new york state of mind...

here's a little slice of love for all my new yorkers who are being bullied by jack frost... with weather like this it's no good just to warm up your body, you need to get down and warm up that soul... it's miserable out there, so lets put a smile on...

so go grab yourself a cup of new yorks best deli coffee (you know, the type that comes in those greek cups), and grab yourself a big hunk of coffee cake... but not just any coffee cake... THIS COFFEE CAKE... well, i guess if you were to grab yourself a slice you're going to have to roll up those sleeves, preheat your oven to 325 and crack some eggs... but hey... it's worth it... trust me... (thank you for this recipe mr. christopher kimball, i could grab you by your bowtie)

and not only will it warm up your house with the sweet smells of cinnamon and nutmeg, maybe even a little cardamon if you like... but it will certainly satisfy... with huge chunks of buttery, caramely spicy crumbs, and a moist slightly vanilla cake... mmmm...
New York-Style Crumb Cake (adapted)

for the crumb topping:
ingredients:
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon (i used way more, like 3 tbsp, and added some nutmeg)
1/4 tsp. salt
16 tbsp. unsalted butter (2 sticks), melted and still warm
3 1/2 cups cake flour

for the cake
ingredients:
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. table salt
12 tbsp. unsalted butter (1 ½ sticks), cut into 12 pieces, softened)
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2/3 cup buttermilk
and some confectioners' sugar for dusting

directions:
1. for the crumb topping, mix together sugars, cinnamon, salt, and butter in medium bowl to combine
2. add flour and stir with rubber spatula or wooden spoon until mixture resembles thick, cohesive dough; set aside to cool to room temperature
3. for the cake, adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and preheat to 325, line a 13x9 pan with a parchment paper sling (spray the pan with cooking spray, lay in a sheet of parchment, pushing it into corners and up sides, allowing excess to overhang edges of dish, creating a sling for easy removal
4. in bowl of standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment, mix flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt on low speed to combine
5. with mixer running at low speed, add butter one piece at a time; continue beating until mixture resembles small moist crumbs, with no visible butter chunks remaining, for about 2 minutes
3. add egg, yolk, vanilla, and buttermilk and beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute, scraping once if necessary
4. transfer batter to prepared baking pan using rubber spatula, spread batter into even layer
5. form crumb topping into large pea-sized pieces and spread in even layer over batter, beginning with outer edges and then working toward center
6. bake until crumbs are golden and wooden skewer inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 45 minutes
7. cool on wire rack at least 30 minutes, then remove cake from pan by lifting parchment
8. generously dust with confectioners sugar just before serving

oh by the way... being miserable and treating others like dirt is every new yorkers god given right... and on that note... happy baking everyone :)