Ingredients
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For the Cake
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1 and 1/2 cups FlourAll Purpose
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1/2 cup Sugar
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1 and 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
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1/2 tsp Salt
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1 Eggs
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1/2 cup ButtermilkUser real buttermilk
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2 tbsp Canola Oil
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2 tsp Vanilla Extract
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For the Crumb Topping
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2 and 1/2 cups FlourAll Purpose
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1 cup Brown Sugarlight brown sugar
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1 tbsp Cinnamon
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1 cup - (2 Sticks) Buttermelted and cooled - Kerrygold butter recommended
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Powdered Sugarfor dusting
Directions
Lakeview Bakery was a bakery on Parsippany road in Parsippany, NJ. They closed several years ago, but anyone who had the pleasure to visit the bakery over the years knew how delicious their pastries were. Dad used to go up to the bakery on Sunday mornings from time to time and bring home a big box of Crumb Buns, Cheese Danish, and assorted pastries and donuts. As an adult I used to bring those same pastries into work when we had meetings or when I taught classes. They were always a huge hit!
I never realized, at the time, that many of the pastries that they made were “regional” in nature. It wasn’t until I traveled around the country, and ultimately moved to Texas, that I found out that you just couldn’t get pastries like those anywhere else. I even tried to get the recipe for a few of my favorites when I was in town visiting in the early 2000’s, but they wouldn’t give them to me (not that I was expecting them to).
From time to time I’ve thought about trying to find recipes for some of those pastries to see if I could recreate them in my own home. I had a Crumb Bun from another bakery during a trip back to New Jersey a few weeks ago and that motivated me to finally give it a try. Thankfully there are MANY recipes out there that appear to be somewhat close to what I remember.
The first one that I wanted to try to recreate was my favorite….. the Crumb Bun. I can’t say that this is an exact copy of the fantastic Crumb Buns we used to get at the Lakeview Bakery but it is certainly close, and will bring back memories for those who knew and loved those pastries.
The original recipe can be found at:
https://www.thecountrycook.net/double-crumb-cake/
Steps
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1
Done
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For the Cake BatterPreheat oven to 350F degrees. |
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2
Done
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Spray an 8"x 8" baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. USA brand baking pan recommended. |
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3
Done
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In a medium bowl combine 1 ½ cups flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Use a fork or whisk to stir until combined. |
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4
Done
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In another bowl, combine egg, milk, oil and vanilla extract. Stir until it's all combined. |
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5
Done
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Combine flour mixture with milk mixture and mix well. Spread the batter into the prepared baking dish. The batter will be thick in texture so you need to spread it out into the corners and level it out. It will form a thin layer on the bottom of the pan. |
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6
Done
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For the Crumb ToppingIn a medium bowl, combine brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Mix it together well. |
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7
Done
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Then pour in melted butter and use a fork to stir until combined and clumps begin to form. You want to get all of the dry ingredients mixed in and have a bowl full of medium sized clumpy crumbles. Do not over-mix your crumb topping. Over-mixing will turn it into more of a paste then a crumb topping. |
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8
Done
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Sprinkle those clumps (crumbs) all over the cake batter and spread them out evenly. It will be a thick layer of crumb that almost fills the pan. |
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9
Done
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Bake for about 30-35 minutes. Use a toothpick or cake tester to check for doneness. The goal is to get the cake to the point where it is just baked and not raw, while the crumb top is still soft. Any more time in the oven after that will cause the cake to dry out, and the crumb top to harden. The end result should be a soft, somewhat moist cake with a soft crumb top that you can compress into clumps with your fingers. It is better to remove the cake from the oven a little too soon as the cake will sit for a while and cool in the pan, thus continuing to "cook" for a while. |
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10
Done
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Allow cake to cool then dust with powdered sugar. Use a sifter to get a light, even layer of powdered sugar. |
