Sbriciolata translates to “crumbled” and these classic Italian cakes have a beautiful crumbly shortbread on both the top and bottom with something fabulous in between…
Today, we are baking a sbriciolata di mele or an Italian apple crumble cake and you are going to love this one.
The bottom and sides have a buttery shortbread-like texture with crisp edges and the top is a little crunchy and a little crumbly, so you get a nice variety of textures in this cake. Plus, you have a thick layer of warmly spiced apples in the middle. It is one truly fabulous cake.
Let’s get started…
Begin by making the crust mixture. The good news is that the top, bottom and sides are all going to be the same mixture, but the “bad” news is that the mixture has to be chilled for a little bit. Chilling helps to tighten the butter up in the crust mixture, which helps to give it a wonderful texture. It is definitely worth the 30 extra minutes!
To make the crust mixture, combine 405 grams or about 3 1/2 cups of all purpose flour with 2 teaspoons of baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1 cup of granulated sugar in a food processor. Pulse it a few times to mix things up a bit.
Now add 1/2 cup of cold, cubed butter and pulse until the butter has been broken down into pea sized pieces and is evenly distributed.
Whisk up 2 large eggs and add them into the mixture. Pulse until things become crumbly and then transfer the mixture into a large bowl.
Use your hands to rake through the mixture and make sure that everything feels consistent. There shouldn’t be any wet sections where the eggs weren’t fully incorporated. The texture should be crumbly just like the photo above, but even though it looks dry, you should be able to squeeze a ball of dough together easily.
Cover the bowl of dough and place it in your refrigerator to chill for about 30 minutes.
While the dough is chilling, we are going to make the apple filling.
In a large skillet, combine 5 medium peeled and diced apples (I am using honeycrisp, but any firm apple will work), 2 tablespoon of orange juice, 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon of ginger and 1/4 teaspoon of cloves.
Place the skillet over medium heat and bring everything to a simmer. Cook until the apples are tender and the liquids have reduced down to a syrupy consistency. This should take right around 10 minutes.
Once the apples are ready and the dough has chilled, transfer about 3/4 of the dough mixture into a greased and parchment lined 9 inch cake pan. A springform pan is recommended for this cake, but not absolutely necessary.
Use your hands to work the dough evenly throughout the base of the prepared cake pan and work some of the dough about 2 inches up the sides of the pan. Just press enough to bring the crumbly dough together, but it does not need to be tightly compacted.
Add the apples into the center and spread out evenly.
Crumble the remaining dough evenly over the top of the apples and place the pan into a preheated 350 degree oven.
Bake until the top of the cake is lightly golden brown and feels firm to the touch and then transfer the cake pan onto a cooling rack to cool fully before removing.
Lets start with the crust of the sbriciolata. The butter in the mixture helps to create a beautifully crisp, golden brown crust which both keeps the cakes shape and gives a crunchy texture.
The layers in each slice are both beautiful and nicely balanced. The bottom has a great chewiness. It is just thick enough to have both a crunchy outside, but a bit of tenderness too.
The apples are fabulous, of course. Soft, warmly spiced and inviting. There is nothing to not love about baked apples.
The crumbly top is buttery and crunchy and breaks up perfectly as soon as your fork digs into it. It may look like a soft coffee cake top, but it is something totally different. It crumbles, but in a crunchy way that is unique to the sbriciolata.
If you are looking for a classic Italian cake with a buttery crust and tender apple filling then you need to try this sbriciolata di mele. You will absolutely love it!
Cin Cin!
Sbriciolata di Mele - Italian Apple Crumble Cake
Ingredients
Spiced Apple Filling
- 5 medium firm apples, peeled and diced
- 2 tablespoons of orange juice
- 2 tablespoons of brown sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon of ginger
- 1/4 teapsoon of cloves
Crust Dough
- 405 grams of all purpose flour (about 3 1/2 cups)
- 2 teaspoons of baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 1 cup of granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup of butter, cold and cubed
- 2 large eggs, whisked
Instructions
Make the crust…
- Combine 405 grams or about 3 1/2 cups of all purpose flour, 2 teaspoons of baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1 cup of granulated sugar in a food processor and pulse until completely combined
- Add 1/2 cup of cold, cubed butter and pulse until the butter is in pea sized pieces
- Add 2 whisked eggs and pulse until the mixture is evenly distributed and forms a crumbly consistency
- Transfer the mixture into the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes
Make the filling…
- Combine the peeled and diced apples, 2 tablespoon of orange juice, 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon of ginger and 1/4 teaspoon of cloves in a saucepan over medium heat for about 10 minutes or until the apples are tender and the moisture has been reduced to a syrupy consistency
- Transfer the filling off of the heat and set aside to cool
Assemble the cake…
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
- Grease and line a 9” cake pan (springform is recommended) with parchment paper
- Add about 3/4 of the chilled crust mixture into the prepared cake pan and press it out even throughout the base and about 2 inches up the sides of the pan
- Add the apple filling over the base
- Crumble the remaining crust over the apple filling
- Bake in a 350 degree oven for 36-38 minutes or until golden
- Transfer the pan onto a cooling rack and allow the cake to cool completely before transferring out of the pan
