My Gingerbread Crumb Cake recipe is a warm spiced coffee cake made super moist and tender with molasses and sour cream ~ it’s the perfect way to start a chilly morning, or treat your overnight guests during the holidays!
Gingerbread crumb cake makes breakfast feel like a holiday
Some mornings toast and eggs just don’t cut it, you know what I’m talking about. This gingerbread crumb cake is perfect for those times. It’s warm, fluffy, and fragrant with spices like ginger, nutmeg and cloves. Eat it in your bathrobe and slippers with a cup of coffee, set it out on a brunch table, or wrap up a piece and take it to go. This is a versatile little cake that’ll have your back all season long.
My crumb cake technique
The technique for this cake is a little bit out of the ordinary, it’s the same one I used for my super popular Cardamom Crumb Cake, and Pumpkin Crumb Cake
- I blitz the dry ingredients in my food processor to blend all those spices with the flour, etc.
- Then I pulse in the butter to make a crumbly mixture — a little bit of that is set aside for the crumb topping.
- The rest is folded into a dreamy blend of apple butter/sour cream/eggs and molasses. Are you swooning yet?
a few useful gingerbread crumb cake tips
- This gingerbread crumb cake is fabulous warm from the oven, so if you’d like to do some of the work ahead, I suggest making the recipe up to the stage just before you mix the wet ingredients into the dry. Do that when you’re ready to bake.
- A good set of cake pans is essential if you like to bake. I particularly love the heft and sturdiness of aluminized steel, it bakes evenly for me every time and it’s reasonably priced. I use USA Steel Pans.
storing, freezing, and reheating
STORAGE: As crumb cakes go, this one is lighter on the crumbs, and moister in the base than most classic New York style cakes. I highly recommend it warm from the oven. Store any leftovers at room temperature, covered with plastic or foil. I don’t slice it until I’m ready to serve.
FREEZING: Let the cake cool completely, then wrap in plastic and again in foil. Plan to use it within 2-3 months.
REHEATING: For single pieces I microwave for 15-20 seconds, it’s just like fresh from the oven!
Gingerbread Crumb Cake
Equipment
- 1 9 x 13 inch baking pan
Ingredients
dry ingredients
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp powdered ginger
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp allspice
- 1 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
butter
- 10 ounces unsalted butter, cold and cut in pieces
wet ingredients
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup apple butter
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 1/2 cup sour cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Lightly spray a 9×13 baking pan.
- Put all the dry ingredients in the bowl of a food processor fitting with the blade attachment. Pulse to combine everything thoroughly.
- Pulse in the butter until it is well distributed and the mixture is crumbly, 30-40 pulses.
- Pour the dry mixture into a large mixing bowl. REMOVE one cup of the mixture and set it aside.
- Whisk together the eggs, apple butter, molasses, and sour cream until smooth.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry, folding just until everything is thoroughly mixed. Don’t over mix.
- Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the reserved crumbs evenly over the top. Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out without wet batter clinging to it. The baking time will vary depending on your pan and your oven.
- Let cool slightly before cutting.
Notes
Nutrition
more holiday-worthy coffee cakes
Pumpkin Doughnut Cake
My Pumpkin Doughnut Cake is a lightly spiced pumpkin cake with a crisp sugar doughnut crust that makes it the ULTIMATE fall treat!
Cranberry Cake
This easy cranberry cake recipe is a holiday favorite ~ the tartness of fresh cranberries adds a burst of flavor to every bite.
Vanilla Cranberry Bundt Cake
A soft vanilla Bundt with bursts of tart cranberry and a light glaze that catches the light ~ simple to make, beautiful to serve, and unmistakably festive.
Glazed Gingerbread Bundt Cake
Glazed Gingerbread Bundt Cake ~ A tender lightly spiced gingerbread cake iced with a thin sugar glaze ~ this delicious cake is guaranteed to get you into the holiday spirit.
Fresh Pear Coffee Cake
My fluffy fresh pear coffee cake with a crunchy toasted pecan streusel goes with your morning or after dinner coffee!
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