One of my favorite hobbies is to learn about regional cooking in America. I love that everywhere you go in this country, you will find familiar foods but you’ll also find foods that are unique to that region. Foods they are known for. Like here in Virginia, we know pig. We like to cook pig. We are ham country here. Down in North Carolina, they like to smoke the pig and make the most beautiful BBQ I have ever eaten in my life. I love me some Carolina BBQ. Go further south and you get into low country boil territory and going even further south you will discover Cuban food and key lime pies. And in between all that are smaller regional pockets of amazing and delightful foods. If you love food and consider yourself a “foodie” then just traveling our country is a tastebud tantalizing experience. You don’t have to go far to experience something new or different. And I love that.
The particular cake recipe I’m sharing today has roots in New York and New Jersey. Crumb cake or crumb buns can be easily found in most NY and NJ bakeries. It is a staple and it is something those bakers have perfected. I was introduced to this particular recipe by my friend Patti from Comfy Cuisine. She is a New Jersey native so I trust her to know good crumb cake when she tastes it. And after having made this, I gotta agree. Patti suggests making this in an 8×8 pan so you have a really thick crumble topping. And because my husband’s favorite part of this cake is the crumble topping, I baked it in the smaller pan. However, if you want a thinner cake with a slightly thinner crumb topping then this easily transfers to a 9×13 baking dish. It also will feed more people if you do it that way. I made notes in the recipe for the different pan sizes.
Ingredients:
FOR THE CAKE:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk (or buttermilk for more moistness)
2 Tbsp. canola oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract
FOR THE CRUMBLE TOPPING:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup light-brown sugar
1-1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, melted and cooled
powdered sugar, for dusting
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Spray an 8×8 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. For a thinner cake, use a 9×13 baking dish.
In a medium bowl combine 1 1/2 cups flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. If you want to go through the trouble of sifting all that together, you can. I just like to take a long-tined fork and stir it all together well. That tends to do the job well enough.
In another bowl, combine egg, milk, oil and vanilla extract. Stir until it’s all combined.
Combine milk mixture with flour mixture and mix well.
Pour the batter into your prepared baking dish.
Now to make the crumble topping. In a medium bowl, combine brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Mix it together.
Then pour in melted butter and stir until combined and clumps begin to form.
Sprinkle those clumps (crumbs) all over the cake batter.
If you are using an 8×8 dish, the crumb layer will be very thick.
Bake for about 30 minutes for an 8×8 dish. Bake for about 20 minutes for a 9×13 baking dish. Use a toothpick to check for doneness.
Crumb topping should be golden brown and a toothpick inserted to the middle of the cake should come out clean.
Allow cake to cool. Then dust with a bit of powdered sugar. I think this cake slices up easiest using a serrated knife, like a bread knife.
Enjoy!
Double Crumb Cake
Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
30 mins
Total Time
40 mins
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Servings: 6
Ingredients
- FOR THE CAKE:
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup milk or buttermilk for more moistness
- 2 Tbsp canola oil
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- FOR THE CRUMBLE TOPPING:
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup light-brown sugar
- 1-1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 cup butter melted and cooled, 2 sticks
- powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
- Spray an 8 x 8 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. (For a thinner cake, use a 9 x13 baking dish)
- In a medium bowl combine 1 1/2 cups flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
- Stir until combined.
- In another bowl, combine egg, milk, oil and vanilla extract.
- Stir until it's all combined.
- Combine flour mixture with milk mixture and mix well.
- Pour the batter into your prepared baking dish.
- Now to make the crumble topping.
- In a medium bowl, combine brown sugar, flour and cinnamon.
- Mix it together.
- Then pour in melted butter and stir until combined and clumps begin to form.
- Sprinkle those clumps (crumbs) all over the cake batter. If you are using an 8 x 8 dish it will be thick.
- Bake for about 30 minutes for an 8 x 8 dish.
- Bake for about 20 minutes for a 9 x13 baking dish.
- Use a toothpick to check for doneness.
- Crumb topping should be golden brown and a toothpick inserted to the middle of the cake should come out clean.
- Allow cake to cool.
- Then dust with a bit of powdered sugar.
- Use a serrated knife to cut into slices.
Original recipe source: Martha Stewart
I swoon at crumb cake. My mother used to serve it alot as a child, usually with a cup of tea (where my tea obsession starts at, probably my sweets obsession too). I might even add some apples in here… mmmm.
Well done Brandie! I hope you enjoyed it! xo
Oh this looks yummy! Being a Coast Guard brat, I have lived in most areas of the East coast and am familiar with these! By the way, Brandie, my mom and dad were born and raised not far from you in Montgomery County (I claim McCoy, Va as my hometown even though I have never lived there :))
Ohhh I LOVE crumb topping. It's truly the best part of a cake!
I'm in New York and yes, we do love our crumb cakes. And, of course, the crumb topping is the best part! 🙂 I also make mine with extra thick layers of topping and it's one of my most favorite desserts.
Please pass a plate! Yum! That crumb topping looks so good – You always share the best recipes! Pinning! 🙂
After all the crumb is the best part!
I've never been able to pull off a good crumb topping. I'll have to give this version a try!
The crumb topping is definitely my favorite part. This looks amazing!
Double crumb!!!!! Nuff said!
Definitely a Pinner.
This looks so wonderful! I just wrote down the recipe and will be making it today for my family BBQ. Thank you!
It's in the oven now! Happy Mother's Day to me!
Do you think this can be made with buttermilk? I'm dying to use leftover buttermilk but really want to make this! Plus, I don't have milk!
Rebecca, absolutely! In fact, if I have buttermilk on hand, that is what I use in this. It really adds so much more moistness to the cake!
Hi Brandie! I’m a NJ shore native now living in Florida for many years. I miss so many foods/desserts from NJ. I tried this NY/NJ crumb cake recipe today. Delicious! Brought memories back from NJ shore bakeries. Excellent! Used my 8×8″ pan–it came out perfectly! Thx so much!
Hello from Iowa 🙂 This cake looks wonderful…… ! Can you use 1/2 with dark brown sugar and the other 1/2 with light brown sugar for the topping? thanxs….. marilyn 🙂
Hi Marilyn! I have never tried combining the sugars but I don't see why you couldn't!
This looks great! I think I will bake in the larger pan ( for more servings) and just make more crumb topping. I L O V E crumb topping!
Made this tonight for the hubby for vday tomorrow and we both cant stop eating it! its delicious thanks for the recipe!
It's true. I grew up in Brooklyn, and I didn't realize until I left how pervasive crumb cake was. I still love it more than chocolate cake or other cakes. And I was drawn to your recipe b/c I love a cake heavy on the crumb side! Thanks…I plan to make this next weekend.
Made this several times already. The kids LOVE it and the recipe is super easy. Thanks!
Came together SO quickly & easily. I used 1 1/3 sticks of butter and about 2 c. flour for the crumb topping w/ moist, lovely results. Though I baked this in a glass 8×8 pan for 30 minutes, the exact center was still a bit gummy; next time I might bake it for 35 to be on the safe side. I also used lowfat buttermilk and the cake was really moist, even in the brown corners. ALSO, be SURE to add 1/4 tsp. salt to the streusel for a tiny hit of savory. Delicious!
Hi, I love crumb cake…I'm a native Texan living in NJ for the time being, and yes it's everywhere up here…and so good!
Could I possibly just double the recipe and have the thicker cake in the 9×13? I have lots of people to feed!
This was a great crumb cake. I love the really deep crumbs. It came out perfect in a 8×8 pan and the crumbs were just right. This is a keeper. Thanks for posting it.
I've made this recipe at least five times now… Wish I could post a pic of it… Delicious!!!
I am making this cake for Fathers Day since my family loves crumb cake. We used an 11X7 glass cake pan so we needed 2 batches of the actually cake mix and one batch of crumbs. The cake needed more liquid so we added a smidge more milk to each batch. Also, we did 25 mins because it is a bigger pan but in btwn 8X8 and 13X9. It needed to cook more than that. At least another 20 mins we had it in.
Can you use cake flour ? I read that it will make the cake lighter
You sure can!
Can I use olive oil or veggie oil if I don’t have canola?
Thank.
Delicious recipes,thank you
Thank you Elba!
Can you use splenda instead of brown sugar and can I add walnuts to the cake
I grew up in NJ having streusel cake from the bakery every Saturday morning..I really miss it and will try this cake today!!!
Though I’m really tempted to try this recipe I have to say I’m confused with the melted butter in regards to making the crumbs. And any other recipe I ever had the butter was always chilled. I made a coffee cake last week that I had gotten off of Pinterest and the crumb instructions were for melted butter and I could not get crumbs the form. I had a thick syrupy mess LOL can I make the crumbs with chilled butter because I can’t seem to achieve the crumbs with melted butter . Any insight would be greatly appreciated. I must be making a big mistake.
I’ve actually made this and it’s awesome.
Make sure melted butter is slightly cooled.
Then mix with serving fork that worked best for me.
You won’t have that trouble with this topping because of the amount of flour. The melted butter mixes right up into crumbs.
Made it!!! Accidentally put 1/2 cup less flour in the crumb topping which left it a little softer while baking. This led to it being impossible to test if the cake was done! Still delicious despite a little crunchy edges and a little dryer cake, perfect to eat with coffee.
Thought this might help, when I baked this the crust was very thick and cake underneath did not finish baking even after I returned to oven for long baking, my thinking is to bake cake part for 10-15 min then put crumb topping and bake further for ten min more . It was just like the cake I remember when my husband brought it home for us . Thanks for the pleasant memory
Hello there! I just made this cake for the first time. It is absolutely delicious! I was frustrated with an old standby store bought crumb cake that was bought out by a different baker and lets just say they ruined it. So I checked for a recipe on line and this one came up. Very easy, basic ingredients (I did use buttermilk). Thank you so much for sharing. It is prize worthy! Definitely a keeper!
I just made this Double Crumb Cake and wasn’t as impressed as I’d hoped. The crumb topping was still doughy after the 20 minutes, so I baked it longer at 5 minute intervals, 3 times! Larger pieces of crumb are still a tiny bit doughy but flavorful. The cake was fairly moist despite the over baking time. I wonder what else could be substituted to give more flavor to the cake portion? Thank you for the recipe and any advice you have.
Nope, didn’t like this at all. I was very disappointed with the cake texture/flavor, and even the crumbs were bland. I just made this earlier tonight, because it looked like a fairly quick and easy recipe to throw together. My Hubby and I both had a piece, and Hubby didn’t even finish his, which is very unusual because he loves crumb cake!
In my opinion, the best tasting crumb cake is made with box yellow or butter cake mix, and a crumb topping very similar to this. The box mix makes the cake part extremely moist and tender, and the crumbs are a perfect compliment. Think I’ll stick to that recipe from now on.
Hi Dawn! So sorry it wasn’t a hit for you. Did you use buttermilk or regular milk? I think real buttermilk (not soured milk) works best in this. Having said that, I was assured that this was a true New Jersey style crumb cake and that they are not traditionally super moist and are served with coffee. But I totally understand where you are coming from! 🙂
Have Mercy!!!!!! I’m 1 of those crumb stealers, just made &its definitely not making it to Thanksgiving desserts. Just kidding, I’ll make another with ease. Thank you, Kiki
Just made it with Bob’s red Mill gluten free cup for cup flour! Had to add a little extra milk to get it more of a batter consistency. Other than that it looks awesome and I am sure it will taste amazing!!
Hey – can you update how this came out for you? We’re also GF and that’s the flour that we use.
The crumb is right on. I was out of butter, so used Country Crock right out of the fridge instead. Put the crumb on a Carmel Apple Pie instead of a second pie crust. Knocked ’em dead.
I made this recipe for work and two people said it is the best crumb cake they have ever had. The only thing I did differently was bake a few minutes longer and broil the top at the end for 2 minutes to give it that nice rich brown color.
Oh my goodness, I have been looking for a crumb cake recipe like this for the longest time. Thank you! I made it today and my husband absolutely loves it, I had to take the pan away after his third piece! It is a new favorite!
I was just curious if the baking time and heat needs to be different if I’m going to make a double amount of the cake mixture in a 9×13 pan
Brooke – YES, you will have to double the amount of cake, or even triple it if you want a decent layer of actual cake. I tried this using a 9×13 glass pan, and 1 recipe of cake doesn’t even cover half the bottom. 2 recipes of cake just barely does it, and bakes up to perhaps a finger’s thickness. That’s what I did. There is enough crumb topping to do two cakes (hey, “double crumb’ right? ). Try adding a nice shake of cinnamon to the cake batter for a bit more flavor. And be very careful if you decide to broil it to brown the crumbs. 90 seconds is probably enough. Oh, and it’s going to take longer to bake in the bigger pan too; after checking at 20, 25, 30 I did the broil after 32 minutes and called it good enough.
Brooke – Let me amend that last comment. A double recipe of the cake bakes up to about 1 3/4″ – 2″ thick in a 9×13 glass pan. I made another one and this time I measured it. That may not be what a New Jersey double crumb cake is all about, but it tastes just fine.
More cinnamon, or better quality cinnamon and not the Dollar Store stuff, is a plus. I soured the milk with a tbl of lemon juice, and that added a nice bit of flavor too. Baking time … don’t forget that the cake will continue to cook for quite a while as the glass pan cools down. At 32 minutes baked, when fully cool mine was a little too brown on the bottom. Not burnt, not crispy, but darker than the rest of the cake. Next time I’ll take it out of the oven at 27 minutes. Good luck with yours!
My NJ native coworker is beside herself. This is a GREAT recipe!!
Now THAT is a serious vote of approval – ha! Love it Clare – thank you so much!
There is a place at the Jersey shore the makes the BEST crumb cake I’ve ever had. Mueller’s Bakery. This is the same recipe! Absolutely perfect. Thank you for posting this!!