Classic Crumb Cake

Total Time: 55 mins Preparation Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon lemon oil (or 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel)
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda, heaping
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt (or vanilla yogurt, buttermilk or sour cream)
• 4 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 -2 tablespoon confectioners' sugar (or non-melting sugar, for sprinkling on top)

Recipe

• 1 preheat the oven to 325°f lightly grease a 9" square cake pan.
• 2 in a medium-sized mixing bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, salt and flavorings for 2 minutes, till smooth.
• 3 add the eggs, beating well after each addition; continue beating after adding the last egg for at least 3 minutes at medium-high speed. the batter should look fluffy, with no grains of sugar visible.
• 4 add the flour and baking soda to the butter mixture, beating gently to combine.
• 5 add the buttermilk/yogurt/sour cream, beating gently until well-blended.
• 6 spread the batter in the prepared pan.
• 7 bake the cake for 30 minutes. while it's baking, prepare the topping.
• 8 mix all of the topping ingredients together just till medium crumbs form. if you mix too long the crumbs will become too large, so pay attention.
• 9 after 30 minutes, remove the cake from the oven. quickly and gently sprinkle the crumbs on top, and return to the oven.
• 10 bake for an additional 15 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. remove the cake form the oven, and cool it completely on a rack.
• 11 when the cake is completely cool, dust it with confectioners' sugar.