crumb coffee cake

A soft, tender, easy-to-make coffee cake, heavy on the crumbs!

Super-Crumb Coffee Cake

Tablespoon all-purpose flour,

all-purpose flour (spoon & leveled)

+ 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar

salt

Tablespoons (1 and 1/4 stick) unsalted butter, firm and cold

baking powder

baking soda

buttermilk,

egg,

vanilla extract

sugar

cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Generously spray a 9-inch springform pan* with cooking spray or grease with butter. Sprinkle the bottom of the pan with 1 Tablespoon of flour and tap out the excess.

Whisk the flour, sugar, and salt together in a large mixing bowl until combined. Cut in the butter in very small pieces using a pastry blender or mix with a fork until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Place 1 cup of the butter/flour mixture in the refrigerator until ready to use in step 4.

Using a handheld or stand mixer with a paddle attachment, mix the baking powder and baking soda into the remaining flour mixture. Add the room temperature buttermilk, egg, and vanilla and beat on medium speed until smooth. The batter is very thick. Spoon the batter into the prepared springform pan, smoothing the top.

Add the brown sugar and cinnamon to the reserved flour mixture. Toss with a fork until well blended. Sprinkle the crumbs over the batter, pressingly lightly so they stick.

Bake the cake until the center is firm and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45-55 minutes. Baking time varies, so begin checking at 45 minutes and don&#8217;t be alarmed if your cake takes longer. Mine usually takes the full 55 minutes.

Cool cake for 10 minutes before removing the sides of the springform pan. For neat slices and best flavor, cool cake completely at room temperature before serving.

Cake rose in the middle and cracked, crumb came off. Sally I baked it to 55
Minutes, could I have overcooked it

Yummy! I will definitely make this again!!!

I’d recommend this recipe but will mention I was was a little disappointed at first and I’m not a baking novice. I’ve tried a lot of coffee cake recipes so I maybe a bit snobby as I want perfection. During baking the top stayed like a powder while most of the butter fell to the bottom. I did use really cold butter. I even had it in the freezer. Perhaps it was too warm of a day. The centre also didn’t cook while the remainder of the cake did and I had to cover it because it got too brown on the sides by only 26 minutes in the oven.  So 50-55 min would’ve burnt it to a crisp. Please check on it throughout the process (but when would you not?!). I covered it in tin foil  and added butter several times to the top to fix the “powder“ situation. Then it was delicious! So I managed to save it after all! And actually the butter melting into the batter layered it really nicely like a marble cake. Only having to Cut the butter once definitely saved time as well.

I had the same problem with the crumb, and I’m not a novice either. It was disappointing that the recipe didn’t work on the first try. If I were to try again, I’d reduce the flour in the crumb.

Unfortunately this cake was too dry for my taste. The flour-butter used for the cake should be made in a separate bowl from the flour-butter used for the crumb. Otherwise you’ll end up like me with a lot of the butter on the top and not in the cake.

Delicious. I’m very much a beginner baker, and this was easy and SO good. My cake was ready slightly under the 50-min mark. Only issue was with the crumb topping  - couldn’t get the texture described (mine was very fine), Seemed there wasn’t enough butter to create coarse crumbs, but maybe I cut it too small? Ultimately didnt matter - the topping still tastes amazing. Sally, if you ever decide to add photos or additional to that step, I would be thrilled. Thank you so much for this awesome recipe!

This is the best crumb cake we've ever had. And we used to frequent NYC bakeries tasting the best of the best! Wife is extraordinarily happy we found this one. We'll make it again for Mother's Day. Followed the recipe to the letter. Thanks Sally.

This was delicious! My 4 year old loved it so much she asked for me to make it again for her birthday cake!

Omg this turned out so well thank you sally.
Crumble to the MAX

Loved the recipe. It’s much more simpler and easier to follow than others I found online. I’m planning on making it later in the day. 
 
I don’t have a 9 inch pan. I have 6 inch, 7 inch and 8 inch pan. Should I make changes to the measurement of ingredients or can I just use 8 inch pan?

How can I get more of a crumble top next time? The cake was moist and delicious. The topping was delicious but instead of a crumble seemed to lay flat and melted over the top. I measured everything specifically but didn’t get that crumble effect. Nice recipe though and I’ll try it again for sure.

I tried out a cake with the above recipe. The cake was very soft and tasty. Thank you.

I saw a reviewer ask if this recipe can be made into muffins and I thought, what a great idea! I was wrong. The recipe is delish and the muffins came out fantastic, BUT I ended up with way more crumb topping that my little tins could handle. Next time, I'll just bake as a cake. Yes, there will be a next time!

Every baker should have a classic, old-fashioned and buttery coffee cake recipe in their back pocket and this one is my gold standard, baseline recipe. You're welcome to borrow it! An 8-inch square pan is required, but see the recipe Notes for other sizes.

Sour Cream Coffee Cake (with Crumb Topping)

(135 grams) packed dark or light brown sugar

(95 grams) all-purpose flour (spoon & leveled)

unsalted

(115 grams) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

(150 grams) granulated sugar

eggs,

(120 grams) full-fat sour cream,

Tablespoons (30 milliliters) milk (any kind, dairy or nondairy, is fine)

(120 grams) confectioners’ sugar, sifted

Tablespoons (30 milliliters) heavy cream or milk

Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line an 8-inch square pan (9-inch square is too big, see Notes for other pan sizes) with lightly greased parchment paper or directly grease the pan. I usually use this square pan or this square pan.

Make the cinnamon crumb mixture

Combine the brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon together in a medium bowl. Cut in the chilled butter with a pastry cutter or two forks (or use a food processor or your hands) until the mixture is in pea-sized crumbs. Some larger crumbs are OK. You&#8217;ll have a little over 2 cups of crumb. Refrigerate until step 5.

Make the cake

Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside. In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Add the eggs and vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed until combined. Beat in the sour cream. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula and beat again as needed to combine. Mixture will be lumpy.

Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, and beat on low speed until just combined. Finally, beat in the milk. Do not overmix this batter. The batter will be thick. You&#8217;ll have about 2 and 1/2 cups of batter.

Carefully spread about half of the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle 1 cup (about half) of the crumb mixture evenly on top. Carefully spread the remaining batter on top (every last drop of it!). This can be a little tricky since you&#8217;re spreading thick batter on top of crumbs, but do your best. I usually use a spoon or small offset spatula. It doesn&#8217;t have to be perfect. Sprinkle the remaining crumb mixture evenly on top.

Bake for around 30–35 minutes or until the cake is baked through. To test for doneness, insert a toothpick into the center of the cake. If it comes out clean, it is done. Allow cake to cool in the pan set on a wire rack for 15 minutes.

Make the icing

Whisk all of the icing ingredients together. Drizzle over warm cake.

Lift the cake from the pan using the overhang parchment paper around the sides and slice into squares. Or, if you didn&#8217;t use parchment, slice directly in the pan. Serve cake warm or at room temperature.

Cover leftovers tightly and store at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for up 1 week.

Oh my goodness—-this is the best coffee cake I have ever had—-and the double crumb is amazing!

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Super-Crumb Coffee Cake

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Top 3 crumb coffee cake recipes from across the web

The most viewed crumb coffee cake recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Super-Crumb Coffee Cake

Sour Cream Coffee Cake (with Crumb ...

Sour Cream Coffee Cake (with Crumb ...

The most viewed crumb coffee cake recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine