In this episode I started by talking about my birthday celebrations and the history of cinnamon, before moving on to the main event: Crumble Cakes/ Coffee Cakes/ Streusel Cakes.
Streusel, crumble or coffee cake: whatever you call it, it’s delicious. Inspired by the many people baking King Arthur Flour’s 2023 Recipe of the Year – Cinnamon Crisp Coffee Cake – and the variations of it – I had a go at it.
Things I did differently throughout:
1. I changed the sugar to brown. I love brown sugar, it adds extra complexity, it compliments both chocolate and cinnamon incredibly well, so it was a no-brainer for me to do this.
2. I changed the spicing slightly. This is something I’ve picked up from Swedish cinnamon bun and cardamom bun recipes. When one of these is the prominent flavour I often add a little of the other. It makes it more complex and less of a bash-over-the-head-with-cinnamon.
Attempt 1: Extra Crumbs
The original recipe is here. I love crumble and thought I’d like this, but I found it far too sweet. Looking at various streusel and crumble recipes, a common ratio seems to be – by weight – 2 parts flour, 2 parts butter, 1 part sugar. So I adjusted this to my taste for the next time I baked it. I also thought it went a little too far on the cake: crumb ratio. I like crumbs, but I do also like cake, and the cake wasn’t as sweet so doing more cake was better balanced. Still, Gemma’s colleagues were extremely happy to receive the version I thought was too sweet…

Attempt 2: Chocolate Lovers’ Version

The original recipe is here. I was already aware of my topping preferences so I reduced the sugar slightly. I used dark milk chocolate as we categorise chocolate differently here than in the US. (Mine was 40% cocoa solids.) I absolutely loved this. Make sure you don’t overmix it, be aware that it’s better on day 2 or 3 than day 1. I think buying chocolate milk is unnecessary – next time I would just use buttermilk. Finally, I’m not convinced by the weight conversions of cocoa. When I weigh cocoa, 1 tbsp is about 7 or 7.5g. If you have several tablespoons going in to a recipe, even a 1 or 1.5g discrepancy makes a big difference. Do what you are comfortable with.I went with tbsp not weight, so it weighed slightly more than it said, but it didn’t dry the cake out. DEFINITELY use the espresso powder, in fact better to use 1/2 tsp rather than 1/4. The roasty rich notes in coffee enhance chocolate, as we all know.
Attempt 3: Cinnamon Crisp with Plum Jam

Thirdly, I made a beast of a cake which had everything going on. It had the cake layers, the cinnamon-cocoa fudgy layer, it had a layer of plum jam AND a layer of cinnamon crumble. As a result, it was huge and took ages to bake, and the baking wasn’t quite as consistent as I’d like. So that’s something to ponder. Maybe the jam just didn’t belong there, or maybe it didn’t need BOTH the jam layer AND the cinnamon-cocoa layer. However, plum with cinnamon is delicious, plum with cocoa is delicious, plum with cinnamon and cocoa is delicious. It tasted divine.
Conclusion: The Cake for People Who Hate Icing
Brits like myself call coffee-flavoured cakes coffee cake, so we’re quite confused by this. But streusel cakes, coffee cakes, crumble cakes… they are the perfect cakes for people who don’t like icing. Still moist, still loads of different textures and interesting things going on, but no icing.
Below are the two recipes I’m happy with, adapted from King Arthur Flour.
Cinnamon Crumble Cake with Extra Crumbs
For the streusel/crumble:
100g plain / AP flour
100g butter
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Salt (1/4-1/2 tsp)
50g soft light brown sugar (or regular)
1 tsp vanilla (I used vanilla sugar but use whatever you have)
For the cake:
240g plain / AP flour
150g soft light brown sugar (or regular)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda/ bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt (less if your butter is salted)
113g butter (1 stick) (at room temperature)
2 tsp vanilla extract or bean paste
2 UK/EU Medium or US/Aus/Canada Large eggs, whisked briefly to break up the yolks
227g buttermilk or yogurt (unsweetened natural or Greek)
For the filling:
66g soft light brown sugar (or regular)
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp cocoa (I used Dutch-processed but use natural if you like)
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp vanilla (I used vanilla sugar, but use whatever you have)
Method/Directions
- Grease and line an 8″ or 9″ square tin. (Mine was 9″). Preheat the oven to 180C/ 350F/ 160C fan.
- Mix the filling mixture together in a small bowl.
- Rub in the crumbs with your finger tips, with a pastry cutter or a fork. I like to rub in the butter, flour and spices then stir in the sugar and salt, but it doesn’t matter too much if you do them all together. Try to leave a variety of crumb sizes in the bowl – this is why it’s best to do by hand not in a mixer.
- To make the cake batter: In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter into the flour, sugar, salt and raising agents. Beat in the vanilla, eggs and buttermilk/yogurt until combined. I found that, even though we reverse creamed, it’s still very possible to overmix this cake.
- Spread about half the cake mixture into the bottom of the tin, using an offset spatula or the back of a dessert spoon. Sprinkle over the filling mixture as evenly as you can. Dollop remaining cake batter on top and smooth over. Sprinkle over the crumbs.
- Bake for c. 28-32 mins, until there’s no longer a wobble, or a skewer comes out clean of raw cake batter.
Chocolate Lover’s Crumble Cake
For the filling:
66g sugar
2 tbsp / 15g cocoa (I used my favourite Dutch processed one which is Green & Blacks, but natural works)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
45g chopped semisweet or dark milk chocolate (c. 40% cocoa solids). (If you have good quality mini chocolate chips, use these by all means. They’re impossible to find where I live.)
For the crumbs:
100g plain/AP flour
100g butter
3 tbsp/ 22g good cocoa (I used my favourite Dutch-processed, but natural works)
75g soft light brown sugar (slightly higher than the previous recipe to balance the cocoa) (you can use regular sugar if you prefer)
1/4 tsp salt (use more or less depending on the size of the salt grains/crystals and whether or not your butter is salted)
1 tsp vanilla bean paste/extract
45g chopped semisweet or dark milk chocolate (c 40% cocoa solids) (If you have good quality mini chocolate chips, use these by all means. They’re impossible to find where I live.)
For the cake:
210g plain / AP flour
150g soft light brown sugar (or regular sugar if you prefer)
4 tbsp / 30g good cocoa (I used my favourite Dutch-processed, but natural works)
113g butter (at room temperature)
2 UK/EU medium or US/Aus/Canada large eggs, whisked briefly to break up the yolks
240g buttermilk or unsweetened natural or Greek yogurt
2 tsp vanilla extract or bean paste
1/2 tsp espresso powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda / bicarbonate of soda
3/4 tsp salt (adjust dependent on types of butter and salt)
- Grease and line an 8 or 9″ square tin. Preheat the oven to 180C/ 350F / 160C fan.
- Mix the filling ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
- Rub in the crumbs with your finger tips, with a pastry cutter or a fork. I like to rub in the butter, flour, cocoa and spices together then stir in the sugar and salt, but it doesn’t matter too much if you do them all together. Try to leave a variety of crumb sizes in the bowl – this is why it’s best to do by hand not in a mixer.
- To make the cake batter: Mix the dry ingredients – flour, sugar, raising agents, cocoa, salt. Beat in the butter to this to get crumbs. Add the remaining ingredients and beat to combine. I found that it is possible to overmix a reverse-creamed cake so stop when combined.
- Spread about half the cake mixture into the bottom of the tin. Sprinkle over the filling. Top with the remaining cake mixture. Sprinkle over the crumbs. Bake for 28-32 minutes, until it doesn’t wobble and a skewer comes out clean of raw cake.