When I was a kid, I spent countless hours in the kitchen. My grandmother would put me in the kitchen towel drawer since she didn’t have a bassinet. She would make me a mixture of flour and water — a kind of homemade play-dough — to play with as I watched her cook. I spent countless joyful hours that way.
To say I have been looking forward to cooking and baking with my son might be the understatement of the century. I want him to have all those same warm, wonderful memories of cooking and baking with me that I have. He is only two months old, but given that for most of the last year during my pregnancy I was sick, nauseous, and unable to eat much, I was especially excited for our first joint baking project.
And I knew this was the cake I wanted to bake — it’s the best crumb cake ever. First, it’s easy-peasy. Second, to those of us Italian Americans who grew up with company cake, this cake — dare I say it — is better than an Entenmann’s crumb cake, you know, the kind where the knife stays in the box? In fact, years back, I used to sell this cake to a café in Brooklyn. It’s that good.
It makes a great gift and is easy enough to throw in the oven when you have company coming. It’s also a fun way to spend time with the children in your life — even if they’re only two months old.
A Few Notes
The secret to this cake is the crumbs, and the secret to the crumbs is that they’re all butter. I prefer to use a European butter such as Kerrygold, as it has a higher fat content. Bear in mind that these crumbs are somewhat customizable, and your measurements can change a bit if you use another butter or prefer more or less cinnamon. I’ve even thrown a pinch of cocoa into the crumbs.
The cake itself is a riff on my Aunt Phyllis’ cake that I published last year. Feel free to add chocolate chips to the batter to make it extra special.
As always, let your creativity flow.
Crumb Cake
30
minutes40
minutesCake:
2 cups 2 flour
1 cup 1 sugar
1 envelope 1 lievito paneangeki (or 2 tsp. baking powder)
pinch of salt
3 medium 3 eggs
1/2 cup 1/2 milk
1/2 cup 1/2 vegetable oil
2 tsp. 2 vanilla extract
1/2 bag 1/2 chocolate chips (optional)
- Crumbs:
8 oz. + 2 tbsp. 8 high fat butter, such as Kerrygold
2 cups 2 flour
1 1/2 cups 1 1/2 sugar (add more, depending on how much cinnamon you use)
4-6 tsp. 4-6 cinnamon (or more, depending on taste)
1 tsp. 1 vanilla
Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Put dry ingredients in bowl.
- Add wet ingredients and mix.
- Stir in chocolate chips, if using.
- Bake in a greased and floured springform pan for 25 minutes.
- You are going to add crumbs to the cake after 25 minutes, so don’t turn the oven off.
- Crumbs:
- Melt butter.
- Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl.
- Add butter and vanilla.
- Mix to form crumbs.
- Take the cake from the oven after 25 minutes, and add crumbs to the top of the cake.
- Bake an additional 15 minutes or until knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
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