Cinnamon Crumb Surprise

Sunday, October 15, 2006
People are always asking me what bread has been my favorite. I tell them indignantly that I can't answer that--it would be like saying who is my favorite child. Anyway, I can't even remember what breads I've made unless I sit down with a list, in which case I'm very impressed with myself, if I do say so.
But this lovely quick bread, which is really more like an apple cake, might make it on my Top Ten list.

This is not a difficult bread to make, but it's fairly time-consuming. I expected to have it ready for a mid-afternoon tea at 3:00, but it was more like 5:00 when we ate it. Not that there's anything wrong with a 5:00 tea.
I had most of the mixing bowls I owned filled up with something--the dry ingredients, the egg and sour cream mixture, the crumble, the sliced apples, the nut-and-sugar mix, so the kitchen was a mess when I was done. And by the time I cleaned up, it was ready to take out of the oven.

Then came another challenging step. First you had to let it cool for ten minutes, then invert it on a flat plate on which you've put a clean cotton towel covered with oiled plastic wrap.

I wasn't sure what would happen after I removed the pan. If all went well, it would just lift off, revealing a lovely, browned cake. If not, it would be a mess.

What a relief! Now the only step left was to cut slices and eat them. Can you really blame us for eating two pieces?