Lemon Crumb Cake
This luscious Lemon Crumb Cake is a soft tender coffee cake filled with fresh lemon flavor and topped with a spectacular crunchy lemon streusel crumb! A perfect springtime treat.
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Why You’ll Love This
I love BIG lemon flavor and this lemon streusel cake recipe delivers without lemon extract! We rub the granulated sugar and lemon zest together to help release the oils in the zest. This gives a bright citrus flavor to the cake.
- A sweet and tangy dessert, breakfast, or afternoon snack.
- The crumb topping adds a satisfying crunch and texture contrast to the soft lemon cake.
- Both the cake and the topping have fresh lemon zest to bring out a big lemon flavor.
- This lemon coffee cake with streusel topping recipe is super easy to prepare!
Some of our other favorite breakfast treat recipes to make are Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins, Puff Pastry Morning Buns, Double Chocolate Muffins, Blueberry Scones, and Best Ever Banana Muffins.
Please see the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients, measurements, and instructions.
How to Make Lemon Crumb Cake (Lemon Coffee Cake)
note
Freezing the crumble topping helps it keep the crumbly texture while baking. It won’t melt into the cake. Break it up into small but not tiny pieces after freezing.
pro tip
Zesting lemons requires light pressure. I use a sharp rasp-style zester that makes this step so much easier! You only want the bright yellow zest, not the white pith. So don’t press too hard.
Tips
- Organic lemons are preferred when adding the zest. If that’s not possible be sure to wash and dry the lemons well before zesting.
- Measure the flour properly. Aerate, spoon, and swoop level.
- Use room temperature eggs, butter, and sour cream.
- This cake requires a total of 4 tablespoons of lemon zest. For me that takes about 6-7 normal size lemons. I have been able to get more if the lemons happen to be extra large.
- The cake batter might look somewhat curdled, but don’t worry it’s the lemon juice reacting with the eggs. It will bake up just perfectly.
- I use a square pan but you can also use an 8-inch round cake pan.
- DO NOT overmix! Overmixing will result in a dense, tough cake. This is why we hand mix in the sour cream and dry ingredients.
Variations
- You can substitute plain Greek yogurt for sour cream.
- If you would like to add a lemon glaze mix 1 cup of powdered sugar with 1-2 tablespoons of lemon juice, and 1 teaspoon of lemon zest together and drizzle over the cake.
- Add a layer of store-bought lemon curd on top of the cake batter and swirl it in before adding the crumble topping.
FAQs
Absolutely! It tastes even better the next day.
Cover tightly and store at room temperature for about 3 days. You can refrigerate for up to 5 days, but it does dry out a little faster in the fridge.
Let the cake cool completely, wrap it tightly in two layers of plastic wrap, then in freezer paper or aluminum foil, and freeze for up to 2 months for the best quality. Thaw at room temperature.
More Tasty Breakfast Cake Recipes
Lemon Crumb Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Crumb Topping
- 3/4 cup All-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup Unsalted butter melted
- 2 tbsp Granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp Dark brown sugar
- 1 tbsp Lemon zest
Lemon Crumb Cake
- 1 1/2 cups All-purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp Baking powder
- 1/4 tsp Baking soda
- 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
- 1 cup Granulated sugar
- 3 tbsp Lemon zest
- 1/2 cup Unsalted butter softened
- 3 large Eggs room temperature
- 2 tbsp Fresh lemon juice
- 1/3 cup Sour cream room temperature
Instructions
Crumb Topping
- In a small bowl combine the melted butter, all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, dark brown sugar, and lemon zest. Place the bowl in the freezer while you prepare the cake batter.3/4 cup All-purpose flour, 1/4 cup Unsalted butter, 2 tbsp Granulated sugar, 2 tbsp Dark brown sugar, 1 tbsp Lemon zest
Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8×8 baking pan with parchment paper and spray with nonstick baking spray that contains flour.
- In a medium size bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and kosher salt.1 1/2 cups All-purpose flour, 1/4 tsp Baking powder, 1/4 tsp Baking soda, 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
- In a large bowl combine the sugar and lemon zest. Using your fingers, rub the zest into the sugar until combined. Add the butter and cream together for 3-4 minutes using an electric mixer until it is light and fluffy.1 cup Granulated sugar, 3 tbsp Lemon zest, 1/2 cup Unsalted butter
- Add the eggs and lemon juice and beat until well combined. Add the sour cream and hand stir until incorporated.3 large Eggs, 2 tbsp Fresh lemon juice, 1/3 cup Sour cream
- Add the dry ingredients, half at a time, and stir by hand until just incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread out evenly. Remove the crumb topping from the freezer, break it up with a fork or spoon, and sprinkle it evenly over the top of the cake batter.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool completely and dust it with powdered sugar for a prettier appearance if desired.