Brooklyn Crumb Cake Recipe

My first childhood memories of cakes came from prying a slice of Sara Lee's pound cake from the aluminium container. These cakes can be found in the refrigerated section of any supermarket back in those days, and it was a treat to come home to find a box in the fridge. We were probably meant to heat the cake up in the oven, but for some reason, I just never got around to it and often eat it cold from of the fridge. 

This isn't a cake that I typically make. This is one of those cakes that Miss XS is prejudiced about: she'll take the tiniest crumb possible, make a face and ask me why I am wasting my time making a sponge cake. Yet, something about this cake strikes me with a sense of nostalgia.I certainly wasn't from Brooklyn... But something about this shade of yellow reminded me of my childhood cake, and I couldn't resist. The crumbs scattered over the top of the cake gave each slice a sheen of sophistication that my childhood pound cakes lacked, and was much appreciated. Halfway eating through my slice, I found myself hankering for vanilla ice cream, which would go spendidly with the cinnamon undertone of this cake.

The original recipe calls for sour cream, but DL notes that he uses yogurt, which gives it a lighter texture. I stuck to the original recipe, but you can certainly use either. It depends on your preference (or if you're like me, whatever you happen to have lying around the house.)

Coffee Cake
One 9-inch (23cm) cake, about 9 servings
Adapted from Hand Made Baking by Kamran Siddiqi
"The original recipe called for sour cream but I found the acidity in the yogurt gave the cake a better push, which lightened it up just a bit. Be sure not to overbake the coffee cake; because of the topping, the cake can tends to be dense and overbaking will make it too crumbly." - DL

Ingredients
<Topping>
1 ½ cups (210g) flour
2/3 cup (120g) packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup (115g) unsalted butter, cubed and melted
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

<Cake>
½ cup (115g) unsalted butter, cubed, at room temperature
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
2 cups (280g) flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking powder, preferably aluminum-free
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¾ cup (180g) plain whole milk yogurt or sour cream
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Powdered sugar, for dusting the cake (optional)

Steps
1. To make the topping, mix together the 1 ½ cups flour, the brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, 1/2 cup of melted butter, and vanilla in a medium bowl. Stir in the butter and vanilla until the mixture is well-combined and crumbly. Set aside.

2. Butter a 9-inch (23cm) square cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper or dust it with flour and tap out any excess. Preheat the oven to 325ºF (160ºC.)

3. To make the cake batter, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl using a spoon or spatula, cream the 1/2 cup of softened butter and granulated sugar until light and smooth. Add the egg and the yolk, stopping the mixer to scrape down the sides.

4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the 2 cups of flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda, until well combined.

5. Stir in half of the dry ingredients, then the yogurt or sour cream and vanilla, then the rest of the dry ingredients, mixing just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Don’t overmix. If using a stand mixer, you may want to finish mixing the batter with a spatula, by hand.

6. Drop the thick better into four large dollops, equally spaced apart, into the prepared pan. Use a metal offset spatula, or another utensil, to spread the batter as even as you can making sure you the batter reaches into the corners. Because the cake puffs up in the middle as it bakes, leave more batter on the sides than in the middle. 

7. Going by handfuls, strew the topping over the cake batter in the pan, gently pressing down each handful into the batter as you go, with enough pressure to gently “fuse” it into the batter but not enough to crush or flatten it. Any monster-sized chunks can be broken up with your fingertips, but it’s nice to have both large and small chunks in there. (Although just be aware the big chunks will fall off when you slice it. However they’re excellent gobbled up as a “bakers bonus.”)

6. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 45 to 50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. (The original recipe gave the baking time as 60 to 70 minutes, although mine was done around the 45 minutes mark. Yours may take longer.) Let cool completely, then slice into squares.


Storage: The cake can be kept at room temperature for up to four days, well-wrapped. It can also be frozen for up to two months.