Sour Cream Crumb Cake

A perfect breakfast cake.

Sometimes life (and breakfast, dessert, or a coffee break) demands the sweet, simple comfort of a tender vanilla cake topped with big, buttery brown sugar clumps. This simple cake combines classic sour cream coffee cake and New Jersey-style crumb buns into one delicious cake heaped with streusel.

You’ll also like: A Lovely Vanilla Pear Cake and Mixed Berry Shortcakes

If you are lucky enough to stumble into one of New Jersey’s legendary diners or bakeries, you will almost always see a tray of crumb buns. Jersey-style crumb buns have a small layer of yeasted vanilla cake on the bottom, with heaps of thick, buttery brown sugar streusel on top.

Coffee cake carries a similar theme. Traditional sour cream coffee cake has a tender vanilla cake. This cake gets leavened not with yeast but with baking powder and soda. The cake batter is then folded with a ribbon of cinnamon-nut streusel and on top of the cake and baked.

This special breakfast cake combines the forces of coffee cake and Jersey crumb buns, with a moist sour cream cake base and a chunky crumb bun streusel on top — with an added coffee cake kick from extra cinnamon and nuts.

Recipe Notes: Sour Cream Coffee Crumb Cake

• The cake layer on the bottom is a simple sour cream vanilla cake, using a basic creaming method. Spread the cake batter onto a greased 9 x 13-inch cake pan, then top with streusel.
• Make the streusel first, then let it sit and hydrate while you make the cake batter. The streusel will be the consistency of thick cookie dough.
• Break the streusel into big chunks. You’re not going for little bits here; most of the crumbs should be roughly about 1/2″ pieces.
• No sour cream? Just substitute plain (non-Greek) yogurt.

Variations

You can make this a berry cake if you’d like. To make a blueberry crumb cake, fold one heaping cup of blueberries into the cake batter, and proceed.

Nuts should be layered in between the cake and the streusel for the best result. Use small pieces of pecans or nuts, and lightly dust with cinnamon before topping with the brown sugar streusel.

Did you make this cake? Tell us about it!

Print Recipe

Sour Cream Crumb Cake

Tender vanilla cake topped with chunky, buttery cinnamon brown sugar streusel. A perfect mix of crumb cake and coffee cake.

Prep Time20 mins

Cook Time40 mins

Course: Breakfast, brunch, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keywords:: apple cake, breakfast, coffee cake, crumb buns, dessert, new jersey, sour cream, streusel

Servings: 1 9" x 13" cake

Ingredients

For the Crumb Topping

• 2 1/2 sticks (10 ounces) unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 4 cups cake flour
• powdered sugar (for dusting)

For the Cake

• 1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sour cream

Instructions

For the Crumb Topping

• Melt the butter and combine in a large mixing bowl with the sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in the cake flour one cup a a time, until the mixture forms a cohesive dough, like a very thick cookie dough. Set aside.

For the Cake and to Finish

• Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a 9" x 13" cake pan.
• Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the sugar and softened butter until fluffy. Add the eggs and beat until lightened and smooth. Scrape the bowl to make sure everything is well mixed.
• Add the flour mixture alternately with the sour cream (flour/sour cream/flour), mixing on low with each addition, just until combined.
• Spread the cake batter evenly in the cake pan. Top with the streusel crumbs, breaking it into roughly 1/2" chunks.
• Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until a cake tester comes clean in the center. Cool fully. Dust with powdered sugar and cut into squares to serve.