This recipe for Bakewell Crumb Cake is from High-Altitude Breakfast, by Nicole Hampton. The crumb cake features a tender almond scented cake, sweet and tart cherry jam filling, and a buttery and sweet crumble topping, that is worthy of eating by the spoonful! A delicious treat for breakfast, or anytime of the day snack!
High-Altitude Breakfast Cookbook by Nicole Hampton
Baking at high-altitude can be a struggle, and even frustrating. I mean, you follow a recipe to a ‘t’ and the cake still falls flat, or the bread doesn’t rise (hello testing homemade bagels for months!), and the cookies come out flat or too puffy. And living at high-altitude has punctuated the fact that baking is a science!
So, you can imagine my delight when one of my lovely food-blogger friends, Nicole Hampton of Dough Eyed Blog, released a cookbook for baking at high-altitudes! And not just any type a cookbook – High-Altitude Breakfast is full of insanely delicious breakfast treats (and yes, even bread loaf recipes!), beautiful photos, and TONS of baking tips for baking at higher altitudes.
The recipes in the cookbook are designed to be progressive recipes. In that you can make your own homemade loaf of white bread or brioche, and later use that bread to make a delicious breakfast grilled cheese or french toast dippers.
This cookbook is a must for any high-altitude baker’s library. And one that I refer to often. Not only have I made Nicole’s Bakewell Crumb Cake, she has a fabulous Cinnamon Babka recipe and homemade Buttermilk Pancakes that are on repeat in the Butter and Bliss household! But, for the sake of this post, we are focusing on the crumb cake. Yum.
Bakewell Crumb Cake
You will be eating slices of this cake for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It is that good. And the applesauce coffee cake and chocolate chip banana coffee cake are so pleased to have another standard-size breakfast cake to add to their lineup!
But first, you may be asking, ‘what is Bakewell?‘ If you happen to be fans of the Great British Baking Show, chances are you have heard of a Bakewell tart or pudding (also known as: dessert). If not, I’ll give you my standard short-version explanation 🙂
Bakewell is a town in England, said to be birthplace of such desserts. And the primary flavors in the original Bakewell desserts were almond and fruit, in the form of jam.
For this crumb cake, almond is featured in the cake and crumb topping. The flavor is delivered with almond flour and almond extract. And the fruit jam is cherry, which also happens to be the perfect flavor pairing with almond.
What You Need To Make This cherry Bakewell Crumb Cake
Ingredients
- Cherry Jam – The cherry jam is a great flavor pairing to the almond flavor in the cake and crumb topping. I use Crofter’s Morello Cherry Jam, and Bonne Maman is delicious, but any cherry jam you prefer will work.
- All-Purpose Flour – I do not have recommendations to make this cake gluten free. You could certainly try a 1:1 gluten free flour, and let me know how it turned out!
- Almond Flour – Blanched almond flour is ideal for this recipe because it is ground finer, and without the almond skins.
- Granulated Sugar
- Brown Sugar – Light or dark brown sugar will work since it is in the crumb topping. I used light brown sugar because I didn’t want to dilute the almond flavor in the crumb.
- Baking Powder
- Salt
- Egg
- Buttermilk – If you don’t have – or don’t want to buy a quart – of buttermilk, you can make your own. For this recipe the ratio is: 2 teaspoons of vinegar or lemon juice added to 2/3 cup of milk. I recommend 2 percent or whole milk because the higher milkfat it will help make the cake moist and tender.
- Oil – I always recommend a neutral cooking oil for baking. I used canola oil in this recipe, but I am sure coconut oil or vegetable oil will work.
- Unsalted Butter
- Almond Extract
Baking Equipment
- 8-Inch Square Baking Pan
- Mixing Bowls
Tips For Making Bakewell Crumb Cake
- Make the crumb topping first – Having the crumb topping ready to go will make preparing the cake to be baked go faster!
- Use blanched almond flour – I prefer to use blanched almond flour because it is ground finer without the almond skins. I have provided a (affiliate) link in the recipe for the almond flour I use.
- Try it first with the cherry jam – Because the cake and crumb topping are flavored with almond, I (highly) recommend the cherry jam. Cherry and almond go together like peanut butter and jelly!
- Prepare the pan well – To avoid cake getting stuck to the pan, make sure all of the sides and corners are greased well. For this recipe, you can certainly cut and serve the cake straight from the pan. Or, you can line the pan with a strip of parchment paper to help lift the cake out of the pan.
- Use buttermilk – The richness and acidity of buttermilk make the cake soft and tender. At least for the first time baking this cherry crumb cake, I recommend using the buttermilk. You can certainly experiment with just 2 percent or whole milk the second time around!
- Bake time – Start checking if your cake is done at 30 minutes. I live at high altitude (same elevation as the cookbook author, Nicole!) and found that my cake was baked perfectly at 31 minutes.
- Leftovers – The crumb cake will store fine covered at room temperature.
Common Questions For How To Make Bakewell Crumb Cake
Great question! Amazon has High-Altitude Breakfast in stock!
In my opinion, no. I find that most of my recipes don’t need to be adjusted, even though I live at 5000 feet. My general rule of thumb is to keep an eye on the bake time and start checking the cake at the minimum time noted in the recipe.
The answer to this is a blog post by itself! I would recommend buying the cookbook to get all of Nicole’s tips. Or you can visit her on her blog.
I don’t recommend a pan that is smaller or larger. You could certainly use an 8-inch round cake pan. Round cake pans hold a little less volume, but I don’t think that would be an issue with this recipe.
I always do, but that is because I get too nervous about my bakes sticking in the pans! If you plan to cut and serve the bakewell crumb cake directly from the pan, I don’t think you need to. Just grease the pan well so the slices don’t get stuck.
I recommend the buttermilk because it makes the cake soft and tender. You can make your own buttermilk by adding 2 teaspoons of vinegar or lemon juice to 3/4 cup of milk, and let it sit for 5 to minutes.
I think either would be fine. As long as the oil you use is neutral and doesn’t impart a flavor.
Yes!
Bakewell Crumb Cake
Equipment
- 8-Inch Square Cake Pan
Ingredients
Cake
- Baking spray (or butter and flour) for greasing the pan
- 1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup blanched almond flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- 2/3 cup buttermilk
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 2 teaspoons almond extract
Filling
- 1/2 cup cherry jam
Crumb Topping
- 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup blanched almond flour
- 1/2 cup brown sugar (light or dark, and firmly packed)
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Generously grease an 8-inch square cake pan with baking spray.
- In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, almond flour, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, stir together the egg, buttermilk, oil, and almond extract. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and stir together with a rubber spatula until well blended. Pour about half of the cake batter into the prepared cake pan and spread it evenly.
Filling
- Pour the jam into a small bowl and heat on high heat for 30 to 40 seconds, or until warmed through.
- Spread the warm cherry jam on top of the cake batter. Dollop the remaining cake batter all over the jam and then spread it evenly across the top.
Crumb Topping
- I recommend making the Crumb Topping first.
- In a bowl, using a fork, stir together the flour, almond flour, brown sugar, melted butter, oil, and almond extract until large crumbs form.
- Sprinkle the crumbs evenly over the top of the cake, using all of the crumb mixture. Bake the cake until a cake tester (toothpick or knife), inserted into the center comes out fairly clean, with just some cherry jam sticking to it, 30 to 34 minutes. Let the cake cool completely in the pan before slicing and serving.
RECIPE NOTES
- Bake Time – I live at high altitude and found that my cake was baked perfectly at 31 minutes.
- Almond Flour – I recommend blanched almond flour because it is ground finer, without the almond skins.
- Cherry Jam – Use you personal favorite jam. I have found jam from Bonne Maman and Crofter’s are fresh, with great fruit flavor.
- Oil – Definitely use a neutral oil like canola oil.
- Buttermilk – If you don’t have buttermilk, you can make your own. Add 2 teaspoons vinegar or lemon juice to 2/3 cup of milk and let sit for 5 to 10 minutes. I recommend 2 percent or whole milk.
about the author ...
I'm Erin and I'm all about desserts - and a little bit of butter!
I've tested, written, and photographed hundreds of recipes on my website. Here you'll find the tastiest small batch gluten free and traditional desserts - all homemade, all simple, and all for you!
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