This ultra-moist crumb cake features a soft, buttery base topped with a thick, cinnamon-spiced crumb topping that has the perfect crunch. It’s full of flavor, easy to make, and perfect with coffee, as an afternoon snack, or enjoyed warm straight from the oven!
Why You’ll Love This Crumb Cake
There are plenty of crumb cake recipes out there, but this one’s got everything you want and more. It’s buttery, cozy, and piled high with the most irresistible crumb topping. Here’s why it’s about to become your go-to:
Moist and Buttery
The cake itself is soft, tender, and packed with flavor. A mix of butter, oil, and buttermilk keeps it super moist without being heavy (just like my vanilla cake recipe!), and creaming the butter and sugar makes it wonderfully fluffy. Basically, it’s melt-in-your-mouth good!
Easy to Make
No fancy steps or complicated techniques here. The batter comes together in minutes, the topping is a quick stir-and-fluff situation, and the whole thing bakes up in one pan. It’s the kind of cake that looks impressive but is secretly really simple.
The Dreamiest Crumb Topping
Okay let’s be honest—the topping is the best part! This one bakes up into big, chunky crumbs that are crunchy on the outside and soft and sweet in the middle. With all that cinnamon-sugar goodness, you’ll be tempted to pick the crumbs off the top (and honestly, no judgment if you do).
How to Make Crumb Cake
You can find the full list of ingredients for this recipe in the recipe card at the end of the blog post (for easy navigation, hit the ‘jump to recipe’ button at the top of the blog post). Here is a quick visual breakdown of the recipe (recipe video is also provided in the recipe card below).
Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) conventional and generously grease a 9×13-inch cake pan (I use my homemade cake release). Set aside.
Crumb Topping
In a medium bowl, whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, and salt until combined.
Add the flour and gently mix with a fork using a fluffing motion until the mixture is clumpy. Do not overmix or it will start to turn into a dough. Set aside.
Cake
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to combine and set aside.
In a large bowl, add the butter, oil, and sugar. Using a hand or stand mixer on medium speed, cream for 2 minutes until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing on low speed and making sure each egg is fully incorporated before adding the next.
Add the buttermilk and vanilla and mix on low speed until well combined. The batter may look slightly curdled at this stage, but that’s fine. Now set your mixer aside as the remainder of the batter will be finished by hand.
Add the sifted dry ingredients to the wet mixture and gently fold with a spatula until just combined. Be careful not to overmix, or the cake will turn out dense instead of soft and fluffy.
Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan and spread it out evenly. Sprinkle the crumb topping evenly over the batter, making sure to leave some larger crumbs for texture.
Bake for 38–40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
Let the cake cool in the pan for at least 30 minutes before slicing and serving. Run a thin knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the cake and make removing slices easier. You can dust with a bit of powdered sugar too if you like!
How to Store Crumb Cake
Crumb cake keeps really well, which makes it perfect for baking ahead. Once it’s completely cooled, cover the pan tightly with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and transfer slices to an airtight container. It will stay soft and fresh at room temperature for about 2–3 days.
If you’d like to keep it longer, you can pop the cake into the refrigerator for up to 5 days, just keep in mind the topping may lose a little of its crunch. To bring it back to life, warm a slice in the microwave for a few seconds before serving.
For even longer storage, crumb cake freezes beautifully. Wrap individual slices in plastic wrap, pop them into a freezer bag, and freeze for up to 2 months. When the craving hits, just thaw at room temperature or give it a quick warm-up in the microwave! Just keep in mind the crumb layer will likely lose its crunch, but it will still taste incredible!
Moist Crumb Cake (So Buttery!)
Print Pin VideoIMPORTANT: For accuracy, I would recommend using the gram measurements provided, as those are the exact quantities I use. Cup measurements are given as estimates (based on US cup measurements) to make it easier for those who do not have a scale.
Ingredients
Topping
- 3 cups (360 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (200 g) soft light brown sugar
- ½ cup (100 g) white granulated sugar
- 2½ tsps ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp salt - omit if using salted butter
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter - melted
Cake
- 2¼ cups (270 g) all-purpose flour
- 6 tbsps (45 g) cornstarch
- 2¼ tsps baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ¾ tsp salt - omit if using salted butter
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter - room temperature
- ¼ cup (53 g) unflavored vegetable oil
- 1 cup (200 g) white granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs - room temperature
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract/essence
- 1½ cups (338 g) buttermilk - room temperature
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) conventional (see note 1 if using a convection oven with a fan) and generously grease a 9x13-inch cake pan (I use my homemade cake release). Set aside.
Crumb Topping
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, and salt until combined.
- Add the flour and gently mix with a fork using a fluffing motion until the mixture is clumpy. Do not overmix or it will start to turn into a dough. Set aside.
Cake
- In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to combine and set aside.
- In a large bowl, add the butter, oil, and sugar. Using a hand or stand mixer on medium speed, cream for 2 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs one at a time, mixing on low speed and making sure each egg is fully incorporated before adding the next.
- Add the buttermilk and vanilla and mix on low speed until well combined. The batter may look slightly curdled at this stage, but that’s fine. Now set your mixer aside as the remainder of the batter will be finished by hand.
- Add the sifted dry ingredients to the wet mixture and gently fold with a spatula until just combined. Be careful not to overmix, or the cake will turn out dense instead of soft and fluffy.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread it out evenly. Sprinkle the crumb topping evenly over the batter, making sure to leave some larger chunks for texture.
- Bake for 38–40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
- Let the cake cool in the pan for at least 30 minutes before slicing and serving. Run a thin knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the cake and make removing slices easier.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information are estimates only as they are automatically calculated by a third party application. Actual values may differ based on brands and types of products used.
2 Comments
I absolutely LOVE THIS CRUMB CAKE!
It’s so moist, even the next day, ( if it lasts that long)., it’s my favorite thing to eat!
Thank you,
Lois
Another Win!! Thank you MK!
And congrats on the new addition to your family.