It’s pumpkin season!

I can’t resist the lure of pumpkin once the calendar flips over to September, even if it’s still 80 degrees outside. I’m not a pumpkin spice coffee drinker, but I do love a splash of pumpkin syrup in my decaf Irish Breakfast tea every night while I read. And this is the time of year that I switch up my regular crumb cake recipe, and swap out the sour cream for pumpkin to make it perfect and fall-ish. I don’t gate keep the goodies, so here’s the best ever crumb cake recipe, adjusted to add a bit of pumpkin spice for your fall pleasure. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Crumb Cake

• For the topping:

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour*

  • 2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar

  • 2 Tbsp white sugar

  • ¾ tsp kosher salt

  • 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon

  • 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

  • 1 ¾ sticks butter, melted and slightly cooled

• For the cake:

  • 1 large egg, room temperature

  • ¾ cup white sugar

  • ½ cup canned pumpkin

  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil

  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour

  • 1 tsp baking powder

  • ½ tsp kosher salt

  • 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

  • Powdered sugar (for sprinkling over finished cake)

  DIRECTIONS:

  • Prepare Topping: Using a fork or your hands, mix flour, brown sugar, white sugar, and seasonings in a medium bowl to combine. Add in melted butter and mix until large crumbs form and no dry streaks of flour remain. Let crumb topping sit while you make the cake batter, at least 10 minutes. *If the crumb topping appears too moist after it has sat for 10 minutes add up to 2 Tbsp of extra flour and mix thoroughly but no more. You want it to hold a nice, big crumb.

  • Prepare Cake: Place rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Lightly coat a 9×9 pan with non-stick spray and line pan with parchment paper, leaving a 2” overhang on 2 sides. Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice in medium bowl and set aside. In larger bowl, whisk together egg and sugar until smooth. Mix in canned pumpkin, oil and vanilla and whisk again until well blended. Mix in dry ingredients and blend well but don’t over-mix. Pour into prepared pan and smooth into an even layer.

  • Using your hand, squeeze topping into thumb-sized crumbs and drop onto cake batter. Crumble mixture all over the top so no parts of the cake are visible. Try to have no pieces of crumb smaller than ¼ inch. Bake until the cake starts to pull away from the sides and the top is brown, about 36-42 minutes. Cool on wire rack and let cool in the pan, about 2 hours.

  • Using the parchment overhang, remove from the pan and transfer to a cutting board. Dust generously with powdered sugar then slice into a 4×3 grid for the classic rectangular slices of crumb cake you’d see in a New Jersey bakery.

This crumb cake is REALLY heavy on the “crumb” portion of the recipe! It’s easily 50% topping and 50% cake. If you want more pumpkin flavor, add an extra pinch of pumpkin spice next time. And if the topping crumbles and falls off too easily when you cut the cake into squares, squeeze it into bigger lumps when you put the topping onto the cake next time. The bigger the clumps, the better it stays onto the cake. But this one’s always a crowd pleaser!

Enjoy the tastes of the season!

Love, Karen