Breakfast Cake

I grew up on this breakfast cake. The recipe dates way back to when my mom was a kid and is a cherished recipe in my grandma’s cookbook.

The cake paired with the delicious crumb topping makes for the perfect breakfast or snack. I know what you are thinking… that kind of sugar for breakfast? Cake for breakfast? and to that I reply, yes, but of course! It is not your traditional cake base. The cake itself is not overly sweet but the crumb topping is the perfect finishing touch for both flavor and texture.

It truly is so delicious- you will not want to pass up this recipe. It was a favorite weekend breakfast treat for us as kids and is now exactly that for my own kids. It is super simple to make and will quickly become a new favorite around your house!

NOTE*: I have never had any problems with the original recipe, but due to some comments, I have adjusted the baking powder to 1 Tablespoon and increased the sugar from 1/2 cup to 2/3 cup.

Breakfast Cake from chef-in-training.com ...This recipe is AMAZING! The crumb topping paired with the delicious cake is a match made in heaven!

3.6 from 5 reviews
Breakfast Cake
 
This recipe is AMAZING! The crumb topping paired with the delicious cake is a match made in heaven!
Author:
Recipe type: Breakfast
Ingredients
  • ½ cup butter, softened
  • ⅔ cup sugar
  • 1⅓ cups milk
  • 2 eggs
  • 3 cups flour
  • 1 Tablespoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
Crumb Topping
  • ½ cup flour
  • ¾ cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 6 Tablespoons butter
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
  2. Spray a 9x13 inch baking pan and set aside.
  3. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar together. Add egg and mix well. Add milk and beat. Add flour, baking powder and salt and mix until well incorporated. Don't over mix.
  4. Pour into prepared pan and set aside.
Make crumb topping
  1. In a small bowl, combine flour, sugar and cinnamon and stir until well mixed. Cut in butter until crumbs are formed.
  2. Evenly sprinkle crumb topping over cake batter.
  3. Bake at 400 degrees F for 25-30 minutes. Preform toothpick test to make sure cake is done.

Enjoy!

If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #chefintraining and/or #chefintrainingblog. I would love to see how these recipes take shape in your kitchens.

Filed under: breakfast, cake

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Comments

  1. Averie @ Averie Cooks

    I love it when you share family recipes! This one sounds amazing and that crumb topping...that's my heaven! :) pinned

  2. Sandy T

    Here I was trying to decide what I wanted for breakfast. Thanks for the great suggestion! It looks delicious. I'm going to make it now.

  3. Sandra H

    1

    The cake is really bitter. Is it really only 1/2 c sugar and 2 tablespoons of baking powder? Something just seems off. Can you email me if something should be adjusted? The texture and topping are perfect but the cake is just so bitter.

    1. Connie

      We agree. The cake is beautiful but bitter, bitter, bitter.

  4. Betsy

    saw this on FB last night - it's in the oven this morning!

  5. Kristine

    What kind of sugar do you use from the topping? Brown? Light or dark?

    1. Chef in Training

      I just used regular granulated :)

    2. Kristine

      Really, it looks like its brown sugar from the picture?

  6. Darlene

    5

    Wow! I made this for breakfast today and it was gone! The family loved it and asked how soon I could make it again! I surprised myself, normally I can find a way to ruin a no fail recipe, but this turned out perfect. Love the no fail recipes, keep them coming!

  7. nicole

    I bake ALOT & next time I make this I will change 2 things....2tbsp of baking powder is entirely too much...I will try 2 tsp instead AND I will double the topping & use it in the middle of the batter also!

  8. Kelly

    I'm sorry, but this recipe is not good. All the proportions are off. The cake was floury and tasteless - and I even added vanilla and more sugar and only 1 tablespoon of baking powder (which is still too much). I used brown sugar for the topping, which is the only part of the cake with taste.

  9. Amy

    3

    As soon as I saw the picture, I knew I had to make this recipe. After reading the reviews, I was trepidacious, but I overcame my fears and trudged on. I did however reduce the baking powder by half and I added an extra 1/2 c. of sugar and a 1/2 tsp of almond extract to the batter. It is perfect. Oh, I also used 1/2 c. brown sugar and a 1/4 c. of white sugar for the crumb topping.

  10. Stephanie

    5

    Every time i make this recipe as it my family will not stop eating it till its gone! We all love this recipe. Mt only problem is mine ever looks like the pic. What am i doing wrong? The topping gets to the middle of the cake when baking still great but i want it to look like the pic

  11. Rochelle

    This recipe is not the same as whichever was used to make the cake in the picture. I should have stuck with my Betty Crocker coffee cake recipe, but I tried this one instead. Something is definitely off in the recipe. Bummer because the one in the picture looks so good!

  12. Shaz

    4

    I would leave out the additional sugar as we all eat too much; the problem with our diet today. Plus not breakfast - afternoon tea definitely.

  13. Emmi

    Honestly this is how I went about making this recipe. I like you version, but it seemed almost incomplete in some ways. So I went ahead and improvised the recipe given what I had on hand in my own kitchen. I will check out your Twitter btw. I bake on a weekly basis in my home and am relatively familiar with things. Thanks for sharing such a great recipe. How I improvised below....
    "Breakfast Cake"
    {Alterations By Me are in parentheses}

    *See Note*
    Ingredients
    ½ cup (unsalted butter + 4 TBS), softened
    (1 1/3) cup sugar
    1 (1/2 cups butter) milk
    2 eggs
    3 cups (all purpose) flour
    (2 tsp baking soda)
    (1 tsp baking powder)
    (2 tsp pure vanilla extract) or (pure almond extract)
    (1 )teaspoon salt
    Crumb Topping
    (1) cup flour
    (1/4) cup granulated sugar
    (1/2) cup brown sugar
    (2) teaspoon cinnamon
    (1/2 cup salted) very cold butter
    Instructions
    Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
    Spray a 9x13 inch baking pan and set aside.
    In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs and mix well. Add buttermilk and beat. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and mix until well incorporated. Add vanilla or almond extract. Don't over mix.
    Pour into prepared pan and set aside.
    Make crumb topping
    In a small bowl, combine flour, sugar and cinnamon and stir until well mixed. Cut in butter until crumbs that are pea size form.
    Evenly sprinkle crumb topping over cake batter.
    Bake at 400 degrees F for 30- 40 minutes. Preform toothpick test to make sure cake is done.
    *To Make ButterMilk, measure milk and add 1 TBS distilled white vinegar or 1 TBS lemon juice stir and let rest 10 minutes prior to using in recipe*

  14. Melissa G.

    Is this a recipe that you can add fruit too, in the cake batter portion such as frozen blueberries ?

  15. Pamela

    It astounds me how opinions on this cake range from absolutely horrid, not their words but essentially what they're saying to amazingly incredible, family couldn't stay away from it. When I see such a massive difference in reviews I never know what to think. Is the recipe that finicky or are people poor bakers? Does this account for the difference in results and thus opinions? The problem is, I never know whether to give it a try or not. I detest wasting ingredients with a flop but yet you can never tell for sure how it will be once its baked. This one, more so than any for quite a long time has me flummoxed. The entire reason I even read the reviews was to see if any others asked for the yield, how many standard size pieces should it provide? I got more than what I bargained for in reading this one.