So let's begin our journey...Post date: 7/1/11
Hosted by: Karen's Cookies Cakes & More
As quoted by Matt Lewis:
I learned the hard way: New York-Style Crumb Cake is not to be confused with coffee cake-ever. A very passionate born and bred New Yorker (aka Renato Poliafito) informed me, quite brutally, about the not-so-subtle differences between the two. It was a dressing down I won’t ever forget. It was as if I’d confused Picasso with Norman Rockwell. First and foremost, New York crumb cake is all about the crumb topping. It is obscenely large in proportion to the cake. In fact, the topping is nearly identical in thickness to--or even thicker than-the cake. Second of all, the crumb should never contain nuts-no crushed nuts, no whole nuts, no hint of a nut whatsoever. Finally, a true New York crumb cake is swirl free. This was the hardest part for me to reconcile, as I love a chocolate nut swirl, and this cake seems like a natural swirl candidate. But I obeyed the New York Crumb Commandments and am now a convert myself.To help each other out, please leave your comments and/or questions regarding this recipe in the comments section of this post.
I made this (twice) already. My first time was a total flop.... but yesterday's batch was perfect!
ReplyDeleteI just got my book today... I was so excited! As a native New Yorker myself I am looking forward to baking this! Karen - Any tips?
ReplyDeleteWhen I made it both times, i halved the recipe. The reason why it flopped the first time: the cake pan i used was too big and my crumb topping SANK and the cake didnt really bake up properly. The 2nd time... (again halving the recipe) I used a smaller cake pan and I added some more flour to the crumb topping.
ReplyDeleteI made this earlier in the week for my entire family, and everyone loved it! I followed the directions to a T, and every last piece was gone before the end of the day! --Lulu the Baker
ReplyDeleteKaren - what size pan did you use for a half recipe? Looking forward to making this one!!
ReplyDeleteThe first time was an 8x8 pan.... Dont use that! The 2nd time i used my muffin pan.
ReplyDeleteThis is probably never going to happen again, but I actually made this in advance of the due date! I made 5 mini cakes out of a halved recipe and it worked really well with gluten free flour.
ReplyDeleteNice Dawn! What size were your mini cake pans? I am trying to figure out the best pan to use to only halve the recipe. Want to make this tonight to take to work tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteGloria...they were around 3 3/4 x 4 inches each...technically it's supposed to be a 6 piece mini monkey bread pan but it worked great for cakes
ReplyDeleteThanks Dawn! Not sure which pan I'm going to use yet...I have six inch mini cake pans. We'll see how it goes!
ReplyDeleteI made a half recipe using a large muffin pan. I got 5 large muffins. A couple were really large. I think I could have gotten 6, if I'd have made them a little smaller.
ReplyDeleteThis is SOOOOOOOO good. I took mine to work, so I wouldn't be tempted to eat them all.
I'm thinking muffins? Is it easy to make muffins from them?
ReplyDeleteIt was much easier to half the recipe and use a muffin pan rather than a cake pan.
ReplyDeleteI made this tonight and went ahead and made the full recipe in a 9x13 pan. I baked it for 55 minutes and think my topping was a tiny bit over done. It has a nice crunch. I used light brown sugar (instead of dark) so I'm not sure if that contributed to the crunch factor. The crumb cake was delicious. Hope the office thinks so too tomorrow!
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