New York Crumb Cake

Over Spring Break Brandon Graham and I went to visit our newly wed friends Mike and Andrea in Tallahassee! It was tons of fun to catch-up and I have to admit it was kind of nice to be the guest instead of the host. (I will admit however- traveling with a baby is definitely not for the faint of heart. You think I would know this by now... but we keep trying. lol)

On our last night there- I got the itch to bake.  Andrea Brandon and Mike fanned the flames and before I knew it I was scouring my Pinterest "Dazzling Desserts" page to find a recipe to try out.  I was thinking something with cinnamon...

Initially I planning to go for something along the lines of cinnamon rolls- but it seemed too work intensive at the time. So the obvious choice was a crumb cake! (...did I just imply that crumb cakes are quick and easy? Yeah no.)

I'd never made a crumb cake before though- so I was going in blind.  The picture looked appetizing and that was good enough for me.  Besides- it was a cake in a casserole dish. Those are always super easy and fail-proof right?

After the necessary trip to the store for missing ingredients, I made myself at home in the Kanis kitchen. (I'm going to do a shout-out to Andrea here for having such an amazingly well-stocked kitchen which included this awesome set of heavy-duty brightly colored mixing bowls. I am in love with them!)

 

THIS is literally the tutorial I followed to make my crumb cake. Apparently the original recipe is from Martha Stewart? I should have known... (NO that is NOT my picture. This is the picture that made my subconscious drool and inspired me to attempt to tame the crumb-cake beast.) Let me suggest to everyone out there that if you have an iphone- resist the urge to refer to it constantly while baking.  You WILL get flour ALL up in there and that is a sad sad thing. 

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The Recipe:

2 Tablespoons canola oil
4 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 sticks butter, melted and cooled
confectioners’ sugar 

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So... here I am getting started. You combine all your dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and... mix. :)

1.5 cups of flour

.5 cup Sugar 

2.5 teaspoons Baking Powder

.5 teaspoon Salt

I may or may not have accidentally added 2 TABLESPOONS of salt when I was trying to read this tiny recipe on my flour-covered phone late at  night. (...in case you missed all those excuses it totally wasn't my fault. I was hoping no one would notice...) 

Next you combine your wet "cake" ingredients into a small separate bowl.

1 egg

.5 cup milk

2 tablespoons oil

2 teaspoons vanilla

I liked this part. I thought it was cool to see all the ingredients kind of chilling out separately in the bowl- and then whisking it all together until they were all one milky solution. 

Then you dump that little bowl into the big bowl and mix. :)

At this point- the tutorial I was following had the person using one of those special "spatula spreader" thingys. I saw one in Andrea's utensil jar on the counter- but it had a wooden handle and I wasn't sure how particular she was about her wooden utensils getting wet food on them. I know some people (*cough* me *cough*) are really particular about wooden kitchen tools. She later cleared it with me though and I wish I would have just asked because it would have made my life a lot easier when I had to get the mix from the bowl into the pan.

Make sure you spray your pan with non-stick cooking spray (PAM) first. :)

Here I began to become sincerely concerned about the recipe.  I didn't feel like I had enough cake batter.  It ended up being barely enough to make a super thin layer across the bottom of the pan. I referenced the tutorial again- double checked the ingredient amounts and the pan size... everything checked out. So I took a deep breath- and kept going.

I always wondered how the crumbs in crumb cake were made.  Now I know.

And you're about to know too. :)

Combine your dry ingredients for the "crumb" part in a large mixing bowl. 

2.5 cups flour

1 cup packed brown sugar

1.5 teaspoons cinnamon

Once again don't they look pretty in their own little sections? (I'm a nut.)

I felt strangely powerful unscrewing the top to the cinnamon and pulling out two hefty scoops.  It smelled awesome. Everyone should use cinnamon. It is a gift from the heavens. I sincerely believe in that. Even if it gives me heartburn. lol

Then melt your butter in a small microwave-safe bowl.

2 Sticks Butter

And let it cool to room temperature. 

I was really proud of my butter. I know it was probably like the easiest part of the whole recipe- but normally I always over-heat my butter and it ends up boiling and going crazy all over the place.  This time it was perfect. All melty and ready for mixing!

Combine your butter with your dry crumb ingredients.

Mix!

(check-out that wooden-handled spatula spreader thingy!)

It took awhile for my crumbs to get crumbly enough. I just kept stirring though and they turned out.  My mixture was super sticky so I put in a small handful of extra flour to help move things along. 

At this point- turn on your oven. (I know you forgot to preheat it.)

It should be set to 325 degrees F.

Sprinkle your crumbs evenly across the top of your cake mixture in the pan.

Once again I sincerely thought I didn't have enough- but the crumbs more than made-up for the tiny amount of cake batter and I had enough to go over the top of the pan several times.

Into the oven!

Bake your cake for 20 minutes.

Or "until a toothpick comes out clean". 

The recipe says to rotate your pan at least once.  I just cooked it ten minutes, turned it around, and cooked it for another ten.  I didn't have a toothpick so I used a fork.  After the full 20 minutes it came out clean so I took it out!

I let it cool as long as I could stand before dusting it with powdered sugar, cutting it into squares, and serving. :) I didn't get any pictures of a piece plated... mostly because when I cut it up the cake still wasn't cool and the whole thing started to fall apart into a big mess. haha

But here it is done!

My verdict- the cake was a flop.
I guess my only experience with crumb cake is little debbie's coffee cakes, but this was definitely not what I was expecting. I could really taste the extra salt, which made the cake feel dry. (We all helped ourselves to big glasses of milk to help ease it down.) Despite the "dryness" and even though my fork came out clean- the inside was still all goopy and didn't seem cooked properly.

Everyone else seemed to like it OK- Andrea had another serving... but usually when I bake something it goes fast and this cake was untouched after those initial servings. I didn't HATE it... but I know I definitely didn't feel like having another slice either.

Brandon says he thinks the cake turned out the way it was supposed to and I just didn't like that kind of cake. I'm still not convinced. I feel like it's my mission to fix this recipe and create the perfect moist and crumbly crumb cake.

While I was eating it I kept saying that I thought it needed to be sweeter.  Mike and Andrea protested saying that if it was any sweeter it wouldn't be edible. lol I think it was the powdered sugar that made it "sweet"- but the cake itself definitely needed some softer warm flavor tones. I was thinking "sweet" but now I'm thinking maybe it needed a little more vanilla. I might even try some nutmeg.

I'd like to also try keeping it in the oven longer to see if the bottom would bake more thoroughly.  I might also cover the top with foil to keep it from browning if I keep it in longer. And I will definitely let it cool completely before I slice it. Sometimes it just needs a little more time to set-up and that might help with the "goopiness".

Ah... I don't know. Either way- that's that.

Have you ever made crumb cake?  

Do you have a good recipe or any tips to share?

A Very "Hoppy" Birthday!

My good friend Skye's daughter just turned a year old! They are all growing up so fast...

I feel like just yesterday Skye, Michelle, and I were sitting in the van in the church parking lot after young women's talking about boys and school and whatnot. Now we're all moms with "grown-up" lives! It's all happening so quickly!

Thinking about what "Graham" (meaning Brandon and I) should get Andrea (that's Skye's daughter's name) for her birthday- I reflected back on Skye. (Because let's be honest. The presents aren't really FOR the one year olds.) When we were growing up, Skye was the very definition of a "tom-boy". She was against all things girly and I know it came as quite a shock to her when all three of us had our first children and she was the only one to end up with a girl. 

I know it was a tough mind-set adjustment for her- but I have to admit a year later she is doing an awesome job of raising a great little girl. :) (She even wears pink sometimes!) Skye and I had recently talked (At Michelle's baby shower for her second little boy!) about the hair clips generally sold for little girls. Skye was less than thrilled at the OVERLY "girly" selection. I know I've seen cute little dinosaur, robot, etc... hair clips around- but when I went to the store I found Skye was right and my only options were pink, hearts, flowers, ribbon, purple, and more pink.

blegh.

Pink is all and good sometimes- but ALL the time? I think not. So, I set-out to do what any crafter would do. I would MAKE some "cool" hair clips!  The task turned out to be easier in my head than in reality.  My "plain" hair-clip choices were limited and I settled on some polka-dotted clips.  Then Brandon and I scoured the store looking for anything "cool" that would be workable on a hairclip. 

We looked in the toy department, the scrapbook department, the craft department... and found nothing.  Finally- grasping at straws, we checked the party department and found these cute little frogs being sold as party favors. I was unsure- but Brandon convinced me of their awesomeness and I bought them.

When I got home, I carefully removed the hairclips from their cardboard holder. (I would be using the cardboard again to display my finished clips.) I then opened my little frogs and laid-out my supplies as my hot-glue gun warmed up. This is where my "creativity" would come into play.

I needed to select which frog would go on top of which hair clip.

I also double-checked that the frogs would fit on the hair clips without being excessively huge or awkward.  They happen to have nice flat bellies so that helped with the gluing process.

After each frog had a hair-clip mate, I set to gluing!

Important Tips for This Craft:

1.) Don't use too much glue. It looks tacky and you have to spend time peeling off the extra when it's cool. Also- dry hot glue can stick to hairs and pull them, making your hair clip uncomfortable to the wearer.

2.) Do not attempt to remove excess hot glue from your hairclips until the glue has dried.  Hot glue just becomes long skinny strings as you pull it. After the glue is dry it will snap right off and clean-up will be easier.

3.) Lay-out your frogs (or whatever you're using for decoration) on the hairclips before you glue, and make sure that if you are creating "pairs" that there is a decoration facing "up" on both directions... I hope that isn't too confusing.  Basically what I'm trying to say is- when you wear two hairclips- you put them on in opposite directions (for the opposite sides of your head). If your frogs aren't reversed, one of them will be upside-down when you go to wear them both at once. (Refer to how the clips were placed on the card when you bought them- imagine that all the decorations should be facing up.)

When I was done I carefully slid the frogs back on their card and voila!

A very "hoppy" birthday present! :)

Unfortunately Brandon caught a bug the day of Andrea's party so we weren't able to drive up... but hopefully we can get Andrea her clips soon and we can see how well they work functioning on an actual little girl's head.  I think they are adorable- but I'm concerned about the legs getting caught in her hair.  This project has my wheels turning thinking of what else I could glue on hairclips.  Little girls can get away with wearing all sorts of cool stuff in their hair. 

I wonder what my Middle Schoolers would think if I came in to teach with a little tree-frog propped on my head? I teach Science after all... ;)

Love Notes

One of my best friends gave me these magnet letters for my 21st birthday.  I think they actually got left on our fridge during a rushed move... (story of my life) but I found this picture I took for Brandon saved on my phone.

Everyone has their own "love language(s)"- but for me "quality time"/ "acts of service" have to be my top faves.  I love just about anything that shows me someone went out of their way to think about me.  Love notes- or friendship notes- are especially awesome in my opinion.

Take a couple of seconds and write a quick note to someone you care about. (... "I love you" is always a great safe option if you don't feel like being creative.) Even if a few words scribbled on some notebook paper would be kind of lame by itself- sometimes snapping a photograph of your note and adding some effects with a photo editor can give your message that little bit of extra thought and effort to make your message go the extra mile.

Valentines day is still fresh on my mind. I didn't have time to make all the cute and cheesy valentine cards I had on my mind- but sometimes simple is the sweetest.

What are some of your favorite cheesy love-note quotes?

Have you ever received a note from someone that made your heart all gooey?