New York-Style Crumb Cake from Bon Appetit Magazine, April 2010

Even though everyone I know talks about how important breakfast is, eating it at home when I'm supposed to (first thing in the morning) is very difficult for me. For some reason my body is plenty happy downing a couple cups of coffee and leaving food out of it for a couple of hours. In fact, most times when forced to eat earlier than I'm ready, I end up feeling sluggish as a result.

Because of that, I never make these coffee cakes that are supposed to be eaten in the morning. Well, because of that and the fact that when I finally do have breakfast, I prefer something savory over something sweet. The New York-Style Crumb Cake did look very good though (if you haven't seen the picture yet, you have to check it out), so I decided to make it for dessert tonight.

It's incredibly simple to make and since it's baking, not cooking, it's important to follow the directions exactly. Do that and it'll turn out perfectly. I was a bit surprised at how thick the batter was, so if that happens to you, its supposed to look like that. The cake still turns out moist and tender.

When I was a kid, my mom made a crisp with the best tasting steusel topping. We'd all sneak into the kitchen and grab a big crumb when we could. To date, I haven't been able to match that, but this one comes close. At least the streusel stays together and does clump well instead of the butter melting it too much (which is usually my problem). I love it and have been sneaking big crumbs all afternoon.

The one thing that happened was that I used a 9x13 pan that was probably a little on the small side and as a result the batter overflowed some. I recommend using a generous 9x13 pan (I know that sounds silly, but not all pans are created equal. I couldn't use a different one because they said to use a glass dish and that was the only one I had. Ah well, ovens do clean themselves these days (somewhat).

The cake has been well received by everyone in the family, even the one that usually eats only frosting even though she insists that she loves cake. What I like even more is the smell in the house. Cinnamon cooking in anything is so warming and wonderful.

As the last dish that I make from this issue of Bon Appetit, I couldn't be happier.