Luncheonette Crumb Cake Recipes

CRUMB CAKE

Steps:

• In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Using a spoon, stir in the cake flour one cup at a time, until the mixture forms a cohesive dough, like a very thick and clumpy cookie dough. As you add the last cup of flour, the mixture will be difficult to stir, so feel free to ditch the spoon and use your hands to mix it in. Set aside.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F and set an oven rack to the middle position. Grease a 9 x 13-in cake pan.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the softened butter and granulated sugar on medium-high speed, scraping the bowl as necessary, until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until incorporated after each addition (don't worry if the batter looks a little curdled at this point). Beat in the vanilla and scrape the bowl to make sure everything is evenly combined. Add the flour mixture alternately with the sour cream (half of the flour/all of the sour cream/then the remaining half of the flour), mixing on low speed with each addition, until just combined.
• Spread the cake batter evenly in the cake pan (it will only come about ¾ inch up the sides of the pan). Top the batter with the streusel crumbs, using your fingers to break it apart and form it into roughly ½-inch chunks. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Let the cake cool fully on a rack. Dust with powdered sugar and cut into squares to serve. Cover the cake with aluminum foil and store at room temperature; it will keep nicely for up to 3 days. To keep the cake fresher longer, store it in the refrigerator but bring it to room temperature before serving.
• Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The cake can be frozen for up to 3 months. After it is completely cooled, wrap it tightly with aluminum foil or freezer wrap. Thaw overnight on the countertop before serving.

NEW YORK STYLE CRUMB CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and grease a 9×13 inch baking pan or line with parchment paper. You can use a glass, ceramic, or metal baking pan. The bake time is similar for each, but use a toothpick to test for doneness. Metal baking pans cook cakes faster. Set pan aside.
• Mix the brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, and salt together in a medium bowl. Stir in the melted butter, then gently mix the flour using a fork. Keep the mixture as large crumbles, do not over-mix. If over-mixed, this will turn into a thick paste. Set aside.
• Whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together. Set aside.
• Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and granulated sugar together on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Add the eggs, sour cream, and the vanilla. Beat on medium-high speed until combined. The mixture may look curdled; that's ok. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl as needed. With the mixer on low speed, mix in the dry ingredients until smooth. Do not over-mix. The batter will be thick, creamy, and sticky.
• Spread the batter evenly into prepared baking pan. Top with crumb topping. Using a rubber spatula or the back of a large spoon, press the crumb topping tightly down into the cake so it sticks.
• Bake for 45-55 minutes. Baking times vary, so keep an eye on yours and begin checking at 45 minutes. The cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. If you find the top or edges of the cake is/are browning too quickly in the oven, loosely cover it with aluminum foil.
• Remove the cake from the oven and set on a wire rack. Allow to slightly cool for at least 30-45 minutes before cutting. If desired, dust with confectioners' sugar before slicing and serving. Use a sifter/fine mesh sieve.

LUNCHEONETTE CRUMB CAKE

Steps:

• TOPPING:.
• In a medium bowl whisk sugars, cinnamon, salt. Stir in the melted butter. Add flour and mix with your hands until the mixture resembles thick, cohesive dough; set aside to cool to room temperature, 10 to 15 minutes.
• CAKE:.
• Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees.
• Completely line an 8 x 8 pan with parchment paper or foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray.
• Using an electric mixer, in your bowl mix flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt on low speed to combine.
• With mixer running at low speed, add butter one piece at a time; continue beating until mixture resembles moist crumbs, with no visible butter chunks remaining, 1 to 2 minutes.
• Add egg, yolk, vanilla, almond extract and buttermilk; beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute, scraping once if necessary.
• Transfer batter to baking pan; using rubber spatula, spread batter into even layer. Break apart crumb topping into large pea-sized pieces and spread in even layer over batter.
• Bake until crumbs are golden and wooden skewer inserted into center of cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool on wire rack at least 30 minutes. Remove cake from pan by lifting parchment overhang.
• Dust with confectioners' sugar - this is what makes it a true NY Crumb cake!

SHEET PAN CRUMB CAKE

Steps:

• For the crumb: Combine the brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl. Drizzle in the butter and mix with a fork until just combined. Add the flour and mix with the fork until it has been evenly distributed and small to medium clumps have formed. Do not overmix or it will turn into a paste.
• For the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray an 18-by-13-inch rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.
• Beat the butter and granulated sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the egg one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with the sour cream in 2 batches, starting and ending with the flour. Beat until just incorporated.
• Spoon the cake batter (it will be very thick) into the prepared baking sheet and smooth with an offset spatula. Sprinkle on the crumb topping and press gently into the batter to adhere.
• Bake until the cake and topping are golden brown, and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool completely in the baking sheet, about 1 hour. Slice and serve from the baking sheet.

OUTRAGEOUSLY BUTTERY CRUMB CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 12x18-inch jellyroll pan.
• Beat the yellow cake mix, water, eggs, and 1/2 cup softened butter together with an electric mixer in a mixing bowl until thoroughly blended, about 2 minutes on medium speed. Pour the cake batter into the prepared jellyroll pan.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the edges of the cake are light brown but the middle of the cake is still slightly gooey, 15 to 17 minutes.
• While the cake is baking, mix together the brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla extract, butter, and flour together in a large bowl until the mixture forms medium crumbs. Remove the cake from the oven, and press about 3/4 of the crumb topping onto the top of the almost-baked cake. Reserve the remaining topping.
• Return the cake to the oven, and bake an additional 10 to 12 minutes, until the crumb topping is firm and the cake is cooked all the way through.
• Remove the cake from the oven, and sprinkle with the remaining crumb topping. Let the cake cool to room temperature, and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar.