Light and moist cake is topped with a thick layer of cinnamon crumbs. This New York style crumb coffee cake is the perfect addition to any brunch spread!
The Starting Lineup.
Making the crumbs.
The crumbs, before they become crumbs.
Cake batter.
Spread the cake batter in the prepared pan. The parchment overhang makes removing the finished cake easy!
Before the oven. Look at those crumbs!
The finished product! The strawberries on the side make this healthy…
The perfect crumb to cake ratio!
My little sister commented that this looked just like Entenmann’s, and I think she is right. But it tastes 10 times better!
Light and moist cake is topped with a thick layer of cinnamon crumbs. This New York style crumb coffee cake is the perfect addition to any brunch spread!
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup (2 2/3 ounces) granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup (2 2/3 ounces) dark brown sugar
- 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp table salt
- 8 Tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and still warm
- 1 3/4 cups (7 ounces) cake flour
- 1 1/4 cups (5 ounces) cake flour
- 1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp table salt
- 6 Tbsp (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces, softened but still cool
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup buttermilk
- Confectioners' sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Whisk sugars, cinnamon, salt, and butter in medium bowl to combine. Add flour and stir with rubber spatula or wooden spoon until mixture resembles thick, cohesive dough; set aside to cool to room temperature, 10 to 15 minutes.
- Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Cut 16-inch length parchment paper and fold lengthwise to 7-inch width. Spray 8-inch square baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and fit parchment into dish, pushing it into corners and up sides; allow excess to overhang edges of dish.
- In bowl of standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment (or you can do this with a handheld mixer), mix flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt on low speed to combine. With mixer running at low speed, add butter one piece at a time; continue beating until mixture resembles moist crumbs, with no visible butter chunks remaining, 1 to 2 minutes. Add egg, yolk, vanilla, and buttermilk; beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute, scraping as necessary.
- Transfer batter to baking pan; using rubber spatula, spread batter into even layer. Break apart crumb topping into large pea-sized pieces (use both hands to break apart the crumb dough, rolling the broken dough between your thumb and forefinger) and spread in even layer over batter, beginning with edges and then working toward center.
- Bake until crumbs are golden and wooden skewer inserted into center of cake comes out clean, 35 - 40 minutes. Cool on wire rack at least 30 minutes. Remove cake from pan by lifting parchment overhang. Dust with confectioners' sugar just before serving.
Notes
Recipe from America's Test Kitchen
Love this Crumb cake!! Looks so simple to make as well!!!
Thanks! It really is simple to make!
Finally a cake recipe for breakfast! The cake batter looks delicious and with a bunch of fresh fruits, it’s so healthy! 😉 This will be perfect for my next brunch. Thanks for sharing!
I’m with you. It seems strange that I can say “coffee” in front of “cake” and immediately be allowed to eat it for breakfast. (Maybe I’ll say “coffee chocolate cake” sometime and see if that works too…) But I absolutely adore crumb-topped coffee cakes, and yours looks divine! Save a slice or two for me when you bake it again! :]
I love your idea of “coffee chocolate cake” for breakfast 🙂
Thanks! Maybe we should try it out sometime. I’m sure we could add fruit so it wasn’t entirely unhealthy…
This looks totally do-able! I do love CI recipes but sometimes they go on and on for a ‘simple coffeecake’ but this looks so quick. And those big CHUNKS of streusel..YES!!! I have looked at this recipe before but now I need to make it!
Averie you are so right! Sometimes the CI recipes just have so many steps. I think that’s why I was drawn to this one, simple but delicious!
I’m really liking the philosophy that I can add the word coffee before anything and turn it into breakfast. I wholeheartedly embrace it 🙂 This coffee cake looks delicious!
I think you’re trying to kill my diet. One of my favorite memories of summer camp in Texas (not New York) is the coffee cake that was to die for. This looks a lot like it. Will try when I’m having a weak moment.
Ha, that’s why I made this when I was home in St. Louis – so that I wouldn’t eat the whole thing!!
I really like your process pictures. Sometimes I feel like I’m making food wrong because I don’t know what it’s supposed to look like…. And the blue and white dishes are lovely!
Thank you so much!
Hey, stop it! You’re making my mouth water 🙂
This looks absolutely delicious and the strawberries definitely make it super healthy! In fact, if we put this on a plate with some bananas & blueberries then I’m sure we could afford to eat the whole thing! 😉
Great job.
Thank you! I’m glad you share my views on fruit making this healthy 🙂
I love those ginormous crumbs! I wonder if those would translate well into breakfast-cupcakes?
Kt, I definitely think these would make a delicious breakfast cupcake! Call it a muffin so that you don’t feel guilty eating it for breakfast…
look at those giant crumbs! Love it, looks perfect 🙂
Thanks, Jackie! I just couldn’t help myself when making the crumbs, I wanted them to be huge!
I nominated you for the Liebster Award. Go to http://www.birdsongbread.wordpress.com for more information. See post “Almost Famous.”
cake for breakfast any day! 😀 woo – love it!
I adore a classic crumb coffee cake…and yours looks absolutely fabulous, CateyLou!!!
Sometimes the classics are the best, aren’t they?!
I like the idea that you make crumbs with brown sugar. I´ve never tried this before, but I´m sure it tastes great. I think I´ll have to bake this cake, just to find out and make sure (and probably eat way too much cake again).
Thanks, Eva! I think you will really like the brown sugar in the crumbs!