Looking for an easy and great coffee cake recipe? Try this easy to make Cherry Buckle Coffee Cake with Cocoa Crumb Topping! (Jump directly to the recipe.)
“I can’t stop eating this!” exclaimed AJ as he took another bite of my Cherry Buckle with Cocoa Cinnamon Crumb Topping. I looked inquisitively at him as he sat at the round wooden table in his parent’s tiny kitchen. He explained himself, with his mouth half full and crumbs in his beard “You KNOW I love coffee cake!” which, strangely, I did not know. If I had known, perhaps I would have made them more often. I told him as much but he just shook his head and told me it was a good thing that I didn’t as he didn’t need that sort of thing in the house. Then he helped himself to another slice.
I was staying in Indiana, at AJ’s parent’s house for the week. We were smack in the middle of our extended cross-country #RoadTripUSA and had come to Indiana as a resting point, at the end of the first third of our trip. We had just in from St. Louis, my hometown, a few days ago. AJ and our friend Alic (who’s in St. Louis for school) decided to cycle from St. Louis to Indianapolis. I politely declined to join them on their two-day 250 mile cycling ride and instead stayed back, hung out with friends and went shopping for antiques instead (a wise choice if you ask me). A trip to the St. Louis Art Museum, where my friend Stephanie works and where I got to see their new contemporary art wing (complete with a Wishing Tree installation by Yoko Ono and Andy Goldsworthy’s site specific Stone Sea installation), a little shopping excursion down Cherokee Street where there are cute antique shops and an adorable bakery called Whisk, then a short solo road trip for me was perfect.
Once I got into Indianapolis, AJ’s family had organized a family reunion with all of AJ’s siblings, kids and friends. I woke up early to cook and bake for the event and ended up making the cherry buckle on a whim after looking at all the ingredients that AJ’s mom had in her pantry. As always, I bought cherries at the local store and hadn’t used them all up for another baked good. It’s been awhile since I’ve made a buckle, so I decided to go with it, and boy was it a hit. AJ and his family seemed to enjoy it with whatever little was leftover quickly consumed the next day by AJ.
The rest of the trip in Indiana involved plenty hanging out with friends, some waterskiing, and a few stops at antique shops. I seem to have a slight obsession for cake stands and vintage plates and this trip did not help that obsession. In the end, I shipped home boxes of plates and stands, knowing that I might have to do that exact same thing again later in the trip. Thankfully it all arrived safely back home. And with cherries just barely still in season, I can still make this buckle one more time, in the comfort of my own kitchen.
Cherry Buckle with Cocoa Cinnamon Crumb Topping
By Irvin Lin
A buckle is basically a coffee cake with a streusel crumb topping that gives the cake a buckled or crumbled topping. Occasionally you find the same recipe called a crumble but that name just confuses me so I stick with buckle. Plus a “buckle” is such an old fashioned name, one that you expect your grandmother or great aunt to use when they make it and offer it to you along with tea (well, not my grandmother, as she’s more likely to have offered me a tea egg but that’s neither here nor there). But there’s something warm and comforting getting served a slice of warm buckle made with fresh fruit. If fresh cherries aren’t available or are out of season, feel free to substitute frozen cherries that you thawed, or use the same amount of another fruit like blueberries or peaches. It’s a fairly versatile recipe that way. The absolute best thing about this recipe though is how easy it is. Dump all the dry ingredients in a bowl, add the melted butter and eggs and your cake/buckle batter is pretty much done!
Ingredients
Crumb topping
3/4 cup (105 g) all purpose flour
3/4 cup (165 g) brown sugar
1/4 cup (50 g) white granulated sugar
2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
6 tablespoons (85 g) unsalted butter, melted
Buckle batter
2 1/4 cups (315 g) all purpose flour
1 cup (200 g) white granulated sugar
2 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
1 cup (2 sticks or 225 g) unsalted butter, melted
3 large eggs
1 lb cherries (about 4 cups or 450 g), pitted and halved
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350˚F and generously grease a 9 x 13 inch baking pan with butter. Dust with flour and set aside.
2. Make the crumb topping first by placing all the dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl together. Using a fork stir until the ingredients are blended and uniform in color. Drizzle the melted butter over the dry ingredients, tossing with the fork to blend. The streusel should start clumping up. Keep stirring until all of it is moist and the butter has been incorporated. Once done, place in the fridge while you make the buckle batter.
3. Make the buckle batter by placing the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Vigorously stir the dry ingredients with a balloon whisk until well blended. Stir the vanilla and almond extract into the melted butter. Pour the butter mixture into the dry ingredients and stir with a large rubber spatula until incorporated. Add the eggs, one at a time, stirring to make sure each is incorporated before adding the next one. Add the cherries and fold to incorporate.
4. Scrape the buckle batter into the prepared pan and spread it evenly with the spatula. Take the crumb topping out from the fridge and sprinkle evenly over the buckle batter, breaking up the large chunks (but leave some small chunks together). Bake in the oven 45-55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Makes one 9 x 13 cake, serves 12
Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar says
This is such a fabulous recipe!! Loooove!
Cathy Pollak ~ Noble Pig says
Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. I want a bite or four!
Belinda @zomppa says
The middle of the country is always full of wonderful surprises (for those of us who’ve always been on the ‘coasts’). Serve me up a few dozen!
Stacy | Wicked Good Kitchen says
Oh-mah-gosh! I am totally in love with your Cherry Buckle with Cocoa Brown Sugar Streusel, Irvin! Such a fabulous twist on this classic cake to pair cherries with some cocoa. I just adore cherries and good chocolate together. Glad you had an awesome trip and that you had a good time in Indy (where I live). But, you probably bought the plates and cake stands I’ve had my eyes on! (LOL, just kidding!) Thanks ever so much for sharing. Definitely going to make this soon. Meanwhile, I will be pinning everywhere on group boards at Pinterest! xo
Miss Kim @ behgopa says
This looks so tempting to have with a cup of iced coffee!
I love the photo with the family/friends. Seems like it captures what summer fun is all about..fun in the sun with good company and good food! I envy you. I didn’t really get a chance to do anything fun yet this summer. Been stuck in the hot (non-airconditioned) kitchen all summer.
Adri says
That looks great!
Ash-foodfashionparty says
I couldn’t stop eating this either. Looks so good, I would be picking on the crumb layer like crazy..
Abbe@This is How I Cook says
Oooh. I love cherries and chocolate. And crumbs. Count me in.
Berry T. Patrick says
Oh, yum! This is ooey, gooey buttery goodness! Beautiful pictures and it sounds delicious!
Sarah T says
This cherry coffee cake looks soo good! I will leave a comment after I’m done making this. It’s a little different but,different is good. I love different! I try to come up with awesome and different breakfast and dessert recipes myself. Sorry for saying “different” so many times,lol. I’m tired stayed up most of the night looking for the”one” coffeecake. I tend to do that when I want to make something. I will get different ideas from people and then come up with my own version.
Marilyn Campbell says
Been making this for 7 years. Couldn’t find my paper copy of recipe and came here to get a copy. And yes, you should print out a copy cause you will be making it again and again. Absolutely delicious. I’ve done half a recipe for an 8×8 pan when it’s just for me and hubby. Worked great. Also I put 1/2 cup chopped walnuts in the crumb topping.