New York-Style Crumb Cake

New York-Style Crumb Cake puts ground cinnamon, salt and baking soda at the center of a breakfast recipe and finishes in about 60 minutes, enough for 9 Servings.

• Yield 9 Servings
• Ready in 60 minutes
• Prep 20 minutes
• Cook 40 minutes

Ingredients

Crumb Topping

• ⅓ cup ( 71 g ) granulated sugar
• ⅓ cup ( 71 g ) dark brown sugar
• ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ⅛ teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoons ( 113 g ) butter , melted and still warm
• 1 ¾ cups ( 200 g ) cake flour

Cake

• 1 ¼ cups ( 143 g ) cake flour
• ½ cup ( 106 g ) granulated sugar
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons ( 85 g ) butter , cut into 6 pieces, softened but still cool
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ⅓ cup buttermilk
• Confectioners’ sugar for dusting , optional

Instructions

1. For the topping, in a medium bowl, combine the sugars, cinnamon, salt and melted butter. Add the flour and stir with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon until the mixture is thick and smooth. Set aside to cool to room temperature, 10 to 15 minutes.
2. For the cake, adjust an oven rack to upper-middle position and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Cut a 16-inch length parchment paper or aluminum foil and fold lengthwise to 7-inch width. Spray an 8-inch square baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and fit the parchment into the dish, pushing it into the corners and up the sides; allowing the excess to hang over the edges.
3. In a large bowl (or the bowl of an electric mixer), mix the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer running at low speed (electric or handheld), add the softened butter one piece at a time and continue beating until the mixture resembles moist crumbs, with no visible butter chunks remaining, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the egg, egg yolk, vanilla, and buttermilk and beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute, scraping once if necessary.
4. Scrape the batter into the baking pan, spreading it into an even layer. Break apart the crumb topping that was set aside into large pea-sized pieces and spread the topping in an even layer over the batter. Bake the cake until the crumbs are golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool on a wire rack at least 30 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan by lifting the parchment or foil overhang. Dust with confectioners' sugar, if desired, just before serving.

Cool the layers before you stack them.