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Sourdough Cinnamon Crumb Cake
A crown of buttery cinnamon crumbs nicely balances the tang of sourdough in this unique take on a classic crumb coffee cake.
Ingredients
Topping
- 2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 12 tablespoons (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, melted
Batter
- 8 tablespoons (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup sourdough starter, unfed/discard
- 2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
- 1 tablespoon potato flour or 2 tablespoons instant mashed potato flakes
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup milk
- confectioners' sugar (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9" square pan.
- To make the topping: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Add the vanilla and almond extracts to the melted butter and pour the butter into the flour mixture, stirring until you have a uniformly moist mixture. Set aside while you make the batter.
- To make the batter: In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar until well combined. Add the eggs, vanilla, and starter, mixing until smooth and scraping the bowl's sides and bottom as you go.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, potato flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder. Add to the butter/starter mixture, stirring until evenly combined. Add the milk and mix until smooth.
- Spread the batter in the prepared pan. Sprinkle the crumb mixture evenly over the top.
- Bake the cake for 45 to 50 minutes, until a paring knife inserted in the center comes out clean, and the edge of the cake just barely pulls away from the pan. Remove it from the oven and cool on a rack; dust the top with confectioners' sugar if desired.
- Store the cake, the pan covered with plastic, at room temperature for several days; freeze for longer storage.
Nutrition Information
- Serving Size 2" square, 96g
- Servings Per Batch 16
Amount Per Serving:
- Calories 375
- Calories from Fat 135
- Total Fat 15g
- Saturated Fat 9g
- Trans Fat 1g
- Cholesterol 54mg
- Sodium 197mg
- Total Carbohydrate 54g
- Dietary Fiber 1g
- Sugars 25g
- Protein 5g
* The nutrition information provided for this recipe is determined by the ESHA Genesis R&D software program. Substituting any ingredients may change the posted nutrition information.
Tips from our bakers
- Some bakers have commented on the "overly generous" amount of crumb topping. After re-testing just to make sure, we stand by the amount of topping as written: enough to cover the cake generously, without leaving any bare spots. If desired, reduce the topping ingredient amounts by 25 percent.
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Reviews
Perfect recipe for breakfast with coffee or afternoon snack with milk or tea. I love the topping to cake ratio because I like 1/3 topping to 2/3 cake. I doubled the cake and topping recipes, baked it in a glass 9 x 13 pan at 325 degrees. It took almost 55 minutes but the edges were browning and beginning to pull away from the pan and the cake tester came out clean from the center. The only reason I gave it 4 stars was that, even though it was level when I took it out of the oven and put it on a wire rack to cool, the center fell. I will make it again in a 9x9 metal pan and see if that makes a difference.
Love the fact that this uses sourdough starter. I'm looking for more recipes to use my starter with. I found the cake to be a bit dry, would love suggestions on how to remedy this. The cake was delicious. I found that there was ample crumb and I may reduce this amount next time. I'll definitely try again.One of the most common reasons why baked goods turn out dry (especially recipes that use sourdough) is because too much flour is used (either in the recipe or in the starter itself). To ensure you're using the right amount, we recommend checking out the "Measuring Standards," link next to the ingredients header above. You'll see that either measuring your flour by weight using a scale, or fluffing and sprinkling the flour into your measuring cup are the best ways to ensure your recipe turns out perfectly. We hope this helps, and happy baking! Kye@KAF
Love the fact that this recipe uses left over starter - I hate wasting it. I am at 9000 ft and didn't adjust the recipe since it was my 1st time making it (figured I would see how it worked out as written). I thought it tasted great but was a little dry and mine did sink in the middle. I will definitely make again but will have to play around with the recipe to get it perfect for the altitude. I was worried about the amount of topping but glad I put it all on there. Loved the mild almond flavor!!
I loved this recipe. The cake was light, fluffy and not to sweet. Great with coffee for breakfast! Due to lack of granulated sugar, small eggs and no potato flour. I used brown sugar in the topping, 3 eggs in the batter and corn starch in place of the potato flour. I will be making this recipe again.
It's hard for me to make a recipe as is, and this was no exception. I added a can of cherry Solo pastry filling as a layer on top of the batter under the crumb. It added a lovely flavor, worked perfectly and went well paired with extra almond extract in the batter. It calls for 1 TB of vanilla, so I used 2 tsp of vanilla and 1 tsp of almond extract, plus a bit extra because it spilled a bit into the batter. Oops! But it was fine. The only thing I would change next time is try a bit less cinnamon, but I might have put too much in now that I think of it...also crumble your topping into smaller pcs if you dont like the big chunks.
This cake took an extra 10 minutes to bake. I think because of the thickness of the topping? I used a glass pan which may also have contributed. I think if I make it again I may layer the filling as others have done.Hi Jean. Glass baking pans do make a difference and require some adjustments. Next time, try lowering the oven temperature by 25°F and baking for an extra 5-10 minutes. Otherwise, glass pans bake the outside edges faster than the center so by the time the middle is baked through, the edges can be very dry and hard. Hope this helps! Annabelle@KAF
Sinfully good ... made I 8x8 pan. Perfect just enough topping. Huge hit definitely make again!
Btw I also did not have a 9x9 in pan so I took my 9x13 pan and made a wall with foil that was thick enough to hold the batter in the pan and used ram pinks and a metal ice cream scoop to hold the foil wall. Worked great! I also used parchment paper that I lightly greased with Pan-Ease so the bottom won't burn as much.
Ok so I figured out what was wrong, not only did I unbleached bread flour put in my starter but also in the recipe! I dumped my starter and gave the mistake cake away to my husbands work (they love my failed products) I made a new batch of starter and the crumb cake is in the oven :)
I followed the recipe to a 'T' the result was a brick, almost broke my knuckles on the topping alone. Not sure what went wrong, but will give it just one more tryWe'd love the chance to talk through the recipe with you, Karyn so we encourage you to reach out to our free and friendly Baker's Hotline staff to help troubleshoot at 855-371-BAKE (2253). Let's make the next one perfect! Annabelle@KAF
