I grew up in the Catskill Mountains of New York and my mother was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. We still had her sisters living down there so we frequently made the 90 minute trip by car. One treat was to stop in at the famous B&W Bakery in Hackensack to get several crumb cakes to bring as gifts.
Now New Jersey crumb cake is NOT your typical crumb coffee cake like Entenmann's or Drake. The New Jersey variety had to have a crumb layer that was twice the depth of the bottom cake layer.
This is the closest recipe I have to duplicating the crumb cake I grew up with.
INGREDIENTS
Cake
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp oil (vegetable)
2 tsp vanilla extract
Topping
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup brown sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, melted and cooled
Powdered sugar, for dusting
PREPARATION
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 8x8 inch square baking pan.
Cake
1. Mix all dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt) in a medium bowl with a fork.
2. Mix remaining ingredients (egg. milk, oil and vanilla) in a separate bowl. Pour into dry ingredients and mix by hand with a fork or spatula. When combined, pour into cake pan and spread evenly. Set aside.
Topping
3. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, and cinnamon with a fork.
4. Pour in melted butter and combined. Mixture should form large crumbs, but not be too wet. Add a little flour if needed.
Assemble and Bake
5. Spread topping over cake evenly.
6. Place pan in oven on middle rack and bake for 25-30 minutes. A knife or toothpick inserted in the center will come out clean. Remove from oven and cool.
Dust with powdered sugar. Serve warm or at room temperature. Serves 8.
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