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 special 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 Cardamom Crumb Cake, and my 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?
TIP: 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.
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.
TIP: A good set of cake pans is essential if you like to bake. I particularly love the heft and sturdiness of aluminized steel USA bakeware, it bakes evenly for me every time and it’s reasonably priced.
To reheat this breakfast cake
- Wrap the cake with foil or plastic after it has cooled so it won’t dry out. You can reheat it is VERY briefly in a microwave, start with 15 seconds.
Gingerbread Crumb Cake
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
- Set oven to 350°F.
- Lightly spray a 9x13 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.
Nutrition
Be still my heart, Sue! Those crumbs look absolutely irresistible!
What is apple butter?
It’s a thick version of apple jam, Marguerite. You cook the apples, then puree them and cook a little more until it is thick and spreadable. It’s yummy! You can usually find it right in your store’s jam aisle.
Have never seen apple butter in a store in Canada. Would thick homemade applesauce work if you reduced the other wet ingredients a bit?
You might want to reduce the applesauce itself, Pat, just put it in a sauce pan and cook until it thickens. That should work.
Now THIS is the way to start the day off right! What a moist, scrumptious cake! Perfect for autumn!
It looks amazing, I love that crumbly yet moist texture. I am definitely swooning! 🙂
I think that cake is a great choice for breakfast. I would love to have a piece of this cake for breakfast.
It looks delish!I love crumb cakes
This looks amazing, so moist and I love the crumbly topping, a perfect combination of sweet and spices!
So many favorites in one tasty bite. One question, do you think this could be made with gluten free flour, like better batter or cup 4 cup. We have two family members that are celiac and I would like to include them in the good things too.
I do think you can use gf flour, Beth. As you know, it won’t have quite the same texture, but I’ve found that when you use a good gf mix, it can be done successfully 🙂
Thank you so much. Love your new picture :+)
My mom would love this. Will have to make it for her when we go visit for Thanksgiving! Love that topping.
Looks delicious, can’t wait to bake it.
I have one question I do not have apple butter i have cherry butter can I use that??
You could use cherry butter, but I’m not sure the flavors go very well together, Joan. I might recommend my spiced apple cake as a better recipe for that substitution…https://theviewfromgreatisland.com/spiced-apple-cake/