Friday Morning Coffee Cake

I live in a land of no Entenmann's. That's right, no picture window boxes for you to peer into and find that your husband has eaten just the top of the crumb-top cake and left you with a stale cake bottom. I live a pathetic life, I know.

I've heard rumors that they sell these glorious food products in the Anglo enclave that is Beit Shemesh, but honestly does that even count as being part of Israel? (And food-product-jealousy rears its ugly head)

Anyways, Beit Shemesh is too far for Friday Morning Breakfast.

So as the saying goes, if you can't join them, beat them... 

Which of course we know to mean you should make your own crumb cake, and bake it in an extra small pan so as to maximize the crumb-to-surface-area ratio. Um did I just say that? I need to get out more.

Now, I can't tell you if this tastes just the same as Entenmann's crumb cake. It's just been too long. However the cake was light and fluffy and the topping is good enough to make me want to eat it all before my husband woke up. Shhh don't tell.

 Anyone wanna come visit me from Beit Shemesh and compare?

Crumb Coffee Cake

3 3/4 c flour

1 3/4 c sugar

100 g (1 small Israeli stick, 1 regular American stick) butter

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

2/3 c milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

Topping:

100 g butter

1/4 c brown sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

confectioner's sugar (for dusting)

Preheat oven to 350F/165C

Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. OF THIS MIXTURE- set aside 2 c for the topping.

To the remaining flour mixture, add butter and mix until it resembles a coarse meal. Add eggs, mixing until incorporated, and milk, vanilla, and lemon juice.

Grease an 8x8 pan. Spread the batter in the pan.

For the topping: take the reserved 2 cups of flour and add the rest of the topping ingredients. Mix with your fingers until you get large uniform crumbs. Spread evenly with mixture.

Bake ~40 minutes or longer, until the middle is no longer jiggly.