My mother grew up in New Jersey, and any time she meets another person from the Backyard State, she at all times rolls out the basic “What exit?” joke (if you realize, you realize). She remembers many Sunday afternoons as a child being toted alongside by her mom to go to pals so the grown-ups might gossip over espresso. She primarily recollects being bored throughout these outings, however a saving grace was the sight of a Fifties white Entenmann’s bakery field with its basic blue script crammed with New Jersey–model crumb cake.

New Jersey crumb cake and crumb buns (extra on that distinction later) are hyper-regional espresso desserts which have loyal followings amongst locals. A typical espresso cake often options a number of fluffy, tender cake—typically with a cinnamon swirl inside—with a light-weight scattering of buttery streusel on prime. However the Backyard State’s tackle espresso cake flips the standard ratio of cake to streusel on its head, letting the streusel steal the present. It contains a skinny layer of barely candy cake as the bottom and an unapologetically huge layer of buttery crumbs on prime. We’re speaking not more than a half-inch of cake right here, topped with at the very least a full inch of candy crumbs. Showered with powdered sugar or drizzled with icing, it’s actually a “extra is extra” expertise.

To construct on my data of the crumb bun gained from my mother, I consulted Will Tangorra, proprietor of The Colossal Crumb Cake Co., who I tracked down at a farmers market on the North Shore of Massachusetts, near the place I reside. A New Jersey transplant, he’s obsessed with sharing this particular cake with neophytes and fervent crumb cake followers alike.

“It’s one thing that you just simply can’t get anyplace else,” Tangorra advised me. “There’s a loyal following, and there’s nostalgia with crumb cake. I see individuals reminiscing each week about this particular summertime deal with they’d get down the Jersey Shore, or after church on Sundays once they would cease on the bakery on the best way house…Once we would go go to household at Christmas or Thanksgiving, there would at all times be crumb cake for breakfast.” No stress, then, for growing a recipe that may reside as much as these treasured recollections.

New Jersey Crumb Cake vs. Crumb Buns

The phrases “crumb cake” and “crumb buns” are used maddeningly interchangeably in recipes and on bakery menus, however as I dug into analysis, I did uncover a few key variations. Whereas New Jersey–model crumb cake can typically be made with a non-yeasted yellow or bitter cream cake batter, a crumb bun is historically and nonetheless most frequently yeasted. Tangorra advised me that in current instances, many bakeries have switched to utilizing a batter cake base for ease and pace. however some older, extra conventional Jersey-based bakeries nonetheless use a bun base made out of an enriched yeasted dough (like the sort you may use for a cinnamon bun) that bakes up fluffy and ethereal but sturdy sufficient to carry up the crumb layer. 

This custom of utilizing a yeasted cake base originates with German immigrants who opened bakeries within the New York and New Jersey space, sharing an array of yeasted desserts which can be widespread in Germany. Over time, these desserts morphed into the crumb buns which can be recognized and liked right this moment, and establishments like Styertowne Bakery in Clifton, Mueller’s Bakery in Bay Head, and B&W Bakery in Hackensack proceed to supply them, with fierce and dependable followings. 

One different distinction: Crumb buns are lower into generously-sized squares and served individually, versus as an entire sheet cake. Every sq. is doused with a thick bathe of confectioners’ sugar or drizzled with icing to place this deal with up and excessive. I made a decision to stay with custom and make the yeasted dough “bun” model of this recipe so the cake could be sturdy sufficient to assist the crumble topping and tangy sufficient to distinction the entire sweetness.

As for these crumbs, regardless of whether or not they’re atop a cake or a bun, I’ve been advised by New Jersey–born members of the family {and professional} bakers alike in no unsure phrases that they need to be very delicate, cohesive, and loaded with brown sugar and cinnamon taste. Between a yeasted dough base and a tall order of crumbs, I had my work lower out for me to recreate this beloved deal with at house.

The Yeasted Cake

The yeasted cake base for my crumb buns got here collectively pretty simply, utilizing a typical formulation for enriched bread dough that comes with milk, egg, and softened butter together with flour, yeast, salt, and a bit of little bit of sugar. Some conventional recipes embody a nod to lemon taste within the cake, and others don’t. The lemon zest is non-obligatory right here, so go together with no matter you like! I personally like to incorporate it, because it offers the buns a nice tartness that enhances the candy topping. 

Kneading the dough with the dough hook in a stand mixer offers it a stretchy consistency that bakes up tender but sturdy—excellent for holding up a thick layer of crumbs. I scaled the recipe to make simply sufficient to cowl the underside of a 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Be sure that to make use of a steel pan moderately than a ceramic dish for finest outcomes. To keep away from a sticky mess when shaping, I like to recommend wetting your arms with water earlier than patting and stretching the cheesy dough out into the pan. And letting the dough rise proper within the pan, as a substitute of proofing in a separate bowl, means one much less bowl to scrub, streamlining the method. Yeasty, tangy, and simply barely candy, this skinny cake layer was a balanced foil for the streusel on prime.

Perfecting the Crumb Topping

Perfecting the crumbs, however, proved to be fairly a problem. A lot of the recipes I discovered in my analysis known as for merely mixing collectively sugar (often a mixture of white and brown), flour, and cinnamon with melted butter in a bowl. I liked the simplicity of this system, however the crumbs made this manner constantly turned out crunchy and crisp (not what I needed). I knew from speaking with my pal Carolyn Grillo—a NJ native, crumb bun fanatic, {and professional} baker—that the topping wanted to be velvety-soft, cohesive, and straightforward to pinch off into pillowy morsels. I examined numerous ratios of butter and sugar, including cornstarch to the flour, utilizing cake flour, utilizing confectioners’ sugar as a substitute of granulated, and even utilizing all brown sugar, however batch after batch, the crumbs remained too crisp.

I used to be stumped till I circled again with Will Tangorra. He talked about seeing a YouTube recipe video for crumb cake by which the crumb topping was creamed with softened butter moderately than stirred collectively utilizing melted butter. Eyeing my now-empty mixer bowl, I cleaned it out after making the dough, converted to the paddle, and creamed softened butter with equal components white and brown sugar till mild and fluffy. After mixing within the flour, I had a cookie dough–like combination that squeezed collectively simply into chunks that I might break up and scatter into pebbly items over the dough. Eureka! The ensuing buns had a delicate, cohesive layer of crumbs with an excellent melt-in-your-mouth texture.

Showered with confectioner’s sugar simply earlier than serving, these crumb buns will transport you to the guts of Jersey–no Turnpike or Parkway tolls required.