This Pumpkin Crumb Cake has a thick layer of crumble topping over a softly spiced, moist pumpkin cake. This is one of my personal favorite cakes!
Happy October! Now that’s officially pumpkin month, I had to share a pumpkin recipe – one that’s loaded with spices and warmth and goodness and pecans and LOTS of crumbles. This pumpkin crumb cake does just that ^^.
Also, when I first made this, I called it a coffee cake. Then I thought, well that has a whole lot of crumbs…maybe it’s a crumb cake. Then I realized I had absolutely nooo idea what the difference between a crumb cake and a coffee cake was. So, I asked Google, and found some answers.
1. Coffee cakes can be pretty much anything that you would want to serve with coffee.
2. People from NY/NJ believe a crumb cake should have at least a 1:1 crumb to cake ratio.
3. A crumb cake can be a coffee cake, but a coffee cake is not always a crumb cake.
4. Crumb cake ALWAYS has a whole lot of crumbles on top.
Phew – got that? I think most of us (or at least me…) have a certain image of coffee cake, probably something with crumbles andcinnamon and maybe a swirl through it. But it can be anything! Crumb cakes, though, are specific. You can’t just call anything a crumb cake.
So…this pumpkin cake I got here? I’m calling it a crumb cake, because guys, that is a THICK crumb layer. I’m all about a good crumb topping, so I made this one thick, crunchy, and exactly what you want out of your crumble layer.
I also added pecans, because I <3 them, but you can replace them with your favorite nut or just leave ’em out entirely.
This pumpkin crumb cake also is sooo perfect for fall, because hello: pumpkin and cinnamon. I know you’re being bombarded with pumpkin recipes all over the internet, but I truly believe this one is special. Take that for what you will.
Happy October! Enjoy :)
Pumpkin Crumb Cake
Ingredients
For the cake
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup 1 stick unsalted butter
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2/3 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/3 cup sour cream
For the crumb topping
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup dark brown sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon table salt
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, 1 stick, melted and still warm
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup pecans, chopped
Instructions
For the cake
- Preheat an oven to 350°F. Butter and flour a 9-inch springform pan or a 9-inch cake pan with 3-inch sides.
- Prepare the crumb topping.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat together the butter and brown sugar on medium-high speed until well combined. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add the pumpkin puree and sour cream and mix. Stir in the flour mixture. The batter will be quite thick.
- Spread batter in the prepared pan. Top with the crumb topping. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 40-50 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool for about 15 minutes. Remove the sides from the pan and slide the cake onto the rack.
For the crumb topping
- Whisk sugars, cinnamon, salt, and butter in medium bowl to combine. Add flour and pecans and stir until mixture resembles thick, cohesive dough. Set aside to cool to room temperature, 10 to 15 minutes.
Dang this looks awesome!! I wouldn’t mind a big slice!
I used a 9×13 pan and baked for 30 minutes. It came out very well! Thanks for the recipe!
Awesome JC – thanks for sharing! So glad you liked it :)
Well, this pumpkin dessert certainly looks scrumptious! We love coffee cakes & crumb cakes over here at our house…I actually need to make, photography, and post our recipe for Cinnamon Crumb Cake!
I made this last night and was disappointed. I felt that the two parts, cake and topping, though pretty, actually don’t go together well. I wish I’d tried topping this cake with a glaze or perhaps a lighter, moister streusel topping (as on a traditional sour cream coffee cake). The crumb indicated in this recipe is fairly heavy and would be better on a cobbler with a liquid/berry filling. The crumb and cake both came out good, but when combined, the result doesn’t make a good bite—too dense and dry.
I’m sorry that you didn’t enjoy the combination of the crumb with the cake, Laura!
Incredibly easy and delicious! Will make again.
So glad you’re loving it, Gretchen!
Made this tonight for my family while I was at my grandparents house, and it was a hit! Unfortunately, they didn’t have a cake tin large enough, so I made it in two 9 inch pans instead and cut down the baking time to 25 minutes. I also pulled out the sour cream only to realize it was expired, so I substituted milk for it. The cake itself was pretty good, not a lot of the classic pumpkin flavor and was a teeny bit dry (I think I may do more like 22 minutes next time if I have to split the batter), so I may up the spice and pumpkin content next time. However, since I did modify a few things I’m not going to hold that against the recipe. The crumbles were awesome. Everyone absolutely loved them, and I think I may even make the crumbles the next time I make cinnamon muffins to add a little extra fun! So, good overall concept, a fun change to crumb cakes, and well-received, but a little dry and not super strong on the pumpkin, so a 4/5 stars for me!
Hi Victoria, my guess is the dryness came from using milk in place of the sour cream, since the sour cream adds a lot of fat that helps keep things nice and moist! Glad you still enjoyed it, though!