Pumpkin Coffee Cake with Streusel Recipe

Two stacked pieces of pumpkin coffee cake with a dull orange pumpkin in the background.

5 from 3 votes

Pumpkin Coffee Cake with Streusel Recipe

Pumpkin Coffee Cake with Streusel is layered with spiced caramel. And with warm spices and a soft crumbly texture, it's an ideal way to start a fall morning, or to wrap up the day.

*You can make the caramel up to a few days ahead.

Prep Time45

Cook Time45

Total Time1 30

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: brunch cakes, pumpkin desserts

Servings:

Calories: 517kcal

Author: Valentina K. Wein

Equipment

9 x 13 x 2-inch baking dish

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

US Customary - Metric

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

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. Now coat the entire surface evenly with the streusel.
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

* 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.

* If you'd like to make this gluten-free, the recipe has also been tested with Cup4Cup All-Purpose Gluten-Free Flour and it works very well.

Nutritional information is only an estimate.

Nutrition