First Place Crumb Coffee Cake
A crumb coffee cake with a soft buttery cake topped with the signature crumb topping and a cinnamon swirl. Perfect for elevating your next brunch or morning tea. Makes enough for 10-12, and can be made gluten free, and with or without nuts.
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Sometimes you come across a recipe that’s so good, it ends up being the one that all other versions of that recipe have to measure up to. This coffee cake is one of those recipes for me. That being said, the original recipe is written atrociously. In fact it is so confusing that after making it twice and getting so confused both times, that I transcribed the ingredients, along with a few tweaks to the recipe to my recipe journal and only ever use that for directions.
This coffee cake has all of the classic flavors you’re looking for when you eat coffee cake: A thick cinnamon sugar crumble layer on the top, and a cinnamon swirl ribboning through buttery vanilla cake (described like that it’s hilarious that we fool ourselves that we can eat this for breakfast). The original recipe also recommends frosting, but I never add that because by the time I pull the recipe together I’m honestly kind of tired of being in the kitchen, and I honestly don’t think this recipe needs it. Don’t let me say that scare you from trying this recipe though, its just that it require a good amount of bowls, and I loathe making crumb topping (though I do every time because it’s worth it).
Another interesting thing that happens with this recipe is the crumb topping somehow becomes apart of the actual cake. When you assemble, it’s going to look like the whole thing is just crumb and you have no idea how it will turn out, but somehow it totally does.
If you need any more convincing to make this recipe I’ll also tell you that I made this for my family Christmas baking competition in 2024, and got first place (though notably with frosting because there are a few judges of the competition that I knew the frosting would give it that extra edge).
See the recipe below, and let me know if you have any questions, and please leave a comment if you tried it, it’s so helpful!
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
This recipe is the coffee cake recipe to beat. It has everything you’re looking for in a coffee cake: thick crumb topping, buttery vanilla cake, and an addicting cinnamon swirl throughout.
It can be made in advance. You can make the batter and assemble it before baking the night before and refrigerate it, or baked then frozen and thawed at room temperature overnight.
It’s special enough to serve at a brunch or for a holiday breakfast.
You don’t have to wait for it to rise, like you do with cinnamon rolls (so you can stay cozy in bed instead of waking up at the crack of dawn for a second rise.
Equipment Needed
Baking scale: To accurately measure the flour
Measuring cups and spoons: For measuring ingredients
Angel Food Cake Pan: For baking the cake
Mixing Bowls: Varying sizes
Knife and Cutting Board: For chopping the nuts
Ingredients
Cinnamon Swirl Filling
¼ cup Brown Sugar
¼ teaspoon Cinnamon
Pinch of Sea Salt
1/2 cup Roasted Walnuts or Pecans
Streusel Crumb Topping
¾ cup Brown Sugar
12 tablespoons (1 ½ cups, 170gr) Unsalted Butter
1 teaspoon Sea Salt
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1 ½ cups (210gr) All-Purpose Flour, fluffed with a fork before measuring or measured by weight
½ cup Roasted Walnuts or Pecans
Cake
½ cup (1 stick, 113gr, 8tbl) Unsalted Butter, melted
2 cups (274gr) All-Purpose Flour, fluffed with a fork before measuring or measured by weight
1 ¼ teaspoon Baking Powder
½ teaspoon Baking Soda
½ teaspoon Sea Salt
1 cup (210gr) Granulated Sugar
2 Large Eggs, room temperature
1 ½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 cup Sour Cream, room temperature: Can substitute 1:1 for whole fat Greek Yogurt or buttermilk
Method
Start by removing the sour cream and eggs from the refrigerator so they can start to warm up. Then preheat the oven to 350°F (176°C), and move a baking rack to the center of the oven. Move the other baking rack just below the middle rack, and place a rimmed baking sheet larger than the angel food cake pan on the lower rack. This will catch any oil drippings that seep out from the bottom of the pan during the beginning of the baking, which won’t be a lot, but will save you the trouble of cleaning. Thoroughly cover the inside of an angel food cake pan with butter and flour or cooking spray.
Make the cinnamon swirl filling. Chop the nuts if you plan to use (you can chop the other ½ cup of nuts that you’ll use for the crumb topping at this point as well).Combine cinnamon, sugar, sea salt and nuts if using in a medium bowl, and set aside.
Make the crumb topping. Cut the butter into 1/2” cubes, and chop the nuts if you plan to use and haven’t already. Add brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, sea salt, to a medium mixing bowl, and whisk together. Create the crumb and add chopped butter and rub the mixture together with your fingers until the butter chunks are about the size of a pea. Mix in the nuts at this point if using. There will be a good amount of topping.
Make the cake batter. Heat the butter until almost all the way melted, and set it aside to cool.Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt in a large mixing bowl. Then mix together the melted butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and sour cream in a medium sized bowl, and set it aside. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and use a rubber spatula to combine, scraping the bottom to make sure there aren’t any parts of flour that are missed. Do not over mix. There is not a lot of batter with this recipe, but don’t worry it all comes together.
Assemble the coffee cake. Add half of the batter to the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle the filling evenly across the batter, then add the rest of the batter to the top, and use the back of a rubber spatula to spread it out best you can. There is not a lot of batter with this recipe, so you may not fully cover the filling, and that’s okay. Sprinkle the crumb topping across the batter in an even layer.
If you make the night before: At this point you can cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight (up to 12 hours or the baking soda and baking powder will react to much and it won’t rise). It may need a few more minutes in the oven to fully cook through.
Once assembled, place in the preheated oven on the center rack. Halfway through baking, rotate the pan so it cooks evenly, and you should be able to remove the baking sheet from the lower rack.
Bake until the middle of it springs back when pressed carefully, or a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with just a few crumbs.
Remove from the oven, and let cool at least 1 hour or overnight until the pan is no longer warm to the touch. To remove from the pan use a butter knife and run it around the edges on top, and around the center. Then set the pan on top of a can, and gently tap it (you’ve seen people do this on the Great British Baking Show). If it doesn’t loosen from the sides, it might be a little stuck underneath. If you can, use the same butter knife to run underneath the pan where the bottom meets the sides (you’ll feel like a contortionist, but it probably will do the trick). Try tapping again, and repeat scraping on all sides until the sides fall from the bottom.
From here, you’ll have two options depending on how you want to serve it. If you plan to have it displayed, and not cut, you’ll need to use two strong spatulas on other side and lift it from the bottom to a plate. If you plan to cut it, wait until about an hour before people arrive, so it doesn’t dry out. You can cut individual pieces, and place on the serving tray.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Can this be made gluten-free? Yes! It doesn’t rise as much, so keep that in mind. You can use gluten free flour 1:1, and add ½ teaspoon of Xantham Gum to the batter to help it rise.
Can this be made into muffins? Yes, I have made this with the large muffin tins, and it works wonderfully. This recipe comes out to about 6 large muffins. If you bake into muffins, then bake initially at 425°F (218°C) for 5 minutes before reducing to 350°F (176°C) and baking for an additional 18-22 minutes.
Can this be frozen after baking? Yes, you can either freeze individual slices and thaw when the craving strikes, or cover in plastic wrap and freeze it whole. Uncover from plastic wrap and thaw overnight at room temperature.
Can berries be added? I have added blueberries before, which technically would make this a blueberry buckle cake. If you want to add blueberries, then add 1 cup fresh or frozen to the batter when it’s almost completely mixed, and carefully fold in.
What would you serve with this? Coffeecake is great alongside scrambled eggs and bacon, or for a more elaborate menu, quiche, fresh fruit, a breakfast salad.
I don’t have an angel food cake pan, what else could I bake this in? This would work in a 9” springform pan, or 6 large muffin tins.
First Place Coffee Cake
A crumb coffee cake with a soft buttery cake topped with the signature crumb topping and a cinnamon swirl. Perfect for elevating your next brunch or morning tea. Makes enough for 10-12, and can be made gluten free, and with or without nuts.
Ingredients
Instructions
- Start by removing the sour cream and eggs from the refrigerator so they can start to warm up. Then preheat the oven to 350°F (176°C), and move a baking rack to the center of the oven. Move the other baking rack just below the middle rack, and place a rimmed baking sheet larger than the angel food cake pan on the lower rack. This will catch any oil drippings that seep out from the bottom of the pan during the beginning of the baking, which won’t be a lot, but will save you the trouble of cleaning. Thoroughly cover the inside of an angel food cake pan with butter and flour or cooking spray.
- Chop the nuts if you plan to use (you can chop the other ½ cup of nuts that you’ll use for the crumb topping at this point as well).Combine cinnamon, sugar, sea salt and nuts if using in a medium bowl, and set aside.
- Cut the butter into 1/2” cubes, and chop the nuts if you plan to use and haven’t already. Add brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, sea salt, to a medium mixing bowl, and whisk together. Create the crumb and add chopped butter and rub the mixture together with your fingers until the butter chunks are about the size of a pea. Mix in the nuts at this point if using. There will be a good amount of topping.
- Heat the butter until almost all the way melted, and set it aside to cool.Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt in a large mixing bowl. Then mix together the melted butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and sour cream in a medium sized bowl, and set it aside. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and use a rubber spatula to combine, scraping the bottom to make sure there aren’t any parts of flour that are missed. Do not over mix. There is not a lot of batter with this recipe, but don’t worry it all comes together.
- Add half of the batter to the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle the filling evenly across the batter, then add the rest of the batter to the top, and use the back of a rubber spatula to spread it out best you can. There is not a lot of batter with this recipe, so you may not fully cover the filling, and that’s okay. Sprinkle the crumb topping across the batter in an even layer.
- If you make the night before: At this point you can cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight (up to 12 hours or the baking soda and baking powder will react to much and it won’t rise). It may need a few more minutes in the oven to fully cook through.
- Bake in the oven on the center rack. Halfway through baking, rotate the pan so it cooks evenly, and you should be able to remove the baking sheet from the lower rack.
- Bake until the middle of it springs back when pressed carefully, or a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with just a few crumbs.
- Remove from the oven, and let cool at least 1 hour or overnight until the pan is no longer warm to the touch. To remove from the pan use a butter knife and run it around the edges on top, and around the center. Then set the pan on top of a can, and gently tap it. If it doesn’t loosen from the sides, it might be a little stuck underneath. If you can, use the same butter knife to run underneath the pan where the bottom meets the sides. Try tapping again, and repeat scraping on all sides until the sides fall from the bottom.
- To serve, remove altogether at once using two spatulas or cut individual pieces and place on a serving tray.
