crumb cake recipe – Brownie Mischief

Fudgy Chocolate Crumb Cake

Posted on December 12, 2024February 12, 2026 by Mari Vasseur

This moist, fudgy chocolate cake with a generous amount of melt-in-your-mouth chocolate crumb topping and powdered sugar snow is perfect for frosty mornings with a cup of hot coffee or tea. It’s also perfect for a holiday breakfast or brunch served with fresh raspberries and/or raspberry sauce.*

Fudgy Chocolate Crumb Cake

Rich, moist, fudgy chocolate cake with melt-in-your mouth crumb topping and sprinkled with powdered sugar.

Print Recipe

Course Breakfast, Brunch, Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 9 servings

Ingredients

Crumb Topping

1 cup (128g) all purpose flour
⅓ cup (66g) packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons (38g) granulated suger
2 tablespoons (12g) Dutch process unsweetened dark cocoa powder
⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt
7 tablespoons (99g) cold, unsalted butter, cubed

Cake

1 ¼ cups (160g) all purpose flour, sifted
6 tablespoons (35g) Dutch process unsweetened dark cocoa powder, sifted
¾ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
½ cup (113g) unsalted butter, softened
⅔ cup (132g) granulated sugar
¼ cup (50g) packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons (30ml) vegetable oil or neutral oil of your choice
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
⅔ cup (150g) sour cream
⅔ cup (118ml) hot coffee or espresso
⅓ cup (85g) semisweet mini chocolate chips
Powered sugar for sprinkling

Instructions

Crumb Topping

In a medium-size bowl, whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, cocoa powder and salt until well combined. Work the butter into the flour mixture with your fingertips until it looks like dirt, with no large pieces of butter remaining. Press the mixture together to form chunks. Set aside in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Cake

Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line an 8-inch square cake pan** with parchment paper, leaving a couple of inches of overhang to serve as handles to lift the cake out of the pan. If you want to serve the cake directly from the pan, you can skip the parchment paper and simply spray the pan with nonstick spray.
In a medium-size bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt together until well combined.
In a large bowl, beat the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar together, with an electric mixer at medium speed, until light and fluffy. Beat in the oil until combined. Beat in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla in 3 separate additions, making sure each one is incorporated before adding the next.
On low speed, beat the flour mixture into the batter in 2 additions, alternating with half of the sour cream after each addition. Beat just until combined. Gradually beat in the hot coffee just until smooth and well combined. Fold in the mini chocolate chips.
Transfer the batter to the prepared cake pan. Top the batter evenly with the crumb topping. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes with a few moist crumbs attached (not wet batter), about 28-37 minutes.
Cool the cake in the pan for 15 minutes, then remove the cake from the pan and continue cooling on a cooling rack. Sprinkle powdered sugar over the cooled cake.

Notes

*To find my raspberry sauce recipe, click here.

**To find my favorite 8-inch square cake pan, click here.

Keyword cake, chocolate, crumb

Blueberry Lemon Crumb Cakes

Posted on June 14, 2023February 12, 2026 by Mari Vasseur

The texture and flavor of these cute Blueberry Lemon Crumb Cakes is immaculate. You’ll love them so much, you won’t want to share, but this recipe makes six 4-inch personal crumb cakes, so you’ll have one all to yourself. You’ll understand once you taste the soft, fluffy lemon scented cake with juicy blueberries, a generous amount of sweet crumb topping and a lemony cream cheese icing. I was a bit hesitant to share this recipe. But I was taught to share recipes by my two grandmothers who were amazing cooks and bakers. They shared their knowledge and recipes with anyone who asked. Recipes are a legacy that should be passed on to family and friends. If you’re reading this, I consider you a friend. So enjoy this recipe that’s especially dear to me, because it’s based on my Grandma’s Apple Crumb Cake recipe.

I used a six serving shallow jumbo muffin pan to bake the cakes. The muffin cups are 4 inches across by 1 inch deep. To find the pan, click here. A hamburger bun pan for 4-inch buns will work too. If you happen to have six 4-inch cake pans, those work nicely. I used jumbo muffin liners to line the muffin cups, which fit perfectly by pressing them in around the inside bottom edges.

Blueberry Lemon Crumb Cakes

Fluffy, soft lemon cakes with blueberries, crumb topping and lemon cream cheese icing

Print Recipe

Course Breakfast, Brunch, Dessert

Servings 6 4-inch crumb cakes

Ingredients

Crumb Topping

¾ cup (96g) all purpose flour
⅓ cup (66g) granulated sugar
2 tablespoons (25g) packed brown sugar
⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt
4 ½ tablespoons (64g) cold, unsalted butter, cubed

Crumb Cakes

1 ¼ cups (159g) all purpose flour, sifted
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
⅜ teaspoon fine sea salt
6 tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
Zest of two medium lemons
1 large egg, room temperature
1 large egg yolk, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
½ teaspoon pure lemon extract
⅓ cup (78ml) whole milk, room temperature
¼ cup (57g) sour cream, room temperature
1 cup (170g) blueberries
1 teaspoon all purpose flour for blueberries

Cream Cheese Icing

1 tablespoon (14g) cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon (14g) unsalted butter, melted
¾ cup (85g) powdered sugar, sifted
1 pinch fine sea salt
2-3 tablespoons (30-45ml) fresh lemon juice

Instructions

Crumb Topping

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, brown sugar and salt together.
Work in the butter with your fingertips until the mixture looks like the consistency of wet sand. Press the mixture together to make chunks. Set aside in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Crumb Cakes

Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line a 6-serving shallow jumbo muffin pan* with jumbo muffin liners.** Jumbo muffin liners will fit by pressing them around the inside bottom edges.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
In a large bowl, cream the butter, sugar and lemon zest with an electric mixer on medium speed, until light and fluffy.
Beat the egg and egg yolk into the butter mixture in 2 separate additions, making sure each addition is incorporated before adding the next. Beat in the extracts until combined.
In a small bowl, whisk the milk and sour cream together.
On low speed, mix the flour mixture into the batter in 2 additions alternating with half of the milk mixture after each addition. Beat just until combined.
Transfer the batter to the prepared baking pan, evenly distributing the batter and filling the cups about half full.
In a medium bowl, toss the blueberries with 1 teaspoon of flour and place them into the cups on top of the batter, about 1 ounce (28g) in each. Top each one with crumb topping.
Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean, about 25-30 minutes. Let the cakes cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Cream Cheese Icing

In a medium bowl, whisk together the cream cheese, melted butter, powdered sugar, salt and 1 tablespoon (30ml) of lemon juice. Add additional lemon juice, a little at a time until your desired consistency is reached. Drizzle over the cooled cakes.

Notes

*To find the muffin pan I used, click here.

**To find jumbo muffin liners, click here. To find 4-inch cake pans, click here.

Keyword blueberry lemon, cake

Grandma’s Apple Crumb Cake

Posted on November 19, 2022February 12, 2026 by Mari Vasseur

I remember my grandma making coffee cakes and sweet muffins for breakfast, along with eggs, sausages, hot coffee and a big pitcher of milk on the table. Why do most of our grandmothers cook and bake so well? Because they’ve had decades of trial and error to perfect their recipes, tweaking them here and there until they’re approved and loved by their families, neighbors and friends. This cake has had its share of trial and error. She has earned her place as a well-loved, delicious, beautiful queen of coffee cakes.

A classic coffee cake is usually a subtly sweet cake with cinnamon, crumb topping and maybe some icing. They’re called coffee cakes because they go so well with a cup of coffee, not necessarily because they contain coffee. This Apple Crumb Cake has the elements of a classic coffee cake, but so much better! The cake is fluffy and soft, the crumb topping is chunky and plentiful, and the apples are perfectly tender. And don’t get me started about the icing!

Grandma's Apple Crumb Cake

Tender vanilla cake with generous crumb topping and vanilla icing

Print Recipe

Course Breakfast, Brunch, Dessert

Servings 8 servings

Ingredients

Apples

1 tablespoon (14g) butter
3 cups (340g) chopped apples (1/2-inch pieces) Use any combination of your favorite baking apples.
2 tablespoons (25g) sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Crumb Topping

1 cup (128g) all purpose flour
⅓ cup (67g) brown sugar
3 tablespoons (38g) sugar
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Scant ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
6 tablespoons (85g) cold, unsalted butter, cubed

Cake

1 ⅔ cups (213g) all purpose flour, sifted
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
½ cup (113g) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (200g) sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
½ cup (118ml) whole milk, room temperature
⅓ cup (75g) sour cream, room temperature

Icing

2 cups (234g) powdered sugar, sifted
2 tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter, melted
½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste or pure vanilla extract
1 pinch fine sea salt
3-4 tablespoons (45-60ml) half & half cream, room temperature

Instructions

Apples

In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the apples, sugar and cinnamon.
Cook, stirring occasionally, until the apples are tender, about 7-10 minutes. Transfer the apples to a bowl and let cool to room temperature.

Crumb Topping

In a medium bowl, mix the flour, brown sugar, sugar, cinnamon and salt.
Work in the butter with your fingertips until the mixture looks like wet sand with no large pieces of butter remaining. Press together to make 1/2-inch chunks.

Cake

Preheat the oven to 325ºF (165ºC). Line a 9-inch cake pan with a removable bottom*, or a 9-inch springform pan, with parchment paper. Wrap the bottom of the cake pan with aluminum foil and place pan on a baking sheet.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt until well blended.
In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar, with an electric mixer on medium speed, until light and fluffy. Beat the eggs and vanilla into the butter mixture in three separate addition, making sure each addition is incorporated before adding the next.
In a small bowl, whisk the milk and sour cream together. On low speed, beat the flour mixture into batter in three additions, alternating with milk mixture. Mix just until combined.
Transfer the batter to the prepared cake pan. Smooth the top with a spatula. Drain any excess liquid from the apples. Top the cake batter evenly with apples, then the topping mixture.
Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 50-60 minutes. Cool the cake in pan for 10 minutes. Remove the cake from pan and transfer it to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Icing

In a medium bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, melted butter, vanilla, salt and 2 tablespoons (30ml) of half & half. Add additional half & half until the desired consistency is reached. Drizzle over the cooled cake.

Notes

*To find the cake pan I used, click here.

Keyword apple, cake