Coasun inspired- Pumpkin Apple Streusel Cake

Mmmmm…..who doesn’t love snuggling up inside a warm house with the smell of pumpkin, apples and cinnamon baking away as you sip on a hot mug of cocoa, coffee or tea??

This cake incorporates two of fall’s favorite flavors–pumpkin and apple.  Pumpkin cake is topped with cinnamon and brown sugar enrobed apples with a scrumptious streusal topping.  Serve warm or cold by itself or with fresh whipped cream, vanilla frozen yogurt or ice cream.  Coasun makes the pumpkin cake light and fluffy while significantly decreasing the saturated fat content.  Healthier tips for this dessert are included in brackets.

Apples

• 4 cups diced peeled cored apples (about 4 large, any type, I prefer a Spy, Russet combo)
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Cake

• 11/2 cups all purpose flour (or use ¾ whole wheat flour, ¾ all purpose flour)
• 1 cup golden brown sugar
• 1/2 cup CoasunSA
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup canned pure pumpkin
• 1/3 cup sour cream (or use low fat plain yogurt)
• 2 tablespoons sugar (omit if you prefer things to be less sweet)
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 large eggs

Method:

For apples:
Chop apples into chunks and sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon.  Gently stir to distribute the sugar and cinnamon.  Set aside

For cake:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 9-inch-diameter springform pan or 9 x 13 “ rectangular pan. Combine flour, brown sugar, CoasunSA, and salt in large bowl. Using electric mixer, beat until mixture resembles coarse meal. Set aside 2/3 cup of mixture for topping. Beat pumpkin, sour cream (or yogurt), 2 tablespoons sugar, spice, and baking soda into remaining flour mixture, beating just until smooth. Beat in eggs. Transfer batter to pan. Scatter apples evenly over top. Sprinkle reserved streusel topping over apples.

Bake cake until topping is golden brown and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Let cake cool to remove from springform pan, or serve cake warm with whipped cream, or vanilla ice cream. (Health conscious enjoy with frozen yogurt or just plain yogurt).

There’s no better excuse to invite some friends over for some coffee, cake and catch up!