Crumb Coffeecake

My husband and my sister bond over coffee. Lace comes down for the weekend and first thing, out comes the Bodum french press and specialty roast. They stand there, staring into the depths of their cream-colored coffee mugs, commenting in soft tones about the "oiliness" and "floral notes." So it seemed appropriate, upon welcoming my sis down for the weekend, to make a coffeecake to accompany their hot brew.

I picked a crumb coffeecake as opposed to a sour cream coffeecake. A crumb coffeecake has a delicious cake on the bottom that is moist, but neither soggy or dense, with a fragrant, crumb topping. Biting into a crumb coffeecake is a study in contrasts, as the spiced, sandy topping gives way to a soft, moist cake.

A sour cream coffeecake gets its moisture from sour cream, but this crumb coffeecake uses buttermilk and butter instead. This particular recipe is especially easy to make because it reserves a portion of the batter (a mixture of flour, salt and butter) as the base for the crumb topping (to which you add brown sugar and cinnamon).

This cake is the perfect accompaniment to a hot cup o' joe (or cold glass of milk!) on a groggy, Saturday morning. And by the satisfied looks on my family's faces, I think they agree.

Crumb Coffeecake
Serves: 8 - 10
Total Time: 1 1/2 - 2 hours, plus 2 hours cooling time

2 cups flour
1 cup + 2 T. sugar
1 tsp. salt
10 T. butter, softened but still cool

1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 cup buttermilk (or plain yogurt), at room temp.
1 large egg, at room temp.
1 tsp. vanilla extract

3/4 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped fine (optional)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon

Whisk flour, sugar, and salt together in a large bowl. 

Add butter, cut into small chunks, and cut in with a pastry cutter. 

It should look something like this when you're done. It'll have a sandy texture with pea-sized lumps.

Remove 1 cup of this mixture and set aside. 

Stir the baking powder and baking soda into the remaining flour/butter mixture in the large bowl. 

Add buttermilk (or yogurt as I did this time), egg and vanilla to large bowl and whisk vigorously until batter is really thick and ingredients are fully incorporated. This will take about 2 minutes. If you need to, you can use a hand-held blender. 

Grease and flour the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan.

Then scrape the batter into the springform pan and smooth the top. 

Now, remember that 1 cup of reserved crumb mixture? Toss that crumb mixture with the brown sugar, cinnamon and nuts (if you want them), in a small bowl. 

Then dump crumb mixture on top of batter and press down into an even layer.

Bake at 350 degrees for 50 - 55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. 

Remove sides of springform pan and cool for 2 hours before serving. 

Serve with coffee. 

This recipe is from Baking Illustrated