Crumb Cake

This is one of my favorite brunch cakes,  though I've never shared it with our guests. There is just no way it can be eaten without showering clothes with crumbs and powdered sugar and I hate to do that to  friends who usually dress for the occasion. So, this lovely classic crumb cake has become private stock and is reserved only for my family who dress for the occasion only when threatened with bodily harm. I found this recipe on the King Arthur Flour site years ago and it has been my crumb cake of choice ever since. The cake base is moist and appropriately dense and it's buried under a generous layer of very tasty crumbs. The cake comes together quickly and it really is delicious. It does have one flaw. It stales quickly, so it is best eaten slightly warm on the day it is made. There are no secrets to share or tricks needed to make this successfully. This is a cake that can be made by anyone who can read. The recipe appears below. I can't let April Fools Day pass without sharing my favorite prank with you. It happens to involve food, so I thought it would be appropriate to include it here. Ready? On April Fools Day in 1957, a BBC news show announced that Swiss farmers had been able to grow spaghetti, and,  to bolster the claim, they aired footage of peasants pulling spaghetti down from trees. Viewers began calling in to the BBC to find out how they could grow their own spaghetti. The BBC replied, "place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best." Truth is stranger than fiction.

Crumb Cake

Ingredients:

Cake
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature

1-1/4 cups granulated sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

1/2 teaspoon lemon extract

3 large eggs

1-1/2 cups all-purpose Flour

heaping 1/8 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt

Topping
4 tablespoons chilled butter, cubed

4 tablespoons solid shortening

1 cup all-purpose flour

2/3 cup confectioners' sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon lemon extract

1 to 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar or non-melting white sugar, for sprinkling on top

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9" square cake pan. Line bottom of pan with parchment paper. Grease paper.

2) In a medium-sized mixing bowl, beat together butter, sugar, salt, and flavorings for 2 minutes, till smooth. Add eggs, beating well after each addition; continue beating after adding last egg for at least 3 minutes at medium-high speed. Batter should look fluffy, with no grains of sugar visible.

3) Add flour and baking soda to butter mixture, beating gently to combine.

4) Add yogurt and beat gently until well blended.

5) Spread batter in prepared pan. Bake cake for 30 minutes.

6) While cake is baking, mix all topping ingredients just until medium crumbs form.

7) After 30 minutes, remove cake from oven. Quickly and gently sprinkle crumbs on top, and return to oven. Bake for 15 minutes longer, or until a cake tester inserted into center comes out clean. Remove cake from oven and cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Cover surface of cake with aluminum foil (to catch wayward crumbs) and invert onto a cooling rack. Remove parchment paper from bottom of cake and invert again, so crumb side is facing up. When cake is completely cool, sprinkle it with confectioners' sugar. Yield: One 9-inch square pan.

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Two Years Ago Today: Pork Tenderloin Baked in A Salt Crust

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