Mini Cinnamon-Apple Coffee Cake

Individual-sized coffee cakes baked in a fluted tube pan with layers of cinnamon-walnut-graham cracker streusel sandwiched between a moist apple batter. Pound cake mix and canned apple pie filling do the heavy flavor work, so the prep is mostly just layering.

The streusel layer is crushed cinnamon graham crackers mixed with chopped walnuts and extra cinnamon. It goes in at the bottom and middle of each mold, creating a nutty, spiced ribbon that you see when you invert the finished cakes. That crumbly layer absorbs some moisture from the batter and turns into a soft, cinnamon-sugar seam.

Sour cream in the batter keeps these mini cakes moist and adds a subtle tang that balances the sweetness of the pie filling and cake mix.

Kitchen Tips

• Grease and flour the fluted tube pan thoroughly. The streusel layer at the bottom becomes the top when inverted, and it will stick if the pan isn’t properly prepped.
• Layer carefully: streusel, batter, streusel, batter. This creates that visible ribbon when sliced. Dumping everything in at once just gives you a mixed-in crumble with no definition.
• Cool only 5 minutes in the pan before inverting. Longer and the sugar in the streusel hardens and cements the cake to the pan.
• A toothpick in the center should come out clean when done. The apple pie filling can look wet and mislead you into thinking the cake is underdone.

Variations

• Pecan streusel: Swap the walnuts for pecans and add a tablespoon of brown sugar to the streusel for a more buttery, Southern-style coffee cake.
• Cream cheese drizzle: Mix softened cream cheese with powdered sugar and milk into a thin glaze and drizzle over the cooled cakes.