Apple Streusel Cardamom Bread

Apple season is a pretty big deal here in the Midwest. Michigan in particular is the second largest apple producing state in the U.S. Once the mornings begin to get chilly and the days have a cool crisp breeze you know that you’ll be seeing Apple flavored everything, everywhere.

Growing up, I was lucky enough to have two large apple trees in my backyard. It was always so much fun picking apples straight from the tree and climbing up the limbs trying to reach the ones way up top.

Because we had apple trees, it should come to no surprise that my mom had PLENTY of apple related recipes. Some of the favorites being dutch apple pie, apple crisp and apple butter.

So why all of this apple talk?

Not only is it obviously apple season and it’s slightly nostalgic for me. While at the farmers markets this past weekend I did in fact *accidentally* buy 17 apples which was approximately 4-5 pounds …So I apologize in advance if apples aren’t your thing, but they certainly will be my whole personality until they are gone.

There are three main classes of Apples with over 7500 varieties but we typically only see about 10 varieties in grocery stores. Those three classes being

• Cooking Apples- best for cooking (jams, fillings, sauces and pies)

  • Examples: Jonathon, Granny Smith, Ida Red

• Dessert/Eating Apples- best for eating/baking

  • Examples: Fuji, Gala, Honey Crisp, SugarBee, Cortland

• All Purpose Apples- can be used for either cooking or snacking

  • Examples: Pink Lady, GoldRush, Jonagold, Yellow Delicious, Empire

To continue with the baking segment that I’ve seemed to have started, I wanted to make a bread that was a cross between a traditional quick bread and a coffee cake. So here we have an apple streusel cardamom bread. Expect some more apple-centric recipes in the coming weeks that will be in the savory category.

Cookbook Recommendation

While expanding my horizons with baking I have also been expanding my research and familiarity with spices. A great book that I have been loving to reference is The Flavor Bible. I swear this is the best tool for curating and designing a recipe as shares ingredients and what flavors/cooking techniques pair best.

Behind the scenes of recipe testing.

Some of you have wondered what the process of designing recipes look like for me, so here’s a peak into what goes on behind the scenes.

• I brainstorm an idea and determine flavors, texture and ingredient profiles.

The first time testing, I made a few mistakes.

• It was missing that punch of flavor I was looking for. So I knew I was missing a spice

• I used a baking apple and added it to the middle layer of the streusel. Which the apple pieces completely dissolved into the bread and the butter and sugar mixture just mixed into the batter instead of creating a sugar layer. Which altered the consistency

• I mistakenly added the sour cream to the wet ingredients instead of folding it in last (rookie baking mistake).

So here is what I changed and what worked in my favor

• Cardamom has a flavor profile of sweet, spicy, peppery, citrusy and aromatic. It also pairs well with cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. (WHICH are commonly used in apple cider!) so it seemed very fitting to add to the bread. It really helped lift up the flavor.

• HoneyCrisp Apples- These held up nicely on the streusel topping. Alternatively you could also add these into the batter to make the bread even more Apple-y

Alright lets get into the recipe!