New York Crumb Cake
This easy to make homemade New York crumb cake is a gorgeous, tender, and buttery cake that stays exceptionally moist. On top is a very generous topping of delicious crumbs that meld into the cake and have just a hint of cinnamon flavor. It’s HEAVEN and I guarantee you won’t be able to stop eating it!
I really can’t decide which part of it is better – the insanely soft and tender vanilla-flavored cake or the soft, buttery crumb topping?
Or maybe it’s the fact that the layer of crumbs is equally as high as the cake itself.
Needless to say, this is the PERFECT crumb cake; my family always goes back for seconds and it disappears in an instant. You won’t want to skip this one!
Crumb cake vs coffee cake
Classic crumb cake originated from central Europe, most likely Germany, as a flat cake covered with a sweet crumb topping referred to as streusel (meaning “something scattered”).
So what’s the difference between this and coffee cake?
Crumb size, for one thing!
A classic New York-style crumb cake has much bigger crumbs than coffee cake, making the crumb topping layer just as thick as the cake layer! It’s sweeter and denser than a coffee cake.
It’s perfect for brunch, or to serve for dessert, or (if you’re anything like me) you can sneak leftover bites for breakfast!
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Pan basics
This recipe uses a standard 9-inch square metal pan; I use parchment paper to line the pan, which makes it easy to remove the cake from the pan when it’s time to dust with powdered sugar, slice, and serve.
You can double this recipe and bake in a 9×13-inch pan but, increase the baking time to 40 to 45 minutes.
If you use a glass pan instead of a metal pan, the cake may take a little longer to finish baking.
Tips for variations
This is simply irresistible on its own, but if you crave a little extra SOMETHING, or just want to try something different, here are a few ideas:
- Flavors/Mix-ins: Fresh blueberries (gently fold 1 cup into the batter) or mini chocolate chips (fold ½ cup into the batter) would work great!
- Drizzles/glazes: A drizzle of salted caramel sauce or melted white chocolate over the top would be a nice addition, or a cream cheese glaze, as well!
Storing and freezing instructions
This New York crumb cake keeps exceptionally well! Here’s how to keep it fresh:
- Storage: The cake can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
- Freezing Instructions: Once completely cool, wrap the cake in plastic wrap, then in foil, and place in a ziplock freezer bag for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature before serving.
More Breakfast-Worthy Cakes!
- Chocolate Chip Crumb Cake
- Overnight Cranberry-Eggnog Coffee Cake
- Blueberry-Peach Coffee Cake
- Blueberry Buckle
- Peach Coffee Cake
- Sour Cream Coffee Cake
If you make this cake and love it, I would so appreciate it if you would take a moment to leave a rating below. Thank you so much! ❤️️
New York Crumb Cake
Ingredients
For the Crumb Topping
- ½ cup (73.33 g) dark brown sugar
- ¼ cup (66.67 g) granulated sugar
- ¾ teaspoon (0.75 teaspoon) ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon (0.13 teaspoon) table salt
- ½ cup (113.5 g) unsalted butter, melted and still warm
- 1½ cups (218.75 g) cake flour
For the Cake
- 1¼ cups (156.25 g) cake flour
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) table salt
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces, softened but still cool
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup (80 ml) buttermilk
- Powdered sugar, for dusting
Instructions
- Make the Topping: Whisk the sugars, cinnamon, salt, and butter in medium bowl to combine. Add flour and stir with rubber spatula or wooden spoon until mixture resembles thick, cohesive dough; set aside to cool to room temperature, 10 to 15 minutes.
- Make the Cake: Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees F. Spray an 8-inch square baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and line with parchment paper or aluminum foil; allow excess to overhang edges of dish.
- Using an electric mixer on low speed, mix the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt to combine. With mixer continuing to run at low speed, add butter one piece at a time; continue beating until mixture resembles moist crumbs, with no visible butter chunks remaining, 1 to 2 minutes. Add egg, yolk, vanilla, and buttermilk; beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute, scraping once if necessary.
- Transfer batter to baking pan; using rubber spatula, spread batter into even layer. Break apart the crumb topping into large pea-sized pieces and spread in even layer over batter, beginning with edges and then working toward center. (Be sure not to push the crumbs into the batter, just sprinkle on top.) Bake until the crumbs are golden and a wooden skewer inserted into center of cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool on wire rack at least 30 minutes. Remove cake from pan by lifting parchment overhang. Dust with powdered sugar just before serving. Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
Notes
- Flour: Do not substitute all-purpose flour for the cake flour, as doing so will create a dry, tough cake.
- Buttermilk: You can substitute the same amount of plain yogurt for the buttermilk. Using powdered buttermilk is not recommended; it will create a thinner batter and the crumbs may sink to the bottom.
- Pan: A square metal baking pan is recommended; if you use a glass pan, the cake may take a little longer to finish baking.
- Doubling: This recipe can be doubled and baked in a 9x13-inch pan. Increase the baking time to 40 to 45 minutes.
- Flavors/Mix-ins: Fresh blueberries (gently fold 1 cup into the batter) or mini chocolate chips (fold ½ cup into the batter) would work great!
- Drizzles/glazes: A drizzle of salted caramel sauce or melted white chocolate over the top would be a nice addition, or a cream cheese glaze, as well!
- Storage: The crumb cake can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
- Freezing Instructions: Once completely cool, wrap the crumb cake in plastic wrap, then in foil, and place in a ziplock freezer bag for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature before serving.
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
[Photography by Dee of One Sarcastic Baker]
All of your recipes are my go to! I love you! But I have a silly question. The crumble. How did you get it to look so pretty? I misread the ‘large pea size’ part of the recipe and ended up crumbling the crumble into itty bitty pieces. Still looked fine but not as pretty as yours. So I guess my question is how do you do the crumble so perfectly?
Hi Joy, I honestly don’t do anything special! I just pinch off pieces of crumb and then scatter them on the cake. I’m sorry that’s not very helpful :(
I have made this cake twice and got raves each time.
OK so i didnt have one ingredients so I prepared making the other stuff I have at home I didnt have the egg so I already made the crumble topping nd the cake mix I just needed the egg so I after I made the cake part I left in the side and the cake mix double in size is it OK double in size meaning it got you puffier when I left and also is it OK if I cook it on the stove because where I am my country not alot of people own a oven so I want to try in the pan …skillet what ever u call it. So about the dough that double in size just want to will it affect my cooking do I have to worry
Hmmm I mean I think the baking soda probably activated, but I wouldn’t have guessed it could double in size! I’m not sure what will happen when you bake it.
hoping the cook will tell me what happened that my crumb sunk to the bottom while baking.
The key to it not sinking is to be sure you allow the crumb mixture to cool completely to room temperature before proceeding with the recipe, and then gently sprinkling the crumb on top of the batter, and not pushing it down at all.
Hello, I just made this today. It’s still not the crumb cake that we used to buy at the bakery that I’ve been searching for. That crumb cake had a higher cake and was on the dry side. This cake was very thin and very yellow. The flavor was very good. But I’ll keep searching. I’m
My crumbs were crunchy…the coffee cake I remember growing up in NY always had soft crumbs….what am i doing wrong?
The cake was amazing and unbelievably simple (I am.new to baking). I had to use all purpose flour…cant find cake flour where i live…and I substituted regular plain yogurt for buttermilk. The cake was great. Just really crunchy crumbs…yet not over cooked…help?
Hi Ananda, The crunchy crumbs could have definitely been from using the all-purpose flour vs cake. If you do try it again with the cake, let me know if that remedies it!
I love the texture of the crumb topping!! It is unique and oh so tasty! Nicely done.
I made this cake today. I also made homemade apple pie filling.
After putting the cake batter in I carefully added the pie filling over the top of the batter, then added the crumb over the pie filling. Results an excellent apple crumb cake!
Made this cake today for my family it turned out so good!
I made homemade apple pie filling and put that on top of the cake batter, then added the crumb topping. Every recipe I have tried from this site is awesome!!!!!
Hello! I have tried this recipe a few times and every time, my crumbs sink into the cake and the cake envelops the topping. I have been checking my oven temp with a thermometer & have tried cooling the crumbs before dropping them onto the batter, breaking them up smaller and dropping them on 10 min into baking. I have been following the recipe to a T and measuring & mixing carefully and have quality pans. This seems to be a common problem based on comments for this recipe on different blogs and I have not been able to find an answer. Is this something you have any thoughts on? Why does a crumb topping sink? Thank you SO much!!
Hi Elisabeth, I haven’t had an issue with my crumbs sinking in this recipe, but you want to ensure they are not too big (seems like you have), that the mixture is not warm, and that you are NOT AT ALL pushing them into the batter. They should just be scattered over the top.
Thanks so much for your reply Michelle! :)
Unfortunately I’m still not sure why this happens! They are cooled, small and gently dropped and not pushed at all. Thank you anyway! I appreciate your response so much! :)
As always you have reached my expectations with yet another one of your recipes! I love every recipe I have ever tried from you!
My husband is a New Yorker who moved himself to California and I have made so many of your recipes from that region. When he tastes it he always says, ” Just like a Home!” That is a huge compliment to me and you!
This cake is so light and delicious! It is now a staple! Along with your Black and Whites!
Thank you❤️
Aww thank you so much for the kind words, and for taking the time to leave a review, I appreciate it so much!
The topping was extremely dry. I used unbromated flour but reduced the flour accordingly and it was still like powder.. The flavor was typical of crumb cake, but as another reviewer stated, it was very bland. There wasn’t much salt in the recipe; I think next time, I will double the salt in the cake and maybe double the cinnamon in the topping or add a pinch of nutmeg. Thanks for posting the recipe; it is a good basic one overall. I just need to tweak it for my family.
CAKE
I baked this today and loved the taste! However, I did have difficulty slicing it up as beautifully as you did without making a crumbly mess. Is it possible to bake this in a 9-inch round springform pan?
You could make this in a 9-inch springform, I don’t think that would be an issue.
Turned out well, soft texture and nice crumb but agree that quantity of crumb was too much. I only used about 2/3 to achieve the same proportions as in the picture.
this recipe is very easy to do and the results are amazing. very authentic if not even better than many bakeries. i used a 8×11 pan and it still turned out perfect. totally obsessed and will be making again. also made the cookie cake from this blog on the same day and it was delicious as well.
My crumb topping came out very crunchy. Any idea why?
Hi Jamie, I would make sure your oven isn’t running hot and that you didn’t overbake it. Outside of those, when mixing the crumbs together, you want to ensure that the melted butter gets fully incorporated and that there are no dry pockets. I hope that helps!
I’ll keep that in mind for the next time. Thank you, Michelle! The flavor and texture of this cake was so amazing btw!
I first made this when it was featured in CI. They even had an article accompanying it which showed photos of various outcomes if your cake didn’t turn out just right and the reason for each outcome. Unfortunately, I scanned the recipe and tossed the magazine. It most definitely says the recipe can be doubled for a 9×13. I made it 2 days ago for book club and some of the crumbs sunk in and others remained on top. Still tasted delicious. Other times I have made it, it turned out perfectly. I am also a big fan of”East Coast” crumb cake and this recipe is so good.
Followed the recipe to the T with cake flour and all. This crumb cake was DELICIOUS. Thank you so much for a great recipe with a nice thick topping. Served it for Mother’s Day. 6 of us each had a slice and a half which was more than enough even though we wanted more.
Absolutely stunning! Beautiful photos and cool recipe!
My SO says this cake is now in his top five favorites. It is very easy to make and turns out great. I added some fresh blueberries to the batter. I’m making another one for work this week. Thanks!
I have been searching for a very long time for a delicious crumb cake recipe and I am going to try this one either today or tomorrow for mothers day. I have tried several recipes where the cake part didn’t taste very good or the crumb was not flavorful so I’m hoping this is the one, any recipe I have made of yours has not let me down yet! I especially love the ultimate chocolate cupcakes yum.
So glad I found your site and Facebook… Just love all the recipes and ideas… Keep it up.
My husband is much more of a cake person than I am, but I think I could go for this one!
Now THIS is a crumb cake! Soft, buttery, and I love the generous crumb topping!
I hate this coffee cake because I can’t stop eating it!!! Not sure if this is the same recipe you posted a year or so ago but it is fantastic and turned out amazing every time I made it.
This is a delicious recipe! It’s perfectly sweetened and moist. Sososo good with a cup of coffee and that topping is off the charts good!
Love everything you post!
I’ve made this cake for years too always with perfect results!!!!
Can you come up with s chocolate version?
Chocolate cake and wonderful chocolate crumbs? I’ve tried with mixed results!
thanks!!
Ooooh CHOCOLATE! I’ve never thought of that, but now I’m going to experiment!
I make this recipe all the time and it’s perfect!!!! Everyone always comments on how delicious it is. I’m making it again today to bring to school for teacher’s appreciate day.
I made this cake with all purpose flour and it came out delicious. My boyfriend loves crumb cake, and I thought he would eat it all at one sitting! It did not come out dry or tough. I also never buy buttermilk, I just squeeze a little lemon or add a little white vinegar to milk and let it sit for a few minutes. I did it for this recipe as well. I also did not do the parchment paper thing, I just sprayed the pan and baked as directed. I pieces from the pan and it came out with no problem. I enjoyed the cake part, but my boyfriend said the crumbs were the best part! Very nice recipe, thanks for sharing :)