New York Style Crumb Cake

I was having trouble deciding what I was going to make last night. I had thought about making sticky buns because my grandma had made them over Christmas and they were amazing. But then I started thinking about the time it would take to make a proper yeasted dough and having to scrape the delicious sticky goodness off one of my pans and it quickly got me out of the mood. I still wanted to make something in the breakfast/dessert category, but it needed to be quick. That's when I landed on coffee cake. You can have it in the morning with a cup of coffee and in the evening with a big bowl of ice cream, or at least I can... and will.


I kept pretty close to this recipe, although instead of using melted butter for the crumb topping I used slightly softened butter and cut it into the dry ingredients using a pastry cutter. This gives you a little bit lighter crumb topping, more a a sandy topping instead of lumps of hard crumbs. It's still dense and rich, but you get more of a uniform top. I'm planning on making some coffee ice cream tonight to get the best of both worlds!

New York Style Coffee Cake (adapted from Fake Ginger)

crumb topping:
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup butter, slightly soft
2 1/2 cup AP flour

cake:
2 1/2 cups AP flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
12 Tbsp butter, softened
1 1/2 granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/4 sour cream
1 tsp vanilla bean paste

1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9x13" pan.

2. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients for the crumb topping. The butter should be in pea-size pieces when you're done. Set aside.

3. Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Add the sour cream and vanilla bean paste and mix.

4. Combine all of the dry ingredients and add it into wet ingredients in 3 additions. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix just until combined.

5. Pour into the prepared pan and smooth out with a spatula. Sprinkle crumb topping over the batter. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool. Serve with a sprinkle of powdered sugar!