Crumb Cake

I've been spending a lot of time with my family in New York recently, and one of the perks has been all the great food. There's been bagels, deli meats, steak dinners, and plenty of dessert, but everybody always goes for the crumb cake. Unfortunately, before I could snag a piece, Jackson the family dog ate literally the entire pan. Yes, I was beat to a delicious breakfast by a golden retriever. Fortunately, I have my own crumb cake recipe, and I can make it at home in Chicago where there's no large sneaky dogs (or hungry relatives) to compete with. I can attest that this is the best crumb cake recipe you'll ever make because--in addition to satisfying plenty of my family on Long Island--I had an entire exam in Food Functionality on the chemical processes that happen when you bake a crumb cake. I got an A, by the way.

The trick to a great crumb cake is balancing the moist, delicate cake with a big pile of cinnamon-spiced crumbly topping. Real New Yorkers exclusively eat crumb cakes with a 50/50 ratio of crumb to cake, and this definitely comes close. I always start with the crumb so it's ready to go when I finish the batter; its an easy blend of sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, flour, and lots of melted butter. It should be just wet enough to break into crumbly bits. I usually add the flour last and stir it in gradually so I don't over-do it since it's easier to not add flour than it is to add more liquids. It can sit out while you make the cake batter, but I find that keeping it cold in the fridge makes it easier to crumble.

Even though this can be considered a breakfast cake, you mix it up like any other cake recipe. The butter and sugar are creamed together, then you add an egg and an egg yolk plus a splash of vanilla. To avoid a lumpy batter, alternate the dry and wet ingredients. Here, those are cake flour (for an extra tender cake), baking soda, and salt plus buttermilk since buttermilk makes everything better. If you don't have buttermilk on hand, you can acidify milk with a splash of white vinegar or lemon juice, though I highly recommend just buying some buttermilk and using it in other cakes, muffins, pancakes, or even mashed potatoes.

Once the batter and the crumble are ready, they go into a 9" cake pan and into the oven. They're baked until a toothpick comes out clean, and you can even eat the slice warm since the beauty of crumb cake is you don't need to frost it so you don't have to wait until it's cool. To spice it up, you can add some fruit between the cake batter and the crumb, like some berries, peaches, or cherries. Those would help justify eating this for breakfast, or you can just pull a Jackson and have absolutely no shame.

1/3 Cup + 1/2 Cup Sugar
1/3 Cup Dark Brown Sugar
3/4 tsp Ground Cinnamon
3/8 tsp Salt
1 Stick Butter, Melted but Warm
6 T Butter, Cubed, Softened but Cool
2 1/2 Cups Cake Flour
1/4 tsp Baking Soda
1 Egg
1 Egg Yolk
1 tsp Vanilla
1/2 Cup Buttermilk

Whisk together 1/3 cup sugar, dark brown sugar, cinnamon, 1/8 tsp salt, and melted butter. Stir in 1 1/4 cups cake flour. Chill until cold.

Heat oven to 325°F. Line an 8-9" square pan with parchment and grease.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the cubed butter and remaining sugar together until fluffy. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla. Combine the cake flour, baking soda, and remaining salt together. Add the flour addition in 3 additions, alternating with the buttermilk in 2 additions.

Spread the batter into the prepared pan and top with the streusel. Bake until golden and cooked through, 30-40 minutes.

Recipe Adapted from Cook's Illustrated
Serves 8