Lemon Coffee Cake Crumble (Printable)
Tangy lemon cake with buttery crumble topping, moist and flavorful, ideal for breakfast or afternoon treat.
# What You Need:
→ Crumble Topping
01 - 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
02 - 1/3 cup granulated sugar
03 - 1/4 cup cold unsalted butter, cubed
04 - 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
05 - 1/4 teaspoon salt
→ Cake
06 - 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
07 - 1 teaspoon baking powder
08 - 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
09 - 1/4 teaspoon salt
10 - 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
11 - 3/4 cup granulated sugar
12 - 2 large eggs
13 - 1/3 cup sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
14 - 1/4 cup whole milk
15 - 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
16 - 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
17 - 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
→ Lemon Glaze (Optional)
18 - 1/2 cup powdered sugar
19 - 1 to 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
# How-To:
01 - Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour an 8-inch cake pan.
02 - Combine flour, sugar, lemon zest, and salt. Add cold butter, working it in with fingers or pastry cutter until coarse crumbs form. Refrigerate until needed.
03 - Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.
04 - Beat softened butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
05 - Stir in sour cream, milk, lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla extract until just combined.
06 - Gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet mixture until just incorporated. Avoid overmixing.
07 - Spread batter evenly into the prepared pan. Sprinkle crumble topping uniformly over the batter.
08 - Bake for 38 to 42 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the top is golden brown. Let cool in the pan for at least 15 minutes.
09 - Mix powdered sugar with enough lemon juice to create a drizzle consistency. Drizzle over cooled cake before serving.
# Expert Advice:
01 -
- The crumble topping stays gloriously crunchy even after a day, which means it's actually better the next morning.
- One cake feeds a crowd and looks way more impressive than the fifteen minutes it took to mix together.
- Fresh lemon flavor without that mouth-puckering tartness that catches you off guard.
02 -
- Don't skip the cooling time in the pan; cutting into a warm cake is a losing battle, and you'll end up with crumbles instead of slices.
- Zest your lemon before cutting it in half for juice—once it's juiced, you can't get good zest from it.
- If your crumble topping melts into the cake instead of staying crispy, your butter was too warm; keep it in the fridge until the last second.
03 -
- Room temperature ingredients mix more smoothly and trap more air, creating a lighter crumb—take five minutes to let eggs and sour cream sit out.
- If the tops of the crumble start browning too fast, loosely tent with foil for the last 10 minutes of baking.