Bundt #3: Lemon Crumb Coffee Cake. I'm still on a citrus kick, if you haven't figured it out. A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...Seriously, a while ago, I picked up a bargain book at Borders that had a variety of ideas for baking. I loved shopping Borders and the bargain sections for good finds, whether it be for pleasure reading, for my classroom, or for trying out new ideas. I picked up this great chocolate book and made this elaborate chocolate box with a caramel mousse filling. Fresh fruit and caramel shards were then added to the top. It was DELICIOUS. But anyway, I tried this recipe for a lemon crumb cake. Of course, I didn't check to see what I had in the fridge before starting the process of making the cake and had to substitute some things but the cake turned out moist with a rich, lemony flavor and the crumb topping just made it perfect. So enjoy this recipe. This isn't the one I original tried but the one I ended up making.
Ingredients: (topping) 1/2 c brown sugar, 1/4 c flour, grated zest of 1 lemon, 3 TBSP cold butter, cut into small pieces. (cake) 2 c flour, 1.5 tsp baking powder, .5 tsp baking soda, .25 tsp sea salt, 1/4 c chopped lemon-peel*, 1 stick butter, .25 c sugar, 1 c buttermilk (or yogurt), 2 eggs beaten, grated zest of 1 lemon, 1 tsp pure vanilla and pure lemon extract
Instructions: (1) Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour a bundt pan (or a pan of your choice)*. Combine crumb toppings in a small bowl and rub until mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Set aside. (2) Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt into a large bowl. Stir in lemon peel and make a well in the center of the bowl. (3) Put butter in a saucepan and set on low until melted. Remove and add sugar, buttermilk, eggs, lemon zest, and extracts. Whisk. Pour mixture from saucepan into well and stir until just blended. (4) Spoon half of batter into pant and sprinkle half of crumb topping over batter. Spread, evenly, the remaining batter over the crumb topping and top with remaining half of topping left in bowl. (5) Bake until golden and tester comes out clean, approximately 1 hour. Remove and cool on wire rack before loosening it from the pan.
*I some times use a loaf pan or a buckle pan or a cake pan or a spring pan when making coffee cakes. It just depends on how I feel and what the cake is for.
*I used candied lemon peels. To make, dissolved sugar in water in a saucepan. Boil mixture, then dredge lemon peels in mixture and roll in sugar and place on a wire rack to drip dry. Some grocery stores or specialty stores might have candied lemon peels.
