Apple Bourbon Coffee Cake
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Embrace the cozy flavors of fall with this irresistible apple bourbon coffee cake. A moist and tender sour cream cake, layered with a generous helping of brown sugar cinnamon streusel. Sweet honeycrisp apple at the center of the cake, and also on the top for an extra pop of flavor. A hint of bourbon adds an incredible depth to every bite. This is the ultimate fall treat to enjoy with a cup of coffee!
Perfectly acceptable for breakfast, snack, or even dessert, today’s apple bourbon coffee cake is an absolute must make during the fall season.
This is a fall version of our classic cinnamon streusel coffee cake and tastes just like our apple pie, but in cake form. It’s sweet apple and warming bourbon flavor will have everyone excited for breakfast. Not to mention, it’s the perfect treat to serve on Thanksgiving morning! 😉
This Apple Bourbon Coffee Cake Is:
- Ultra soft and moist thanks to the sour cream
- A perfect fall breakfast, snack, or even dessert
- Warmingly spiced with cinnamon and bourbon
- Piled high with cinnamon pecan streusel
- Finished with a sweet apple cider icing
This recipe also joins our collection of 30+ other fall breakfast treats!
There Are 3 Parts To This Apple Coffee Cake
- Sour Cream Coffee Cake: There’s incredible flavor in each soft, tender, and oh-so moist bite of cake.
- Streusel Topping: Fill and top today’s coffee cake with a generous layers of pecan cinnamon streusel.
- Apple Cider Icing: It’s not coffee cake without a drizzle of icing! We are using the same delicious icing that we use for our apple breakfast cake.
Making Apple Bourbon Coffee Cake: A Quick Overview
This recipe uses the same method as many of our cake recipes. If you’re familiar with making butter based cakes and using an electric mixer, feel free to skip down to the recipe card at the bottom of this post. You can also just read through this section if you need a quick refresher!
- Make the batter. This recipe, like our blueberry coffee cake, has a thicker batter than most traditional cakes since it has to hold a filling. Luckily, it comes together in just minutes! Simply beat the butter and sugars, add eggs, stir in the vanilla and bourbon, and finish by alternating the flour with the sour cream. Keep in mind that this is a THICK cake batter and be sure to scrape the sides off the bowl down often!
- Create the layers. While this is not a layer cake, we are creating layers within the cake! We’re going to start with the cake batter and spread about ½ of the batter in the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle ¾ of the streusel over the batter and top with the chopped apples. Spoon the remaining batter over the apples. Top with apple slices and remaining streusel
- Bake. Since this is quite a thick cake, we will baking at a lower temperature for longer. This helps keep the exterior of the cake from burning while the interior of the cake cooks. It’s an important step to ensure the perfect apple coffee cake!
Apple Cider Icing
This is, quite literally, the icing on the cake! Made with fresh, unfiltered apple cider (NOT apple cider vinegar), this icing adds that extra depth of sweet apple flavor to each and every bite.
All you need to do is mix the cider a little confectioners’ sugar, a splash of vanilla, and some cinnamon, and then pour the glaze on top of the warm coffee cake. YUM!
If you’re looking to add a different flavor, try a drizzle of salted caramel sauce or dollop of homemade whipped cream.
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When you make this Apple Bourbon Coffee Cake, leave a comment down below! We love hearing from you and answering any questions you might have! Also, be sure to tag us on social media and hashtag it #BakersTable.
Happy baking!
x, Caylie
Apple Bourbon Coffee Cake
Ingredients
Streusel
- ¾ cup brown sugar, firmly packed
- ¾ cup pecans, chopped
- 2¼ teaspoons apple pie spice or ground cinnamon
- 1½ Tablespoons all purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Cake
- 1½ cups unsalted butter, room temperature
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup brown sugar, firmly packed
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 Tablespoons bourbon
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1⅓ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1½ cups sour cream, room temperature
- 2 cups chopped honeycrisp apple, (about 1 large apple)
- 1 medium honeycrisp apple, cored and thinly slice
Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
- ¼ teaspoon apple pie spice or ground cinnamon
- 2 Tablespoons apple cider
Instructions
Streusel
- Combine brown sugar, pecans, spice, flour, and salt in a small bowl.
- Mix well. Set aside.
Cake
- Heat oven to 350℉/177℃.
- Spray a 10-inch tube pan with baking spray. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Stir in vanilla and bourbon.
- Add flour mixture alternately with sour cream, beginning and ending with sour cream.
- Spoon half the batter into the prepared pan.
- Sprinkle ¾ of the streusel over the batter.
- Top with chopped apples.
- Spoon remaining cake batter evenly on top.
- Arrange apple slices on top of cake.
- Sprinkle remaining streusel on top of apples.
- Bake for 15 minutes.
- Reduce heat to 325℉/163℃.
- Bake for an additional 60-65 minutes, or until cake tests done.
- Allow to cool in pan for 15-20 minutes, until cool enough to touch.
- Turn out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.
Glaze
- In a small bowl, whisk powdered sugar, spice, and apple cider until smooth.
- Drizzle over top of cooled cake.
Notes + Tips!
- Make Ahead & Freezing: The cake can be baked and covered tightly at room temperature overnight. Make the icing right before serving and drizzle over cake. The cake, with or without the icing, can be frozen up 2-3 months. Remember to thaw overnight in the fridge and bring to room temperature before serving.
- Sour Cream: Sour cream creates that deliciously tender and moist crumb. Do not skip it! If needed, you can substitute full-fat Greek yogurt.
- Baking Apples: While there are so many different apple varieties, only a handful of them are good for baking. With this recipe, we suggest using honeycrisp or granny smith!
- Loaf Pan: If you’d like to bake this coffee cake as a loaf, you will need two 9×5 inch loaf pans. Remember that, since the batter will be divided between two pans, the bake time will be less. Check your cake around 45-50 minutes.
- Why is it called coffee cake and there’s not any coffee in the recipe? This cake gets its name not because of the ingredients, but because it’s a breakfast cake meant to be enjoyed alongside a cup of coffee!
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