This pumpkin spice coffee cake is soft, moist and buttery with a ribbon of buttery, brown sugar pumpkin spice streusel. It is also topped with heaps of extra streusel and a sweet maple glaze and will be your new favourite cake for breakfast. This cake is so moist and flavourful. If you love coffee cake as much as I do, this is going to be the fall breakfast of your dreams. It does not require any mixer and whips up very quickly with the most basic pantry ingredients. You can also try it with a scoop of ice cream for a decadent fall dessert. Make this cake for a mid week pick up or a Sunday brunch with your family!
What is a coffee cake?
A coffee cake is made with the most basic pantry ingredients and comes together without any mixer. With ingredients like brown sugar, yogurt & buttermilk, this is hands down the moistest coffee cake I’ve ever had. Be prepared, this is a super, super thick batter. Why? We’re using lots of heavy, wet ingredients to yield an incredibly moist and soft cake. You’re going to love how the sweet maple glaze pairs so well with the pumpkin spice streusel filling and topping.
Ingredients you’ll need
Coffee Cake:
- All purpose flour: I highly recommend weighing all your ingredients using a kitchen scale for accurate recipe results. If you’re using cups, don’t scoop your cup into the flour. Spoon the flour into your cup and level it off with the back of a knife.
- Leaveners: You will need both baking powder and baking soda to make this recipe.
- Unsalted butter: It is very important to have your butter at room temperature. You can ensure this by lightly pressing your finger on the block of butter. It should slightly leave an imprint. I also prefer to use unsalted butter because salted butters have varying amounts of salt content in them and it is always a good idea to add it on your own and avoid your bakes from being too salty.
- Sugars: You will need both granulated and dark brown sugar to make this cake. Brown sugar helps to add moisture and softness to this cake. Using dark brown sugar gives them their distinct flavour and blends very well with pumpkin. If you’re in a fix you can swap this for light brown sugar or granulated sugar.
- Eggs: Use large eggs and bring them to room temperature before mixing in. Eggs strengthen the binding of your bakes and also add moisture. Having your eggs at room temperature makes it easier to incorporate them and allow them to mix thoroughly in your batter. A good way of doing this is by letting them sit in a bowl filled with room temperature water for around 10 minutes or until they come down to room temperature.
- Plain yogurt: Using plain yogurt in your cakes helps to add moisture and softness to them. You can also use greek yogurt or sour cream instead. If using plain yogurt, make sure to let it set on a sieve for around 15 minutes to help drain out any excess water.
- Vanilla: I highly recommend that you use a high quality, pure vanilla extract. This helps in giving a rich flavor to your baked goods. Pure vanilla extracts are typically dark brown in color. This enhances the flavor of all ingredients and you should never leave this out. If you want to flavour this cake with pumpkin, you can use equal amounts of pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling) instead.
- Buttermilk: Buttermilk is more acidic. This helps it to cut through the sweetness of the cake, giving it a better flavour overall. It also helps to add moisture, softness & fluffiness to the cake.
Streusel Filling & Crumb Topping:
- All-purpose flour: I highly recommend weighing all your ingredients using a kitchen scale for accurate recipe results. If you’re using cups, don’t scoop your cup into the flour. Spoon the flour into your cup and level it off with the back of a knife.
- Sugars: You will need both granulated and dark brown sugar to make this streusel. Brown sugar helps to add moisture and a distinct flavour to the streusel. It also blends very well with pumpkin spice. If you’re in a fix you can swap this for light brown sugar or granulated sugar.
- Pumpkin Spice: Pumpkin spice (or traditionally pumpkin pie spice) is a combination of a few spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves and sometimes all-spice. It blends all the warm fall flavours into one and gives your bakes a distinct and cozy flavour. You can either use store-bought or a homemade pumpkin spice.
- Unsalted Butter: I always prefer to use unsalted butter because salted butters have varying amounts of salt content in them and it is always a good idea to add it on your own and avoid your bakes from being too salty.
Maple Glaze:
- Powdered sugar: You will need powdered of confectioners’ sugar to add to your vanilla glaze. It mixes in it like a breeze and leaves no grainy lumps at all!
- Maple Syrup: Adding maple syrup to your glaze will enhance it’s flavours even more. This will help you get an extra cozy vibe and make this cake the showstopper of your tea party!
- Milk: You will need to add a one or a few more tablespoons of milk to your glaze depending on it’s consistency. Add only one tablespoon of milk at a time and mix completely before adding another.
FAQ
Pumpkin spice is a combination of a spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves and sometimes all-spice. It blends all the warm fall flavours into one and gives your bakes a distinct and cozy flavour. To make homemade pumpkin spice, mix together:
– 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
– ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
– ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
– ½ teaspoon all-spice powder
– ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
You may double, triple or quadruple this recipe and store it for later. Store pumpkin spice in an airtight container at room temperature. It goes very well with any pumpkin flavoured desserts or you can even add it to your latte to make a delicious PSL (Pumpkin Spice Latte) at home!
In my opinion, a sweet maple frosting or a maple cream cheese frosting go equally well with this pumpkin cake. If you don’t have maple syrup at hand, you can also go with a simple vanilla glaze. Refer to recipe substitutions below for the same.
Coffee cakes were traditionally served along with coffee and do not need to have any coffee in them themselves. This leaves them open to adapt a variety of flavours like pumpkin spice and maple in this case.
Yes ofcourse, if you carefully notice I didn’t use a tube pan either. To make a DIY tube pan, just place a greased or lined oven safe cookie cutter, milk bottle or an aluminium can in between the pan before pouring your batter.
Alternatively, this cake bakes up perfectly in a 9×9 inch square baking pan. The cake will be on the thick side and it may need a few extra minutes in the oven before it’s baked through. Be sure to line your pan with parchment paper, allowing the ends to hang over the sides about two inches for easy removal of the cake once baked. You can also bake it up in a round 8-inch pan entirely leaving the tube part out!
This recipe can easily be doubled and made into two tube cakes or one cake in a 9×13 inch rectangular baking pan. The baking time might increase a bit if you’re baking all of it at once. Make sure to keep an eye on it towards the end. It is done when it springs back on slightly pressing it or a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few crumbs attached. At this point, immediately remove the pan from the oven and allow the cake to cool completely.
This cake is so scrumptious that I can almost guarantee you’ll devour every crumb the same day you make it. On the off chance you have a slice or two leftover, store it tightly wrapped at room temperature for up to three days. I do not recommend storing this coffee cake in the refrigerator as it will dry out quickly.
This coffee cake freezes so well. I’ve had success freezing it for upto 3 months in an airtight container or a ziploc bag before glazing it. Make sure to thaw it overnight and reheat in the microwave or oven for 5 minutes before serving.
– Buttermilk: If you’re in a pinch and don’t have buttermilk in hand, I have a DIY substitute for this as well. Add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice in half cup. You can double or half this as required. Fill that cup with whole milk to the top. Mix and let it sit for 5 minutes. That’s it, your buttermilk is ready!
– Plain Yogurt: Using plain yogurt in your cakes helps to add moisture and softness to them. You can also use greek yogurt instead. If using plain yogurt, make sure to let it set on a sieve for around 15 minutes to help drain out any excess water. If you want a stronger pumpkin flavor in this cake, you can use equal amounts of pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling) instead.
– Maple Syrup: If you don’t have maple syrup in hand you can replace it with equal quantities of vanilla or a good quality bourbon (if feeling boozy) instead.
– Vanilla Glaze: This pumpkin spice cake pairs very well with the sweet maple glaze on top. But it pairs equally well with a sweet maple cream cheese frosting. You can find the recipe for the same here.
NOTE: You may drop any additional questions about this recipe in the comments below and I’ll make sure to get back to you as soon as I can!
Tips to make the best pumpkin spice coffee cake:
- Use room temperature ingredients. Using room temperature ingredients is the number one thumb rule when it comes to baking any cakes or cupcakes. There is nothing more disappointing than spending time mixing dry and wet ingredients and baking them all for you cake to sink or crack at the end. The cake will still be delicious, but nearly not as pretty. You want to make sure anything you add into your batter is at room temperature. Set your ingredients out about an hour before baking for best results. Check the ingredients list above to see how to bring your eggs at room temperature quickly. I do not recommend putting any of the ingredients in the microwave to bring them to room temperature.
- Do not hold back on the spices. I know, 1 tablespoon of pumpkin spice (which includes cinnamon along with some ginger, nutmeg, cloves and all-spice) might sound a lot at first and leave you holding back from adding them. I get it that you’re sceptical. But trust me, all of these spices blend in so well in this coffee cake and give it the perfectly cozy fall flavours you’re looking for to enjoy with your evening coffee or tea!
- Cream together butter and sugars. There’s a lot of mixing happening with the cake batter and it’s important to follow the steps to create a light and fluffy batter that will ultimately bake up into a perfectly moist and tender cake. Once you’ve added the sugar to the butter, be sure to mix until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl every so often for best results.
- Do not over mix. When it comes to cake, texture is everything! To get a light & fluffy cake, it is very necessary to keep the stirring at a minimum. This will help it rise perfectly keeping it soft and moist. Stop mixing once the dry ingredients are combined in the batter. A few streaks of flour remaining is okay!
- Use all the streusel. My main complaint about most coffee cakes is that they’re all cake and not enough streusel. I’m here for allll the streusel. This recipe makes just the right amount to fill and top the cake so be sure to use every last crumb. If you love streusel as much as I do, you can even double the recipe for the topping. Bake any extra on a cookie sheet for 10 minutes at 350 degrees and use it to top ice cream or toss it in your oatmeal. It’s sooo good!!
- Do not over bake. Cakes are always meant to be light, tall and fluffy. Over baking will make them dry and crumbly and will affect their texture. To make sure this cake stays soft, tender and moist, keep an eye on it towards the end of baking time. It is done when it springs back on slightly pressing it or a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few crumbs attached. At this point, immediately remove the pan from the oven and allow the cake to cool completely.
- Cool the cake completely before glazing. I know you’ll want to dig right into this cake when it comes out of the oven. Waiting for it to cool before glazing is hard to do, but I promise you it’s worth the wait. If you try glazing a hot cake you’ll end up with a hot mess! For the glaze to set on top of the cake and not slip right off it, it is important to wait for it to cool. Glaze the cake and let it stay for at least 10 minutes before you slice and serve the cake.
HOW TO GET THE BEST RESULTS FROM THIS RECIPE?
All of the recipes on the blog are thoroughly tested multiple times and carefully designed so that anyone can reproduce these delicious baked good in their own kitchen and enjoy them to the fullest. The only way to make this possible is when anyone can exactly replicate the measurements and temperatures.
- In order to standardise the way ingredients are measured, I highly recommend that you weigh them in grams. Volume measurements are nearly not as accurate and have a lot of scope for errors. To precisely be able to replicate the recipes, all you will need is a kitchen scale!
- Every oven heats up differently. Your oven might be over heating or under heating by around 50 degrees or more and you might not even know. In order to ensure that you are baking at the right temperatures, I highly recommend investing in an oven thermometer!
If you would still like to bake using volume measurements, I mentioned those below. However, I primarily test my recipes in grams and cannot promise the best results if you do so. Trust me, once you’ll start using these tools you’d never want to go back.
I hope you’ll enjoy a batch of this pumpkin coffee cake this autumn and don’t forget to bookmark this recipe for the holidays. These pretty and quick cake would make the perfect dessert at your tea party, breakfast or Sunday family brunch!
Happy Fall Baking!
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Glazed Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 1 cake 1x
Description
This pumpkin spice coffee cake is soft, moist and buttery with a ribbon of buttery, brown sugar pumpkin spice streusel. It is also topped with heaps of extra streusel and a sweet maple glaze and will be your new favourite cake for breakfast. This cake is so moist and flavourful. If you love coffee cake as much as I do, this is going to be the fall breakfast of your dreams.
Ingredients
Coffee Cake
- 281g (2¼ cups) all-purpose flour, spooned & levelled
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 170g (¾ cup) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 150g (¾ cup) granulated sugar
- 50g (¼ cup) dark brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 60g (¼ cup) plain yogurt, drained and at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 180ml (¾ cup) buttermilk, at room temperature
Pumpkin Spice Streusel
- 93g (¾ cup) all-purpose flour
- 100g (½ cup) granulated sugar
- 50g (¼ cup) dark brown sugar
- 1½ tablespoons pumpkin spice
- 76g (⅓ cup) unsalted butter, melted
Maple Glaze
- 93g (¾ cup) powdered or confectioners’ sugar, sifted
- 1–2 tablespoons milk, at room temperature
- ½ teaspoon pure maple syrup
Instructions
Coffee Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease a 10 cup bundt or tube cake pan (see other pan options in faqs above) with nonstick spray. Make sure you don’t have pools of spray gathered at the bottom. Set aside.
- Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk all of them together. Set aside.
- In another bowl, beat the butter for about 2 minutes until smooth and creamy. Add in the dark brown sugar and granulated sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs, yogurt and vanilla. Mix until thoroughly combined.
- Add half of the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients along with half of the buttermilk and whisk until combined. Repeat until all dry ingredients and buttermilk are added, starting and ending with the flour. The batter will be thick. Don’t overmix, it’s okay if a few streaks of flour remain.
- Pour two-thirds of the batter into the prepared cake pan. Carefully spread the batter in an even layer in the pan with an offset spatula. Bang it on the kitchen slab a few times down before continuing.
Pumpkin Spice Streusel
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and pumpkin spice.
- Pour the melted butter into the dry ingredients and combine with a spoon or spatula. Allow the mixture to come to room temperature.
- Once the mixture has firmed up, use your hands to break up the mixture into small, pebble-sized crumble pieces.
Assembly
- Using clean hands, sprinkle one-half of the crumble filling in an even layer on top of the batter.
- Then add the final one-third of the cake batter on top of the crumble. It is easier to spoon the remaining one-third of the batter in little piles all over the crumble instead of pouring all of the batter in one mound.
- Use the offset spatula to carefully cover the crumble layer. Put in the oven for about 25 minutes.
- After 25 minutes, take out the pan and sprinkle the remaining one-half of crumble mixture on top of the cake. Put back in the oven for 10-15 more minutes, checking often.
- The cake is done when a toothpick comes out clean and with a few crumbs remaining. Let the cake cool in pan for 15 minutes before carefully removing from the pan. Cool on a wire rack until completely cool before adding glaze.
Maple Glaze
- While the cake is cooling, whisk together the sifted powdered sugar, maple syrup and milk. Start with 1 tablespoon of milk at a time because you want the glaze to be very thick.
- Drizzle the glaze on top of the cooled cake and allow to set for 10 minutes before slicing.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Category: Fall Dessert, Coffee Cake, Streusel
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: pumpkin spice coffee cake, cinnamon streusel coffee cake, glazed coffee cake, warm fall dessert, holiday baking dessert
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