I grew up on this moist, light, homey cake. It’s a little different from most crumb cakes because it’s not just batter with a crumb topping, it’s layered. And the delicious topping does not use any butter. It’s perfect when you want just a litte something and terrific for bake sales.
With a cake this easy, no big equipment’s needed. A bowl and wooden spoon will do, or a hand mixer. Having said that, it’s also an ideal recipe for those who have a food processor but don’t use it nearly often enough.
I mentioned in my post about hand mixers that I got along for eons without a stand mixer. I used the processor most of the time and adapted many favorite recipes as I learned what a processor can and can not do for baking sweets. It can’t beat air into batter or egg whites, so fluffy things were out. Nearly everything else, from carrot cakes to brownies, were fair game and when a recipe needs any shredding or chopping, the processor is a lickety-split, one-workbowl solution. And when it comes to creaming, nothing is more efficient at driving sugar into butter than that powerful, ultra-sharp blade.
This is a good keeper; it gets its moisture from sour cream as well as eggs. I don’t recommend fat-free sour cream but I haven’t tried it with reduced-fat sour cream. The topping gets its touch of texture and crunch from a small amount of chopped walnuts, which we know are very good for us. Like most cake recipes from before 1970 or so, the sugar can be reduced a little without harm; the original amounts are in the recipe and the amounts I used are in the notes.
While my mother was a good baker and made this as long as I can remember, she got the recipe from one of her sisters, the one we all said had the white thumb in the family. When I have this cake, the memories flood back and I want nothing more than a glass of milk.
Ella’s Family’s Crumb Cake
1 stick / 113g butter, room temperature, cut into 8 pieces
1 cup / 200g sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup / 227g sour cream
1 1/2 cups / 186g all-purpose flour
1 TB. baking soda
Pinch of salt
Topping
1/2 cup / 100g sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
2 – 3 TB finely chopped walnuts
Set a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350F / 180C /Gas 4.
Grease or spray an 8″ x 8″ pan. Combine topping ingredients in a small bowl and reserve.
Standard method: In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until lightened in color and texture. Add vanilla and one egg, beat well, add second egg and beat again. Mix in the sour cream.
Sieve or sift the flour, baking soda and salt into the workbowl. Beat briefly, until smooth.
Spread half the batter in the prepared pan. Sprinkle on half the topping. Repeat with the rest of the batter and topping.
Bake 28 – 38 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. [34 - 35 minutes is what I need. ella]
Move to a rack and let cool completely.
Processor method: Preparatory work as above.
Chop the nuts in the processor, transfer to the small bowl in which you’ll make the topping and wipe out the workbowl if necessary. A few bits of nuts or walnut dust in the bowl won’t matter.
Put the butter and sugar in the workbowl, pulse 15 – 20 times, until lightened in color but still a bit gritty. Add the vanilla and both eggs, pulse to incorporate, about 5 times. Add sour cream and pulse again to combine well. Scatter on the salt and baking soda, pulse 2 – 3 times to distribute well. Add flour and pulse about 5 – 8 times until smooth.
Proceed as above for panning and baking.
Ella’s notes: For reduced sugar, use 170g (about 7/8 cup) in the batter and 85g (a very scant 1/2 cup) for the topping.
Related on this blog: About Creaming
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