Old Fashioned Pie Plate Crumb Cake

 

 

I am a huge fan of crumb cakes.  Crumb cakes are a type of a coffee cake which are created by first making a dry crumb mixture.  Some of that is removed and reserved for a topping and the remainder is mixed with wet ingredients to create the cake base, with the reserved crumbs being sprinkled on top prior to baking.

I just love them. They are always moist and delicious. The perfect weekend cake to enjoy with a hot drink and to share with family or/and friends.

This weekend is the Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada, a time when we will all be getting together with our families to celebrate all the things we are thankful for, and boy do we have a lot to be thankful for this year!!

With the slowing down of Covid, and with precautions in place, we are now able to get together fairly safely with our loved ones and celebrate all of the things which we are grateful for!  

It's been almost two years now since I made my way back to Canada in the middle of the Pandemic, and I am finally, this weekend, getting to see my oldest son and his family. I am so looking forward to it.

 

What better way to celebrate than with an easy crumb cake recipe. One that will be deliciously enjoyed with hot coffee (for them).  The perfect thing to wake up to on a weekend morning!

These are the best kinds of cakes for weekend entertaining.  Well, for breakfast entertaining any day of the week, I guess!  

 

Simple to make and oh so tasty when done. Lovely and moist from the use of yogurt/sour milk, this cake is nicely spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg. You could also add some cardamom if you are keen. (I love the slightly citrus flavor of cardamom.)

This goes together very quickly with the use of a food processor.  You could of course cut the butter into the dry mixture by using a pastry blender, but a food processor does it in seconds! If you have one, I highly recommend using it! 

 

 

WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE PIE PLATE CRUMB CAKE

Ordinary store cupboard baking ingredients. There is nothing complicated here!

• 1 1/2 cups (210g) plain all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup (150g) white sugar
• 1/3 cup (65g) firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup (120g) butter
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
• 2 large free-range eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup plain yogurt or sour milk
• raspberry jam (optional)

You can use unsalted butter if you wish, but I only ever really keep salted butter in my kitchen. I prefer to cut back on the salt in recipes rather than have to keep two separate kinds. I just don't bake enough to get them both used.

Plain all-purpose flour.  Simple.  

I like to grate my own nutmeg. It tastes so much nicer when you grate it fresh. And as I said, you could add 1/4 teaspoon of ground cardamom if you wished for an extra touch of spice.

I use pure vanilla extract for all of my baking and free-range eggs. I refuse to support an inhumane industry. I buy my eggs just around the corner from where I live. I can see the chickens out in their run when I pick up my eggs.

Having worked in a battery hen house grading eggs for my first father-in-law many years ago, and now having the choice to buy free range, I would never buy caged eggs. Never.  With me it's a matter of principle.

 

HOW TO MAKE PIE PLATE CRUMB CAKE

Nothing could be easier.  This makes a lovely, moist and delicious, flavor filled, 9-inch cake.

Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Butter a 9-inch-deep pie dish very well. Place the dish onto a baking sheet and set aside.

Place the dry ingredients into the bowl of a food processor. Blitz to combine.

Drop in the butter and pulse a few times to make fine crumbs. Remove 1/2 cup (90g) and set aside.

Add the eggs, vanilla and yogurt to the remaining crumbs in the food processor and pulse to combine into a smooth thick batter.

Scrap the batter into the prepared pie dish. If using jam, make 4 or 5 teaspoon sized dollops on top and swirl in with a toothpick decoratively. Sprinkle the reserved crumb mixture evenly over top.

Bake for 40 to 50 minutes until the cake springs back when lightly touched and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Leave to cool completely in the pie plate and serve from the plate, cut into wedges.

Adding the jam is completely optional of course. I added it. I used raspberry, but blueberry is also very nice.  Don't overdo it as the jam will sink to the bottom if it is too heavy.

You just want a slight swirl of jam.  I think lemon curd would also be lovely as would some orange marmalade. Yummo!

 

This is a fabulously tender cake, with a beautiful moist crumb.  It is wonderfully spiced.  I love the crumb topping with gives a nice crunch to the finish.  Oh, and I do recommend adding the jam if you are a jam person.

Even without a hot drink, this is fabulous!  I really hope that you will be inspired to bake and enjoy this cake!  It's just the right size as well! 

Moist, delicious, nicely spiced, not to large. What are you waiting for!  Get baking!  Happy Thanksgiving! 

Some other delicious breakfast cakes we have enjoyed on here are:

GLAZED CHERRY COFFEE CAKE -This is a fabulous breakfast cake. It goes together quickly and tastes delicious!  With a lovely cherry filling and sweet glaze, it always goes down a real treat!

HAZELNUT AND CHOCOLATE CRUMB CAKE - This delicious moist cake with it's moreish nutty chocolate crumb topping is most delightful served up when still slightly warm from the oven . . . so you get just a tiny bit of ooze from the chocolate in the crumble . . . fabulous with a hot bevvie . . . or an ice cold glass of milk.

Old Fashioned Pie Plate Crumb Cake

Yield: 6 - 8

Author: Marie Rayner

Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 50 MinTotal time: 1 Hour

This tender crumb cake is a deliciously tender cake with a lovely crumb topping. Very easy to make. A food processor helps to speed up the process.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups (210g) plain all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup (150g) white sugar
• 1/3 cup (65g) firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup (120g) butter
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
• 2 large free-range eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup plain yogurt or sour milk
• raspberry jam (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Butter a 9-inch-deep pie dish very well. Place the dish onto a baking sheet and set aside.
2. Place the dry ingredients into the bowl of a food processor. Blitz to combine.
3. Drop in the butter and pulse a few times to make fine crumbs. Remove 1/2 cup (90g) and set aside.
4. Add the eggs, vanilla and yogurt to the remaining crumbs in the food processor and pulse to combine into a smooth thick batter.
5. Scrap the batter into the prepared pie dish. If using jam, make 4 or 5 teaspoon sized dollops on top and swirl in with a toothpick decoratively. Sprinkle the reserved crumb mixture evenly over top.
6. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes until the cake springs back when lightly touched and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
7. Leave to cool completely in the pie plate and serve from the plate, cut into wedges.

Notes

To sour your own milk: Add 1 TBS of lemon juice to a cup and fill with whole milk to the one cup measure. Leave to clabber for at least 10 minutes.

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