taste better warmed up in the microwave rather than straight from the fridge.
Hello my fellow German expat! I am remodeling my house right now and could not find my grandma’s recipe books. Instead, I found yours online, it sounded like I had my Oma’s in memory and I made the Streussel Apfelkuchen today. Came out perfect! The only thing I changed, I added a little cinnamon-sugar (Zimt und Zucker) on top of the streussel after baking – my Oma’s recipe had that and I love the extra cinnamon kick. The cake is not too sweet, even my American hubby loves it although he can’t stand the American oversweet pies and cakes. I did not leave the cake in longer than you asked for because I know that the streussel will get harder when cooling and I did not want to have burnt cardboard streussel LOL. I am almost at sea level so that might make a difference as well. Thank you for the recipe. Schoenen Gruss, greetings, from Gilroy, Silicon Valley, California.
This recipe was a hit! Will definitely be making it again and again! Delicious!
Could this be constructed a day ahead of time and kept In the fridge until it’s time to bake it?
I wouldn’t recommend that but you can bake it a day ahead. This cake keeps for a few days.
Taste is great. Used sugar substitute and got great results. I would like the base thicker so will try Yeast or will double the base recipe. I like to experiment so will likely try both approaches to get thicker base. Baking time is more 60 to 70 minutes. 45 minutes isn’t enough. Great recipe.
Absolutely delicious!! I ended up baking this for an additional 25 minutes (70 minutes total) to get the apples thoroughly cooked. Otherwise, this was ooh so good.
Looks delicious. I’m definitely going to make this cake. Have you tried using fruit preserves or jam instead of fresh apples?