Crumb Cake

I’m a little aggravated typing this… I baked this delightfully easy Crumb Cake a few days ago and I was in such a good mood I decided to type the recipe that same day. Usually I postpone typing the recipe till the very last moment, but I already did it and I felt great about it. My brother formatted my computer yesterday, and I backed everything up … or so I thought. You probably know what’s coming next … I forgot to back up my Word-files! So bye bye Crumb Cake recipe and hello typing it yet again! Urgh! Oh yeah, that’s not all, because this cake has TWO recipes and that’s TWO recipes to type over. Pfew, I’m glad I let it out and got it off my chest. Anyways, now on to the cake: 4- out of 5.

Crumb Cake recipe: Martha Stewart - Baking Handbook

Ingredients:
- 1 ¼ sticks (10 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cups sour cream
- Crumb Cake Topping (see recipe below)
- Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting (optional)

Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Generously butter a 13-by-9-inch baking pan; set aside. Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl; set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until incorporated after each addition. Mix in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture and sour cream; beat just until combined.
- Spoon the batter into the pan, and smooth with an offset spatula. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the batter. Bake until cake is golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 40 to 50 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack. Before serving, dust with confectioners’ sugar, if using.

Crumb Topping recipe: Martha Stewart - Baking Handbook
Makes enough for one 13-by-9-inch cake
(This may seem like a lot, but I really wouldn’t use half of this recipe, I did, and I regretted it deeply)

Ingredients:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 ½ teaspoons coarse salt
- 3 ½ sticks (1 ¾ cups) unsalted butter, room temperature

Instructions:
- In a medium bowl, whisk to combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt; cut in the butter using a pastry blender, until large, moist crumbs form. Alternatively, mix together in a food processor.




Martha writes that this “foolproof cake is perfect for beginning bakers.” Well I’m hardly a beginning baker, but it is really nice to bake something as simple as this lush cake.

The perfect afternoon snack.