Fridge Forage Friday: Applesauce Crumb Cake
Hello, from snowmageddon 2023!
We have received around a foot of snow in the past 24 hours, and it is still coming down! That means extra blanket cuddles, reading a good book ( I just started Harry Potter and the Cursed Child!!!), and some comfort food!
I have recently started getting into sourdough bread making. I attempted to start my own sourdough starter during the pandemic when everyone else was, but it just never seemed to turn out.
I follow Laura Tuttle, from @lauralivesthegoodlife on Instagram, and she actually sells her dehydrated sourdough starter for $10. I heard from so many people that it is a wonderful starter, so I decided to purchase hers instead of trying to make my own again.
And let me tell you, this starter was sooooo easy to rehydrate and it has been an absolute dream to work with! I follow her directions and keep it in the fridge when I’m not using it so you don’t have to feed it every day and have a ton of discard, I actually haven’t had any discard at all.
It is delicious and it’s been so fun experimenting and making new bread products. I’ve made pizza crust, artisan loaves, English muffin bread, bagels, pumpkin bread, and now this applesauce crumb cake that I am going to share today.
The recipe comes from Laura’s new cookbook, Sourdough Essentials, that my mom bought for me (THANKS MOM!!), and it is absolutely dreamy.
To start, you need to make your sourdough sponge. Combine 1 cup active starter with 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour and 1 cup milk. Place in a covered bowl and put in the refrigerator for 1-3 days or leave on the counter for 6-8 hours if making the same day. I refrigerated mine for about 3 days to decrease the phytic acid and make it easier to digest (that’s one reason why sourdough is so beneficial and has a lower glycemic response). You can see in the last picture above just how much it fermented even when in the refrigerator!
Once your sponge is ready (let it come to room temperature if it was refrigerated), combine it with the additional sponge ingredients - 1 cup applesauce (I had homemade in the refrigerator and used that), 1 cup sugar, 1/4 avocado oil, 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ground clove, 1/4 teaspoon, ground ginger, and 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg, and mix it well.
You can see here I actually used my hand to mix the sponge. The sourdough sponge was almost a bread dough consistency and was not mixing in with the wooden spoon, so I used my hand and fingers to really try and break it down. If you don’t do this step, there will be sourdough chunks in your cake - mine still had some but it wasn’t really noticeable. After well mixed, pour the sponge into a greased 9 x 13 baking pan.
In a separate bowl, make the oat crumble by combining 1 1/2 cups oats, 1/3 cup melted butter or avocado oil, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1/4 cup sugar. Sprinkle the crumb topping onto the sponge.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes, or until the toothpick comes out clean.
While it is baking, make the icing. I had leftover cream cheese frosting in the fridge from when I made my mom’s birthday cake, so I added a little extra cream to it and used that for drizzling. Otherwise combine 1/3 cup of powdered sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, and 3-4 teaspoons of milk to make the icing.
Once baked, allow to cool for 20-30 minutes before icing.
Zach and I both thought this was just delicious and the perfect treat to warm our bones and keep us happy during all this snow. Let me know what you think!
Cheers!
