Have you ever wondered how to make a crumb cake that’s so delicious you couldn’t resist going for seconds and thirds? Then good for you because today we’ll be sharing some simple recipes and video on how to make crumb cakes.
But before we proceed any further, let’s just drop this fun fact:-
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How To Make A Crumb Cake – Brief History
Crumb cake originated from Germany and is known as Streuselkuchen. It is a German treat that was made of a pastry dough and covered with streusel topping. It has evolved these days into different types of cakes with generous toppings of sweet crumbs made with flour, butter and sugar.
Many people have often asked whether crumb cake is the same as coffee cake. Some bakers say both are the same while others differ in their opinion.
The truth is that both cakes look alike and have almost the same ingredients at first glance. But in actual fact, they are not the same.
The similarity between coffee cake and crumb cake is in the moist cake layer and streusel topping. What differentiates between the two is the proportion of cake to topping. Coffee cake is more of cake with a layer of streusel topping while crumb cake is more of the crumb topping and a small layer of cake.
The crumb cake usually has a more crunchy texture than the coffee cake because of the proportion of crumb topping to cake.
There you have it! So you can decide which you prefer at any time; the crumb cake or the coffee cake. You can also check out some of our coffee cake recipes from our ultimate recipe guide. Click here to pick one or two for your baking pleasure!
How To Make A Crumb Cake – Recipe #1
Ingredients
For The Crumbs You’ll Need The Following:-
1 Cup and 2 Tablespoons Flour (approximately 160g)
1/3 Cup Light Brown Sugar (tightly packed, approximately 74g)
1/3 Cup, 75g or 2.7oz White Sugar
½ Cup, 113g, 4 oz or 1 Stick Butter (unsalted and melted)
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon Powder
¼ Teaspoon Salt 
For The Cake You’ll Need The Following:-
½ Cup, 113g or 4 oz Sugar
5 Tablespoon, 70g or 2.5 oz Butter (unsalted)
1 Large Egg
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
¼ Cup, 59ml or 2 fl oz Milk
¼ Cup, 59ml or 2 oz Sour Cream
1 Cup, 120 g or 4.2 oz Flour
¾ Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/8 Teaspoon Baking Soda
¼ Teaspoon Salt
Instructions For Preparation
First preheat your oven to 350° Fahrenheit or 160° Celsius (fan-forced oven) or 180° Celsius (conventional oven). Then grease an 8 x 8 inch baking pan. Line the pan with parchment if you want to lift the cake out after baking. Ensure that the parchment paper overhangs the sides of the baking pan to serve as handles for lifting the cake. But if you would serve your cake straight from the pan then just grease and flour your pan.
Make The Crumbs
(i) Place white sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt and melted butter in a mixing bowl. Whisk well until thoroughly combined.
(ii) Gradually add the flour and mix with a spatula until the flour is integrated with all the other ingredients. Set aside while you prepare the cake batter.
Prepare The Cake
(i) Sift the dry ingredients over and over for like 20 seconds and set aside.
(ii) Place the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and cream until it’s lighter in color and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix well. Then whisk together milk and sour cream in a liquid measuring cup.
(ii) Starting with the flour add flour and the milk mixture in three batches. You’ll add a third of the flour and mix, then half of the milk, then another third of the flour and then the remaining half of the milk and finally the flour. Fold in the flour gently. Be careful not to over mix the batter.
Assemble And Bake
(i) Pour the batter into your baking pan and spread it evenly over the pan. Then break the crumb mixture into small lumps over the batter.
(ii) Place the cake in the oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.
(ii) Allow the cake to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes then lift out the cake with the parchment paper. But if you had planned to serve from the pan then leave it to cool completely.
This cake can be stored in an airtight container until you are ready to serve.
This recipe was adapted from https://www.cookingclassy.com/crumb-cake/
How To Make A Crumb Cake – Recipe #2
Ingredients
To Make The Cardamon Crumb Topping You’ll Need The Following:-
1 and ½ Cup, 180g or 6.3oz Flour
¾ Cup Light Brown Sugar ( Tightly packed)
1 Teaspoon Cardamom Powder
¼ Teaspoon Salt
½ Cup and 2 Tablespoons ,140 g, 5oz or 1 and ¼ Stick Butter( unsalted , melted)
To Make The Yogurt Cake You’ll Need The Following:-
1 and 2/3 Cups, 195g or 6.8oz Flour
½ Teaspoon Baking Soda
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
½ Teaspoon Salt
¼ teaspoon Cardamom Powder
½ Teaspoon Instant Coffee Powder or Espresso Powder (optional)
1 Cup, 227g or 8 oz White Sugar
2 Large Eggs
½ Cup, 120 ml or 4 fl oz Pure Vegetable Oil (Ensure that the oil is flavorless)
¾ Cup, 180 ml or 6 fl oz Plain Yogurt
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Instructions For Preparation And Baking
First preheat your oven 350° Fahrenheit or 160° Celsius or 180° Celsius for convection oven. Then grease your baking pan and line the bottom with baking paper (preferable an 8 inch baking pan).
Make The Topping
(i) Place all the dry ingredients for the cardamom crumb topping in a bowl and to combine thoroughly.
(ii) Then add the melted butter and mix to moisten the dry ingredients.
Prepare The Cake Batter
(i) Place all the dry ingredients for the cake into a large mixing bowl and whisk together till well combined.
(ii) Get another bowl and place the oil, eggs, yogurt and vanilla. Mix very well and then add the sugar.
(iii) Finally add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Mix both very well until properly incorporated.
Bake The Cake
(i) Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly then scatter the cardamom topping on the cake batter. Press it lightly to ensure that the crumbs have adhered to the batter.
(ii) Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
(iii) Leave this cake to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
You can serve this cake with any extra topping or frosting that you desire; it can also be served plain.
This recipe was adapted from https://www.joyofbaking.com/cakes/CrumbCake.html
The accompanying video is an in depth tutorial that would also help you a lot
Finally, note that you can adapt these recipes shared here to suit your taste. You can also search for more recipes and do some mix and match; you’ll be surprised at the amazing results that you would get.
