I love crumble-topped cakes and muffins.
And although I’ve never had or heard of a cocoa crumble, I made it.
I was brainstorming about this cake on a long run (I’m running a half marathon this weekend), which is where most of my recipes begin to crystallize. I had chocolate cake on my brain, and a crumble-topped coffee cake, and I married the two.
The cake is an easy, no mixer cake with plenty of smooth, chocolate flavor. It’s sweet enough, but not too sweet, and can do double duty for brunch as a coffee cake or enjoy it as a casual after-dinner cake.
There are two special items in the batter to help the cake develop great flavor and stay springy soft.
The first is a quarter cup of brewed coffee. The cake doesn’t taste like coffee was dumped in the cake and I don’t recommend substituting for it even if you don’t like coffee.
Any time you’re baking with chocolate or cocoa for chocolate cakes, muffins, brownies, or donuts, adding coffee helps to accentuate and intensify the chocolate flavor. Rarely, however, does it pack enough punch to actually change the overall flavor profile of the item.
The second signature ingredient is BAILEYS® Coffee Creamers Chocolatini. It’s a creamy, alcohol-free flavor that tastes like a sophisticated chocolate martini met creamy chocolate milk. If you can’t find the Chocolatini flavor, try BAILEYS® Coffee Creamers Mudslide or even chocolate milk may be substituted.
This isn’t the first time I’ve baked a cake with coffee creamer and won’t be the last. The creamer, in conjunction with Greek yogurt and a splash of oil, create a cake that’s soft, moist, and bouncey.
Before baking, the cake is topped with those lovely cocoa crumbles. I had a hard time not wanting to just eat the bowl of them. The crumbles add another layer of chocolate flavor, while also providing texture.
The cake has enough density and heft to sink your teeth into and be satisfying, yet it’s still light and fluffy.
And those buttery soft crumble pieces are worthy of crumble-picking. You know, going around to all the other pieces of cake, picking off that topping, and putting it on your piece. Guilty as charged.
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Cocoa Crumble-Topped Chocolate Mocha Cake
Ingredients
Cocoa Crumble Topping
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted (half of 1 stick)
- ½ cup confectioners’ sugar
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder
Cake
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
- 1 large egg
- ⅓ cup plain or vanilla Greek yogurt, sour cream may be substituted
- ¼ cup BAILEYS® Coffee Creamers Chocolatini (BAILEYS® Coffee Creamers Mudslide
- ¼ cup brewed coffee, leftover from morning brew is okay; does not make cake taste like coffee
- 3 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Chocolate Glaze
- 2 to 3 tablespoons BAILEYS® Coffee Creamers Chocolatini (BAILEYS® Coffee Creamers Mudslide
- about 1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8-inch square pan with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray, or grease and flour the pan; set aside.
- Cocoa Crumble Topping – In a medium, microwave-safe bowl melt the butter, about 1 minute on high power.
- Add the confectioners’ sugar, flour, cocoa powder, and with a fork, stir lightly to combine. Fluff mixture with the fork until sandy small pebbles and crumbly bits form; set aside.
- Cake – In a large bowl, whisk together flour, granulated sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, and optional salt. Whisk well to make sure any lumps from cocoa have been stirred smooth; set aside.
- In a large measuring cup or separate small bowl, whisk together the egg, yogurt, creamer, coffee, oil, and vanilla.
- Add the wet mixture to the dry, mixing lightly with a rubber spatula until just combined; don’t overmix.
- Turn batter out into prepared pan, smoothing the top lightly with a spatula.
- Using your fingers, evenly top with the cocoa crumble topping.
- Bake for about 30 to 32 minutes, or until center is set and not jiggly, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter. Watch your cake, not the clock, and always bake until done noting that climate, oven, and exact ingredients used effect baking time. Cake may have some pits and valleys, with some sections being higher or lower than others. This is okay and happens because the crumble topping weighs down certain sections more so than others.
- Place pan on a wire rack and allow cake to cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing and glazing.
- Glaze – To a small bowl, add 2 tablespoons creamer, and slowly add the confectioners’ sugar.
- Whisk together until smooth. Depending on desired consistency, you may need to play with the creamer and sugar ratios slightly.
- Evenly drizzle the glaze over the cake before slicing and serving. Cake will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 5 days. I’m comfortable storing glazed cakes at room temperature, but if you’re not, glaze only the portion you plan to consume immediately; I don’t recommend refrigerating the cake because it will dry out.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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This post brought to you by Baileys Creamers. Recipe and all opinions expressed are my own.
Crumbles are amazing but you definitely do not see chocolate/cocoa crumbles enough in life!
Do you have a recipe for crumble topping with coconut oil? Whenever I sub coconut oil for butter it tends to make whatever I’m baking a little more crumbly so wonder if its appropriate to substitute for this or if it would just not have enough consistency to stay together.
That’s tough…I know when I make cookies with coconut oil, the dough can become incredibly crumbly, yet oily; if you compensate with enough flour it’s fine. But in this situation, hmmm..I mean the worst you can do is try and be out a few bucks for ingredients but I would say that butter is the beset. But maybe semi-solid/chilled coconut oil may work. If you trial it, LMK what you come up with!
Yum! I am seriously loving all the chocolate going on in this picture. You are a smart lady! Thanks for posting another great looking recipe :)
The cocoa crumble is calling my name!!! Love this cake, Averie! Pinned!
Thanks for pinning and I’ll trade you one of these for your white choc cookies which look incredible!
Thank you, Averie!!
What an amazing cake!! I swear, I’d eat the whole thing, even though it was breakfast. And you’re going to do AMAZING this weekend!!!! xo
Thanks, girl. I’ve been running 10 to 13 miles a day every day for the last 10 days or so, so hopefully I can put up a decent time. Although, I’d be happy with just finishing. It starts at 615AM. That is insane for me to be functioning at top speeds. LOL
Pure Genius….I love traditional crumb cake but chocolate crumbs I’ve never seen before this must be so good. I hope one is waiting for you at the end of your half marathon ….you’ll deserve it!!!
Oh you’re so sweet! I actually hope a couple stiff drinks are waiting for me. I can pound down a few margaritas like nobody’s business after a hot, long run :) And I had never really seen choc crumbs either but I figured, why not!
oh Averie we have been on the same wave length! I was trying to make a no bake crumble using coco puffs on a sheet cake just like this. Love it!
No way!! These turned out looking like Cocoa Puffs! I really wanted to call it the Cocoa Puffs cake but thought better of it :)
A half marathon? Whoa! You go girl. And I love the idea of a cocoa crumble! Plus mocha cake is pretty much going to haunt me until I make it :)
Yeah girl I run like 6- 10 miles a day normally so a half really isn’t a biggie for me, but I live on the racecourse and have always wanted to do this race so I am! Thanks for your well-wishes!
Good luck on your marathon this weekend, Averie! I’m sure this cake will motivate you just a little bit. The cocoa crumble sounds AMAZING! I’ve never heard of it before, either, but now I want to try it! Pinned!
Thanks, Gayle, for the well-wishes!
At first I was like, I’ve never heard of this before, either! But then I kept reading and scrolling and I wanted this heavenly concoction more and more :) I like crumble topped things, too! And wow, good luck on the half marathon, that’s awesome, Averie!
Thanks, Christy, for the well-wishes and I hadn’t ever had chocolate crumbles either but they sure tasted good!
Oh…excuse me while I wipe the drool from my chin. I can’t wait to make this cake. Good luck on your race this weekend. Go Averie!!!!
LOL and thanks for the well-wishes! If you try this cake, LMK!
You can never go wrong with coffee and chocolate…and putting them together in cake form is even better! Looks like an awesome cake.
Good luck with your race this weekend – the half marathon is my favorite distance!
MINE TOO! 5ks are horrible, way too jackrabbit fast for me. I don’t run like that. 10k’s still too much of that and then I am sprinting for 6 miles, dying the whole time. So yes, halves are the best. And marathons kill you in the training! Ive been running lots of 10-12 milers the past 10 days or so, so I just hope I have a decent run!
Good luck with your race this weekend! We’ve been having great running weather here in the Midwest (so nice after that extra long winter!). Chocolaty crumbles and flavored creamer all in one cake–very creative!! I love using a little coffee with chocolate baked anything….and a quarter cup over a whole cake is probably only a generous teaspoon per slice–just enough to give it that “little something”.
That little something is about right! And I’m glad to hear you’re getting some good running weather in. I actually love to run in the HOT hot weather and heat, but at 6am in San Diego, that will never ever happen. I still don’t even know what I am wearing. Gah. It’ll be like 60F and overcast. For me, I’ll be tempted to wear a down coat. Kidding, but barely :)
Cocoa crumble? Sounds amazing!!
Averie, I tried your Baileys Sweet Cream Coffee Cake at BlogHer and I almost died! It is so good!
I can’t wait to try this mocha cake version! I mean, cocoa crumbles? YES PLEASE! Pinned! :)
No way!!! Thanks for saying you tried it and a few people tweeted or told me they did. It was a random fluke situation that I couldn’t go to BHF at the last minute but I totally wanted to! Thanks for saying you loved the cake…okay, that makes me feel so good!!!!! :)
Good luck in your race this weekend! The last time I did a half marathon my first thought as I crossed the finish line was, “I’m never doing that again!” haha :) Of course that’s soon forgotten and the race bug gets me and I dream of doing another one.
My favorite chocolate cake recipe uses coffee. It really does help intensify the flavor. This cake looks outstanding. That cocoa crumble is so unique!
LOL I can relate to that feeling. I normally run 6-10 miles a day so a half isn’t a biggie for me but I have stepped up my training the past 2 weeks and been running more 10-12 milers. I feel prepared and I just hope I finish in one piece, no injuries, falls, etc and then I’ll be drinking :)
Thanks for the cake compliments!
I do my best thinking during working out, too! It helps to think about dessert while you’re doing repetitive motion. Like a special kind of meditation.
Good luck on your half marathon!
And be sure to eat lots of this cake. You’ve earned it! I love that there’s no mixer and that it has crumbs. Chocolate crumbs, no less! Such a great idea!
Oh I’m skipping cake and cutting straight to booze :) A couple cold margaritas at the finish line, mmm, that is all I need. LOL But cake wouldn’t be bad either :) And yes to a special kind of meditation!! That is soooo true. I replay the ingredients, method, etc over and over and over in my mind so that then when I’m actually at my mixing bowl, I know exactly what I am going to do!