New Jersey Crumb Cake

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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Cherry Cobbler

My family LOVES anything cherry . . . sour cherry pie, cherry clafoutis, and cherry cobbler. This recipe is an adaptation of several that I have tried. It requires that you make your cherry filling on the stove top then top it with a shortcake biscuit mixture in a 13 x 9 x 2 inch pan.

INGREDIENTS

Filling

4 cans sour cherries with juice, 14.5 ounces each
2/3 cup white sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
5 tbsp corn starch
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tap nutmeg
5 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup water

Topping

3 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 sticks butter - very cold and cut into small cubes or grated
1 cup half and half
1 cup milk

PREPARATION

Filling

1. Drain the cherries and reserve the juice in a bowl (it should come to about 2 cups). Set the cherries and juice aside.

2. In a large sauce pan, add the sugars, cornstarch, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix together and then add lemon juice, 1/2 cup water and reserved cherry juice. Bring to a boil over medium heat - mixture should thicken. Remove from heat and add cherries.

Topping

3.  In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

4.  Using a pastry blender or two butter knives, blend in the butter until the mixture looks like loose cornmeal (there will be large pieces of butter). Add half and half and milk, mix with spoon and set aside.

Assemble and Bake

5. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place filling in ungreased 13x9x2 inch baking pan.

6. Drop filling in large spoons on top of filling. Try to cover the entire area but there will be some gaps. Bake for 40 minutes or until golden brown.

Dust with powdered sugar. Serve warm or at room temperature with ice cream. Serves 8.

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Beef Stew

There is nothing like a hearty beef stew in the dead of winter. It warms up a cold February day, even a work day when you can throw it into a slow cooker! This recipe has variations on ingredients (see the end of the recipe) and works well with homemade drop biscuits OR place the biscuit dough on top of the stew for the last 30 minutes.

INGREDIENTS

4 lbs stewing beef, cut into cubes
1 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp black pepper
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tbsp paprika
2 tbsp oil

1 large onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tbsp oil
1 cup good red wine
8 cups beef stock
1 1/2 cups diced tomatoes
3 large russet potatoes, cubed
2 cups mixed frozen vegetables (peas, carrots, corn)


PREPARATION

1. Mix the flour, salt, pepper, thyme and paprika in a large bowl. Toss the beef cubes until coated.

2. Heat large skillet or electric frying pan, add oil and fry beef on medium high heat, turning to cook each side.  Remove from heat and place in large bowl.

3.  In slow cooker or large Dutch oven, over medium high heat, add oil and onion. Cook about 5 minutes until onions start to turn brown.  Add garlic and any leftover flour mixture. Cook 1 minute then deglaze with red wine.

4.  Add beef cubes, beef stock, and tomatoes. Cook at a simmer for at least 4 hours (use high setting on slow cooker).

5. After 3 hours, add potatoes and vegetables. Cook until tender

6. Variations: Use canned diced tomatoes or tomato paste in place of fresh potatoes. Add other vegetables including mushrooms, turnips, parsnips, etc.

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