PUMPKIN-APPLE STREUSEL CAKE

Comment:
This German-inspired cake abounds in warm, fall flavors. Delicious alone or served with vanilla ice cream, it’s a wonderful Oktoberfest treat.

Ingredients for apples:
3 tbsps unsalted butter
4 cups Granny Smith apples (peeled, cored and diced)
3 tbsps sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Method:
In a large skillet, melt butter.  Add apples and sauté until they begin to brown, about 5 minutes.  Add sugar and cinnamon and sauté until golden brown, about 3 minutes longer.  Set aside to cool.

Ingredients for cake:
1½ cups all purpose flour
1 cup (firmly packed) brown sugar
½ cup butter, softened
½ tsp salt
¾ canned pure pumpkin
⅓ cup sour cream
2 tbsps sugar
2 tsps pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp baking soda
2 eggs

Method:
Preheat oven to 350º F.  Butter 9-inch springform pan.  In a large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, butter, and salt. Using an electric mixer, beat until mixture resembles coarse meal.  Set aside ⅔ cup of mixture for the topping. Beat pumpkin, sour cream, sugar, spice, and baking soda into the remaining flour mixture, beating until just smooth. Beat in the eggs. Transfer batter to pan. Scatter apples evenly on top. Sprinkle reserved flour mixture over the apples. Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until topping is golden brown and a tester inserted into center comes out clean. Cool cake for 20 minutes. Run knife around pan sides to loosen, release from pan and transfer to platter.  Serve warm or at room temperature with ice cream.