Coffee goes great with a delicious crumb cake. If you’re like me, you probably eat the crumb topping first, or choose a piece with the most crumbs on. Today, I’m going to show you how to make a super delicious and easy crumb coffee cake! It’s moist, soft, tender and packed with crumbs!
Crumb coffee cake
This is a homemade version of the popular but rather too-sweet and not-so-great-tasting store bought crumb coffee cake. Goes great with a hot cup of coffee in the morning, or with an afternoon tea or hot chocolate. And to be honest, it also goes great as it is, no matter what you’re having with it.
More delicious cake ideas you will love:
- Wacky cake
- Blueberry buttermilk cake
- Raspberry tiramisu cake
- Honey cake recipe
- Apple pie tiramisu
- Carrot cake bars
- French cream puffs
The great thing that makes this cinnamon crumb cake so easy is that requires such simple and common ingredients you most likely have in your pantry! And mixing them is incredibly quick and mess free!
And it’s so versatile, you can play with the ingredients as you like!
- You can add nuts if you like them, to make the crumb topping crunchier. This is optional, though. The cake will still be delicious without them.
- Play with the flavors until you find your favorite. Vanilla, rum or almond extracts all go great with this delicious crumbs coffee cake.
- To make it more exotic, try adding in a little bit of powdered anise or cloves. These are oriental flavors that will take this cake to the next level.
- Drizzle it with vanilla glaze for extra flavor and added sweetness.
Are coffee cake and crumb cake the same thing?
Essentially yes, they’re the same cake, in ingredients and baking methods.
The difference is in the crumb topping. With the coffee cake the focus is on the actual cake and less on the crumb topping. While the crumb cake has the cake covered in a generous layer of crumbs.
Does crumb coffee cake taste like coffee?
The name suggests this cake is made with coffee but I can assure you, this recipe has no coffee listed in the ingredients so it’s a kid friendly dessert! It’s called coffee cake because it’s made to be served with coffee. You can still enjoy this delicious crumb coffee cake even if you’re not a coffee lover, just like any other dessert.
Why did my crumb topping melt?
The culprit is the butter as in too much butter! You need to prepare a rather dry crumb before sprinkling over the cake and baking. If your raw crumb feels too greasy when making it, add flour and sugar in small amounts until you reach the desired texture.
Can you refrigerate crumb coffee cake?
You can keep this cinnamon crumb coffee cake refrigerated if you like cold desserts and/or want to extend the shelf life of your cake, for up to 4 days (I doubt it will last this long though!)
You can also freeze this cake, as a whole or cut into bars. Cool the cake completely, then transfer to a zip bag and store in the freezer for up to 3 months. When ready to serve, keep in the fridge overnight then on the counter for a couple of hours (or use the microwave for faster heating), if you want to serve your cake hot.
Tips and tricks for the best crumb coffee cake:
- Use high-quality cake flour. Lower quality one may not make the batter able to support the topping;
- Don’t over-mix the crumbs. A crumbly topping is perfect when the flour is just combined. Mixing too much will result in a paste rather than crumbs. The same goes for the batter: overmixing after adding the flour can result in a dense, tough cake;
- Press the first layer of topping gently to the cake, so that it sticks while spreading it on top; then you can add more.
- Make the topping first. Leaving the batter to rest while making the topping can affect rising, making the topping sink into the cake;
- Cool the cake completely before cutting.
- Baking this cake in a smaller pan will result in a thicker crumbs topping.
We love having this cake for breakfast and one batch usually “melts” away in no-time. I’m really eager to know about your favorite crumbs coffee cake recipe. Have you tried making this one? Let me know in the comments.
Crumb cake recipe
What ingredients are in this crumb coffee cake recipe?
- Flour – cake flour works best with this recipe
- Sugar – granulated
- Butter – unsalted and softened
- Eggs – free range will give you best results
- Buttermilk – cold is best
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Vanilla extract – or favorite extract
- Cinnamon powder
- Brown sugar
How do you make a crumb coffee cake from scratch?
- Make the crumb topping first.
- Then in a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients for the cake (except for the cinnamon).
- Add the butter and mix to get soft, small crumbs.
- Add the eggs and the buttermilk and mix to get a smooth dough.
- Transfer to a baking dish and sprinkle with cinnamon and brown sugar
- Cover in crumb topping and bake for about 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out with no wet dough.
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Crumb coffee cake
Ingredients
For the cake
- 1 1/4 cups cake flour
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter cut into small pieces, softened
- 2 medium eggs
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup buttermilk cold
- cinnamon for sprinkling
- brown sugar for sprinkling
For the crumbs
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 8 tbsp unsalted butter melted and warm
- 1 3/4 cups cake flour
Instructions
- Pre heat the oven to 325 F. Line a baking dish with baking paper
- Mix brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and melted butter to make the crumb topping.
- In a large bowl mix the dry ingredients for the cake with a whisk, except for the cinnamon and brown sugar.
- Add butter and mix with a hand mixer on low until you get very fine crumbs.
- Add the remaining wet ingredients and mix until smooth and fluffy.
- Pour the batter into the baking dish and spread with a spatula.
- Sprinkle cinnamon and brown sugar.
- Add a generous layer of crumb topping.
- Bake for about 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out with no wet ingredients (some crumbs might attach to the toothpick but that's fine)
Amanda Dixon says
This coffee cake was great! It turned out so soft and moist, and the crumb topping was delicious.