Here’s a classic bakery-style crumb cake with a thick, buttery cinnamon crumb topping and a soft, tender cake. Super easy and absolutely delicious!
☕ Classic Crumb Cake
⭐ Ingredients (8×8 pan)
Crumb Topping
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ⅔ cup brown sugar (light or dark)
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp salt
- 8 tbsp (1 stick / 113 g) butter, melted
- ½ tsp vanilla extract (optional)
Cake Base
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ cup sour cream (or Greek yogurt)
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup butter, melted and cooled
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Finishing
- Powdered sugar for dusting
⭐ Instructions
1. Make the crumb topping
- In a bowl, mix flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt.
- Pour in melted butter and mix with a fork until large crumbs form.
- Set aside — crumbs will firm up as they sit.
2. Make the cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C) and line an 8×8 pan with parchment.
- In a bowl, whisk flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
- In a separate bowl, whisk sour cream, milk, egg, melted butter, and vanilla.
- Pour wet into dry and stir just until combined — don’t overmix.
- Spread batter into the prepared pan (it will be thick).
3. Add the crumb layer
- Sprinkle all the crumbs evenly over the cake batter.
(It looks like a lot — that’s how it should be!)
4. Bake
- Bake 32–38 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool completely before dusting with powdered sugar.
⭐ Tips for Perfect Crumb Cake
- Don’t overmix the crumb topping — clumps are GOOD.
- Keep the cake layer thinner than the crumb layer for true NY-style crumb cake.
- Use sour cream for extra tenderness.
⭐ Variations
- Blueberry crumb cake: add 1 cup fresh blueberries to the batter.
- Apple crumb cake: add thin apple slices + cinnamon between cake and crumb.
- Chocolate crumb cake: add mini chocolate chips to the crumb.
- Buttermilk version: replace sour cream + milk with ¾ cup buttermilk.
If you want, I can give you:
🍎 Apple cider crumb cake
☕ Coffee-cake flavored version
🎂 A giant bakery-style crumb muffin version
