Spiced Pumpkin Coffee Cake with Crumb Topping
Autumn-spiced pumpkin cake studded with a buttery cinnamon-sugar crumb topping. Yellow cake mix streamlines the batter, which combines pumpkin puree, eggs, and pumpkin pie spice for rich warmth. The fork-mixed crumble—brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and melted butter—bakes into crunchy clusters atop the tender crumb.
Ingredients
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flourcake flour0.9:1texture
lighter crumb
- 1 15 ounce can pumpkin puree
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- ⅓ cup water, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1 15 ounce package yellow cake mixvanilla cake mix1:1neutral
mild flavor shift
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- powdered sugar, for dusting(optional)
Instructions
- 1
Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 9x13-inch metal baking pan with baking spray or line with parchment paper.
- 2
Make crumble topping: In a medium bowl, mix brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Add cooled melted butter and slowly stir in flour using a fork just until large crumbs form. Do not over-mix or mixture will become paste-like. Refrigerate until ready to use.
- 3
Make cake: In a large bowl, mix pumpkin puree, eggs, water, vanilla extract, and pumpkin pie spice together.
- 4
Stir in yellow cake mix and baking soda until just combined. Pour batter into prepared pan.
- 5
Sprinkle crumble mixture evenly over batter. Using your fingers or a rubber spatula, lightly press crumbles into cake to help them adhere.
- 6
Bake until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.
Tips
Chill crumb topping before baking for more distinct clusters.
Do not over-mix crumb topping or it will become paste instead of large crumbles.
Room temperature eggs and water blend more smoothly into pumpkin mixture.
Lightly pressing crumbles into batter helps them stay in place during baking.
Good to Know
Store covered at room temperature up to 2 days, or refrigerated up to 5 days. Freeze wrapped layers up to 3 months.
Crumb topping can be mixed and refrigerated up to 1 day ahead. Assemble and bake day-of for best crumb texture.
Serve at room temperature or lightly warmed. Dust with powdered sugar or drizzle with glaze just before serving.
Common Mistakes
Do not over-mix crumb topping to avoid it turning into a paste instead of large, distinct crumbles.
Do not skip chilling crumb topping to avoid loss of texture during baking.
Do not heavily mix cake batter to avoid developing gluten and creating dense crumb.
Substitutions
mild flavor shift