Pumpkin Coffee Cake with Streusel is layered with spiced caramel that will keep you coming back for more. With warm spices and a soft crumbly texture, it’s an ideal way to start a fall morning, or to wrap up the day. 
If you want to start a fall day in the best possible way, Pumpkin Coffee Cake with Streusel is the answer.
With a dozen servings, it’s great for a group, and if you keep it at the ready in the freezer, it’s quick to warm up and serve any time.
Sweet with a soft crumb, and spiced caramel throughout, it’s totally swoon worthy. I promise you, if you like pumpkin with warming fall spices, you will absolutely go crazy for this!
cloves | cinnamon | ginger | cardamon
What You’ll Need
(I often suggest brands I love and use — these are only suggestions and this is not a sponsored post.)
- sour cream
- heavy cream
- ground cinnamon
- ground cloves
- ground cardamom
- ground ginger
- granulated sugar
- brown sugar – For this recipe dark and golden are both okay.
- butter – I always bake with unsalted butter so I can control exactly how much salt is in the recipe.
- pumpkin purée – Be sure not to buy pumpkin pie mix. You want 100% pure pumpkin purée.
- pure vanilla extract – Nielsen-Massey vanilla is excellent.
- eggs – Use large eggs.
- all-purpose flour
- baking soda – If you don’t bake regularly, it’s a good idea to check to be sure your baking soda is still good. To do so, pour a couple of tablespoons of vinegar or lemon juice over about 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda. If it starts to fizz, it’s still good.
- salt – I almost always bake with Kosher salt. It’s coarse and salts foods in a subtle way that enhances their flavor without making them taste salty.
How to Make Pumpkin Coffee Cake with Streusel
(More detailed instructions are in the recipe card below.)
– For the caramel. In a small saucepan, combine the water with the sugar and cook over low-medium heat until the color is dark amber. Reduce the heat and whisk in the sour cream, butter and heavy cream. Then whisk in the salt, cinnamon and cardamom. Remove from the heat.
– For the streusel. Add the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt to a large bowl and mix to blend. Drizzle melted butter over this and mix until the dry ingredients have been absorbed. It should be crumbly with small clumps.
For the cake:
– Preheat the oven to 350°F, and adjust a rack to the center. Line a 9 x 13 x2-inch baking dish with parchment paper.
– In a large bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, cloves, baking soda, and salt. In another large bowl, use an electric mixer to blend brown sugar with butter. Then add pumpkin, eggs and vanilla and blend. Combine the wet ingredients with the dry, and mix only to blend everything together evenly.
– Add half of the batter into the parchment-lined baking dish and smooth it out with a spatula. Then drizzle half of the caramel evenly over the surface.
– Add the remaining batter over the caramel and spread it evenly.
– Coat the entire surface evenly with the streusel.
– Bake in the preheated oven just until it begins to turn golden and is set, about 45 minutes. Let it cool in the dish for about 30 minutes and then drizzle it evenly with the remaining caramel.
Recipe Tips and Substitutions
- There are three components to this recipe: spiced caramel, cake and streusel. You will see in the recipe card below that the ingredients are listed separately for each. Many of them overlap, so it’s really efficient to measure them for all three first. Why get the cinnamon out three times? Know what I mean?
- The caramel portion of this recipe can be made up to a week ahead. Warm it slightly if it has been stored so that you can easily pour it.
- While I highly recommend making the caramel in the recipe because of its unique flavor profile, use any caramel you like, keeping in mind that the texture and flavor won’t be exactly the same. This one might be somewhat similar.
- Want to make gluten-free pumpkin coffee cake with streusel? This recipe has also been tested with Cup4Cup Gluten-Free Flour and it works really well. (You can substitute with it in both the cake batter and the streusel.
Can you make it without the caramel?
The spiced caramel puts this pumpkin coffee cake with streusel over the top — however, it’s still pretty amazing made without it. Follow the same instructions, just omit the caramel in the middle of the cake and drizzled on top. (This will save you some time.)
How to Store Pumpkin Coffee Cake
- Room temperature. If you plan to eat the coffee cake the next day, you can keep it at room temperature. The best way to preserve its freshness is to let it cool completely, cut it into a dozen squares, and put them in an airtight container. They will last longer this way (two to three days) if you place a dry paper towel below and on top of the pieces of cake.
- Freezer. The cake can be frozen for about three months. The easiest method is to place the cake pieces in Ziploc freezer bags, in a single layer. I would do this in a few bags, so you can defrost just a few at a time. Let them defrost at room temperature.
- Refrigerator. Though not ideal because it might change the texture and dry it out, refrigerating is okay for a day or so.
Whether you freeze or refrigerate, warm it before serving.
Enjoy every last crumb of this delectable pumpkin coffee cake!
More scrumptious pumpkin desserts:
- Pumpkin Almond Cookies
- Maple Pumpkin Bread Pudding
- Healthy Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cookies
- Pumpkin Pie Muffins or Cupcakes
- Pecan Crusted Caramel Pumpkin Pie
- Pumpkin Spice Glazed Air Fryer Donut Holes
Pumpkin Coffee Cake with Streusel Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
Spiced Caramel *
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup water
- 1 tablespoon sour cream
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
For the Cake Batter
- 2 cups all-purpose flour *
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup brown sugar (golden or dark)
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1¼ cup pumpkin purée
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
For the Streusel
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour *
- ½ cup brown sugar (golden or dark)
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
For the Caramel
- In a small saucepan, combine the water with the sugar and cook over low-medium heat until the color is dark amber, about 15 to 20 minutes. (Do not ever stir this mixture!) Reduce the heat to low and whisk in the sour cream, butter, cream, and heavy cream. Stand back — when you add these ingredients, the mixture may bubble up. Continue to whisk until it's smooth. Then add the salt, cinnamon and cardamom. Stir to blend, remove from the heat and set aside.
For the Streusel
- Add the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt to a large bowl and mix to blend. Drizzle the melted butter over this evenly and mix with a fork just until the dry ingredients have been absorbed by the butter. Do not make this smooth — it should be crumbly with small clumps. Set aside.
For the Cake Batter
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, and adjust a rack to the center. Line a 9 x 13 x 2-inch baking dish with parchment paper. (Use a large piece that will cover the sides, and cut slits in each corner so that it will lay flat.)
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, cloves, baking soda, and salt. In another large bowl, use an electric mixer to blend the brown sugar with the butter. Then add the pumpkin, eggs and vanilla and mix to blend. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Mix only long enough to blend everything together evenly.
Assemble and Bake
- Bake in the preheated 350°F oven, just until it begins to turn golden and is set, about 45 minutes. (It should no longer jiggle when you move the dish around, and it you press the center lightly with your finger, you should feel some resistance.) Let it cool in the dish for about 30 minutes and then drizzle it evenly with the remaining caramel. Serve!
Notes
Cooking On The Weekends is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
Colette | cocointhekitchen.com says
O
M
G
I need these in my life!
Marissa says
I audibly gasped when I saw that first photo, Valentina. This cake looks THAT good. And gluten free too? SO making this.
Marissa says
…I should say, gluten free option. Thank you for that!
Sue says
This looks really good. Can I substitute coconut cream for the heavy cream for a dairy free version?
valentina says
Hi Sue. Thanks fro writing in. Yes, I think coconut cream would work well. And if you have a vegan butter substitute, you could use a bit more of that and skip the heavy cream and sour cream. I hope this is helpful. Enjoy! 🙂 ~Valentina