Like you, I find it hard to pass up a slice of crumb-topped coffee cake. There is just something about the combination of tender, fluffy cake and buttery, sugary streusel that is downright irresistible. Coffee cake fans will fall in love with this Raspberry Crumb Coffee Cake, an easy to make brunch favorite that is loaded with raspberries and finished with a buttery streusel.

The straightforward coffee cake batter is made with buttermilk and a generous dose of vanilla extract. I folded in one and a half cups of raspberries, which add a burst of color and fruitiness to the cake. You can use fresh or frozen raspberries. If you are using fresh, fold them in carefully so they don’t get smushed into the cake batter. If you are using frozen, do not defrost them before folding them in.

The crumb topping is made separately from the cake batter. It mixes up easily in one bowl and will look like wet sand after you have mixed it all up. Once the ingredients are combined, grab handfuls of the streusel mixture and squeeze them in the palm of your hand to create nice-sized crumbles to sprinkle over the cake batter. This recipe makes a generous amount of streusel, so there should be plenty to cover the entire cake completely.

I bake this coffee cake in a deep dish pie plate. I have a number of colorful ceramic pie plates that make the coffee cake look oh-so-pretty when I go to serve it – and an attractive dish means that I don’t have to unmold the cake before serving. The cake rises up fairly high and you don’t want any of the streusel to fall off as you layer it on the cake batter, so a deep dish pie plate is a necessity. If you don’t have a deep dish plate, opt for a 9-inch springform pan instead. You can simply slip off the ring of the pan and be able to serve the cake just as easily.

The cake is ready to eat as soon as it has cooled, but also keeps very well. Leftovers, stored in an airtight container, will be good for a couple of days after baking.

Raspberry Crumb Coffee Cake
1 2/3 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 cups raspberries, fresh or frozen (not defrosted)

Crumble
3/4 cup flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/3 brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
6 tbsp butter, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9-inch deep dish pie plate or springform pan.
Make the cake: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter until light and creamy. Beat in eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla extract. Stir in half of the flour mixture, followed by the buttermilk. Stir in the remaining flour mixture and mix just until no streaks of dry ingredients remain. Fold in raspberries until evenly distributed, then pour batter into prepared pan and spread into an even layer.

Make the crumble: In a medium bowl, mix together all ingredients (an electric mixer on low speed is ideal, but this can be done by hand with a spatula or fork) until mixture resembles wet sand. Grab handfuls of the mixture and squeeze it between the palms of your hands to create clumps of crumble. Sprinkle crumble evenly over the top of the cake batter.

Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean or with only a few moist crumbs remaining. Allow cake to cool completely before slicing.

Makes 1 cake; serves 10.

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