GOOD TASTES

APPLE SEASON STARTS…NOW!

WRITTEN BY GINA REARDON / PHOTO BY MELANIE MCDOWELL

One of the first family adventures I had when moving to Kansas City in my early teens was apple picking at Stephenson’s Apple Orchard in Raytown, Missouri. We had the most fun climbing trees to pick the ripe fruit from the middle and top branches and filling baskets of apples for school lunches, homemade applesauce and pies, and even apple butter. I still have fond food memories of the apple fritters served with apple butter at the Stephenson’s Family Restaurant.

Lucky for us, these same experiences are plentiful at orchards in Platte City and Weston, Missouri and other local orchards in Kansas City, Kansas and Missouri.

Lately I’ve been looking for an excuse to make one of my favorites, a New York Style Crumb Cake with Apples. This coffee cake is everything you want it to be: moist and tender, with cinnamon crumble topping and the welcome surprise of fresh apples tucked inside. Try this at your next weekend brunch, or meet me at the next KC Bake Sale for No Kid Hungry on Saturday, Oct. 30. I might just have one for you there.

New York Style Crumb Cake with Apples

SERVES 9

Ingredients

Crumb Topping 1/3 c. granulated sugar 1/3 c. dark brown sugar 3/4 tsp. cinnamon 1/8 tsp. salt 8 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted & still warm 1-3/4 c. cake flour

Cake 1-1/4 c. cake flour (7-1/2 ounces) 1/2 c. sugar 1/4 tsp. baking soda 1/4 tsp. salt 6 tbsp. (6 ounces) unsalted butter, softened but still cool, cut into 9 pieces 1 large egg 1 large egg yolk 1 tsp. vanilla 1/3 c. buttermilk 2 c. fresh tart apples, peeled and cored, sliced thin

Preparation

Crumb Topping: Whisk sugars, cinnamon, salt, and butter in medium bowl to combine. Add flour and stir with rubber spatula or wooden spoon until mixture resembles a thick, cohesive dough. Set aside to cool to room temperature, about 10-15 minutes.

Cake: Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees F. Spray 8-inch aluminum or ceramic square baking dish with nonstick cooking spray or brush with butter and lightly flour. Cut parchment paper or aluminum foil and fold lengthwise to fit into pan, pushing into corners and up two opposite sides, allowing excess to overhang edges of the pan. (You will use those edges to lift cake from the pan once cooled completely.) In the bowl of a standing mixer with paddle attachment, mix cake flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt on low speed to combine. On low speed, add butter, one piece at a time. Continue beating until mixture resembles moist crumbs, with no visible butter chunks remaining. Add whole eggs, egg yolks, vanilla, and buttermilk. Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about one minute, scraping bottom of bowl and sides once if necessary Transfer batter to baking pan and spread batter evenly in one layer. Arrange apple slices evenly over the top of the batter. Break apart the crumb topping into large pea-sized pieces and sprinkle evenly over top of the batter and fruit, beginning with the edges and then working toward the center. Bake until crumbs are golden and wooden skewer inserted into center of cake comes out clean (35-40 minutes), and until toothpick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs. Cool on a wire rack at least 30 minutes. Remove cake from pan by lifting parchment overhang. Dust with confectioners’ sugar just before serving.

Note: Do not be tempted to use all-purpose flour in this recipe; doing so will make a dry, tough cake. You may substitute plain yogurt or sour cream for the buttermilk. Cooled leftovers can be wrapped in plastic wrap and stored at room temperature for up to two days.

Mark your calendars for the next KC Culinary Bake Sale on Saturday, Oct. 30, to benefit Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign. This community bake sale features dozens of culinary professionals, independent community bakers and talented Next Generation bakers. Located in Brookside next to the Commerce Bank at 6336 Brookside Plaza under a big white tent, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Funds raised benefit the one out of every seven children facing food insecurity in communities across the country, helping them connect to school breakfasts and afterschool and summer meals. For more information, follow No Kid Hungry KC on Facebook or visit the local chapter website: www.kcteam4nokidhungry.com.

Gina Reardon, former owner of Catering by Design and culinary philanthropist, leads the KC team for No Kid Hungry, culinary professionals and community members focused on supporting Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign. Funds raised help connect the nation’s 16 million low-income children with more school breakfast, lunch, and summer meals.