This quick, easy, and delicious Caramel Pumpkin Crumb Cake is a classic fall dessert, breakfast, or snack. It’s a perfect buttery, sweet, and salty streusel.
I just love a crumb cake. There’s something about that layer of buttery sweetness and touch-of-salty streusel that just sets my mouth to watering. And since fall is the perfect opportunity to start talking about those cool weather desserts with pumpkin, I decided to combine the two into this quick, easy, and super delicious Caramel Pumpkin Crumb Cake. And y’all… it’s crazy delicious!
This ain’t no thin little layer of streusel, either. Just look at it! We’ve got a thick, dense layer of crumbs – which is my favorite part. Now, don’t get me wrong… That pumpkin cake layer is delicious – and with only 3 ingredients – crazy easy! But it’s that streusel that makes this dessert super special. (And I have been known to eat a piece of this for breakfast!)
What is crumb cake made of?
Crumb cake is a yummy dessert consisting of two main parts. First, there’s the cake part, which is made using either a pre-made cake mix (like in this recipe) or ingredients to form your own homemade cake mix. The cake mix makes a soft and tasty base for the cake.
The second part is the crumb topping. It’s made from flour, sugar, salt, seasonings (cinnamon in this case), and butter. It is crumbled over the cake mixture before baking. This topping becomes crispy and brown when the cake is done. So, crumb cake is basically a soft cake with a crunchy, sugary topping – a delicious treat!
Are crumb cake, coffee cake, and streusel the same thing?
Crumb cake, coffee cake, and streusel are related but not quite the same. Crumb cake and coffee cake are two different but complete cakes while streusel is usually just the crumbly topping on crumb cake and sometimes coffee cake.
Additionally, crumb cake is different than coffee cake because it always features a thick and moist base with a crumbly topping. Coffee cake may or may not be thick and moist and may or may not have a crumble topping.
How to Serve Crumb Cake
There are limitless ways to serve crumb cake. I almost always serve this cake slightly warm. I’ll even zap a piece in the microwave for about 12 seconds to warm it up a bit. Yum!
Where the variations typically lie are in the toppings. Here are a few of my favorite toppings for crumb cake:
- Caramel Sauce Topping – When it comes to the caramel in this recipe, I drizzle it right on top of the cake when serving. I opted to go for a jarred, pre-made caramel sauce that was basically your run-of-the-mill ice cream topping. You could also grab a high-end, small-batch caramel sauce. I just figured I’d save myself a few steps and grab a jar when I picked up the other ingredients. The truth is that this cake is perfect without it, but the caramel adds a little more sweetness and some great flavor. You can skip it, but I wouldn’t.
- Ice Cream – Serve your crumb cake warm with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream. Is your mouth watering yet? This is a delicious way to turn your basic crumb cake into a whole dessert experience.
- Whipped Cream – I love to throw a dollop of whipped cream on the top of my crumb cake. Sometimes I’ll even hold the caramel sauce until after I topped it with whipped cream. Then drizzle the caramel sauce on the very top. Now I’m hungry!
Recipe Card
Easy Caramel Pumpkin Crumb Cake
Ingredients
- 1 (15.25-ounce) box spice cake mix
- 1 (15-ounce) can canned pumpkin
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1 jar caramel sauce (I used caramel ice cream topping.)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and lightly spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. In large bowl, mix together the cake mix, pumpkin, and eggs for about 2 minutes. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared dish.
- Make the crumb topping by whisking the flour, sugar, salt, and cinnamon together in a medium bowl. Slowly drizzle in the butter, stirring with a fork, until a crumb forms and all of the butter has been added. Sprinkle the crumb mixture over the cake batter.
- Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool, then slice and drizzle with the caramel sauce before serving.
Nutrition
* If nutritional values are provided, they are an estimate and will vary depending on the brands used. The values do not include optional ingredients or when ingredients are added to taste. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, I recommend grabbing your favorite brands and plugging those ingredients into an online nutritional calculator.
Kathy
Stacey: Could I swap the pumpkin for applesauce? This looks like a good recipe, and I do like pumpkin, BUT-I am allergic to cucumbers and melons, and squash of all kinds are in the same family. I have avoided all 3 for several years. Would it be a 1:1 swap? If any of you have access to Delicata Squash, it makes an even better “pumpkin” pie.
Hey, Kathy! Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ve ever swapped pumpkin and applesauce, so I can’t say for sure. It almost seems to me that apple sauce might be a bit too liquidy. I do know that cooked, mashed sweet potatoes will work perfectly in the swap, but I’m just not sure about applesauce. I looked on a few other websites and several folks have mentioned that you can swap the two as 1:1, so it might be worth a try!
Kathy
Thanks, Stacey. I was thinking it might be too liquidy as well. Your research gives me hope, and I can always drain it, or some of it. Thanks also for the sweet potato idea, I can’t have very much of those at one time, however, due to a restricted medical diet. I will also have to cut way down on the salt in the streusel. I will certainly let you know how it turns out.
Anxious to hear!
Kathy
Stacey: It worked really well. I made an 8×8 scratch applesauce spice cake that had applesauce and grated apple in it. It called for 1/2 c. applesauce, and 1/2 of a grated apple. I left the latter out and used the last of my homemade applesauce. I needed to use that up, and it matched the amount of applesauce in your recipe-pretty much. A scant cup was all I had. I did not drain it. I cut the “crunch” in half. I also always use kosher salt, and less of it, as well as no-sodium baking powder and soda. I thought the crunch worked well, and so did the cake. I did not have any butter pooling on the cake. I am looking forward to a piece for breakfast. 8) And thank you very much for your help. I appreciate it.
You bet! I’m glad it turned out great for you and appreciate you sharing your method. I’m sure others will find it useful.
Cathy
Stacey all of your recipes are just outstanding love them all
Thank you so much!
Judy
I apologize if my comment came across as “catty” or unkind, as that wasn’t my intention. I think that the ratio of flour to brown sugar is way off. With my first bite of cake, the flour and salt in the crumb topping were overpowering. When I tried to salvage the cake by scraping off the topping, I found that a lot of the butter had permeated the cake while baking, leaving a greasy taste and residue in my mouth. The cake had to be pitched, which was a total waste of ingredients. I thought that perhaps there was a mistake in the transcription of the recipe, and further thought that you might like to be aware, as the publisher, and possibly appreciate the feedback. Not all recipes are hits, and not all reviews are positive. It’s nothing personal. I actually save more of your recipes than anyone else’s.
As I said before, it was tested multiple times, but mistakes do happen. I’m certainly not above testing it again and will do just that soon. I, of course, want all my recipes to be hits. Thanks, Judy!
Judy
Way too much flour, salt and butter, and not like any crumb topping I have ever tasted, making the dessert more savory than sweet. Truly not edible and a waste of ingredients. I’m wondering if you actually made this yourself, or just posted the recipe. I’m usually a big fan, but this was a huge miss.
Wow, Judy. To be a “big fan” this comment seems pretty catty. I absolutely made the recipe, many times in fact. That’s part of the testing process that every recipe goes through on my site. It’s also how I got the pictures. When you say too much flour, butter, and salt… are you referring to the crumb topping or the cake? I’m having a hard time understanding how 1 cup of brown sugar would leave this recipe tasting savory in any way.
Tess
This looks YUMMY! It’s similar to one I have made in the past… I will definitely be giving this a try soon and let you know how much we LOVED it! 🙂 Thanks for all your recipes… 🙂
You’re so welcome! Hope you’ll enjoy this one, too!