A crumb cakeworth digging into
I'm a sweets-for-breakfast guy. When I need grab-andgo food, these blueberrymuffins are what I make. When I have time to wake up and bake, these buttermilk biscuits with jam hit the spot.
When I want to procrastinateaThursdaymorningaway, I make crumb cake, the oldschool Jewish/ German/New York kind with an avalanche of rocky shortbread crumbles ontop. It's a totally reasonable thing to eat when you wake up that is also a cake.
I turn the volume up by amplifying the best part about the cake: the topping. I create boulder-sized crumbs, which are really what we all want.
And instead of a gentle perfume of spice, I pack the crumbswithspoonfulsofreally good cinnamon that's been warmed in brown butter. My favorite cinnamon is theVietnam-sourcedRoyalCinnamon from Burlap & Barrel, a company that sells exceptional and responsibly sourced fairtrade spices.
To balance all the intensity up top, I leave the cake batter below relatively plain — a buttery yellow cake scented with vanilla.
The cake keeps for a week andit only gets better and better the further I get from the day I had to put in the work to bake it.
BROWNBUTTERCINNAMONCRUMB CAKE
Time 2 hours, largely unattended
Aspringformpan isbest because you can remove the sides and slide the cake out without disturbing the crumbs on top. Ifyou have only a plain cake pan, though, that willwork too; justmake sure it’s at least 3 inches tall on the sides so the crumbs andbatter don’t spill while baking.
¾ cup(1½ sticks) unsalted butter, plusmorefor greasing 2tablespoonshigh-quality groundcinnamon(see KitchenNote) 2cupsall-purposeflour ¾ cupgranulatedsugar ¼ cuppackedlightbrown
sugar 1½ teaspoonskoshersalt, preferablyDiamond Crystal
½ cup(1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plusmore for thepan 2cupsall-purposeflour,
plusmoreforrolling 2teaspoonsbaking
powder 1 teaspoonkoshersalt, preferablyDiamond Crystal ¼ teaspoonbakingsoda 1 cupgranulatedsugar 1 tablespoonpurevanilla
extract
2largeeggs ⅓ cupsourcream 1cupwholemilk Powderedsugar, togarnish (optional)
1. Make the crumb topping: Put the butter in amedium skillet and place overmedium-high heat. Once the buttermelts, continue cooking, whisking occasionally, until the butter foamsand then starts to smell nutty, 3 to5minutes. As soon as you see lightbrown flecks on the bottomof the skillet (these are the milk solids caramelizing), remove thepan fromthe heat and use a heatproof rubber spatula to scrape the butter and all the browned bits on thebottomof the pan into a mediumbowl. Whisk in the cinnamon untilsmooth, then place the bowl in the freezer for 10minutes, stirring two or three times while it chills, to cool the butter until no longer warm.
2. Remove the butter from the refrigeratorand add the flour, followedbyboth sugars and the salt. Using your hands, mixand knead the mixture until it forms a clumpy dough. Transfer the bowl to the freezerand keep the crumble topping cold while you prepthe cake batter.
3. Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease a9-inch round springformpanwith somebutterand line the bottomwith a round of parchmentpaper. Grease thepaper, then coat the inside with flour, tapping out the excess. Place thepan on aparchmentpaper-lined baking sheet.
4. Make the cakebatter: In amediumbowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt andbaking soda. In a large bowl, combine the butter, sugarandvanilla and beat with awooden spoon ora hand mixer until creamy and fluffy, about 1 minute. Addone egg, beat until it absorbs into thebatter, then add the second egg and beat untilsmooth. Beat in the sour cream.
5.Addone-thirdofthe dry ingredients followedby halfthe milk tothebatter, then stirwith awhisk until almost combined.Addhalf the remaining dry ingredients followedby the remaining milk, then stiragain until almost combined.Addthe remaining dry ingredients, then stirwith a rubber spatula until thebatter just comes togetherandthereare nopatchesofflourvisible.
6. Scrape thebatter into the preparedbaking pan andsmooth the top. Using yourfingers, breakupthe chilled topping into crumbles — somethe size ofwhole walnuts andsomethe size ofpeas— as you sprinkle it evenlyover thebatter. Trynot to pile all the crumbs in the centerbut evenly cover the surface so thebatterdoesn’t get squeezedout.
7. Place the pan in the oven and bake until golden brown on top and a toothpick insertedin the centerof the cake comes out clean, about 1 hourand20to30minutes. Transfer the cake to awire rackand let cool completely before unmolding. Dust the topwith powdered sugar, if you like, and cut intowedges to serve.