Mmmmm yummy. These are so awesome.
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 crumbs
- 1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 8 tablespoons butter melted and cooled slightly (one stick)
- 1 3/4 cups cake flour
- 1 cake
- 1 1/4 cups cake flour
- 1/4 teaspoon table salt
- 6 tablespoons butter softened but still cool
- 1/3 cup buttermilk
- Carbohydrate 139.786229845679 g
- Cholesterol 94.662962962963 mg
- Fat 20.4285896296296 g
- Fiber 2.79677507456144 g
- Protein 14.616590462963 g
- Saturated Fat 11.9531462314815 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (214g)
- Sodium 233.130018518518 mg
- Sugar 136.989454771118 g
- Trans Fat 1.82072397222222 g
- Calories 812 calories
Step-by-step
- Place a rack in the upper-middle position of the oven. Preheat oven to 325°F.
- In a bowl, combine white sugar, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon, mixing well with your fingers until there are no lumps. Add melted butter and stir until smooth. Stir in cake flour until fully combined. Set aside at room temperature, covered with plastic wrap, to allow the gluten to relax, 10-15 minutes.
- In work bowl of a standing mixer, combine flour, sugar, salt and baking soda using the paddle. (If you don't have a stand mixer, whisk together in a large bowl.) With the mixer running on medium-low, add the butter 1 tablespoon at a time, waiting until each piece breaks down before adding the next. Continue mixing until it has a uniform sandy texture. (If working by hand, cut butter in with pastry cutter until very fine.).
- Add the vanilla, buttermilk, egg and egg yolk. Run mixer on medium-high until batter is smooth and thick, at least 1 minute, or use a handheld electric mixer. The batter will be very thick, almost like frosting.
- Spray an 8"-square baking pan with non-stick spray. Cut a piece of parchment paper 16" by 7 1/2", and lay it into the pan, allowing 2" to overhang each side. Spread the batter into the prepared pan.
- Break the crumb mixture into pieces the size of large peas or small pebbles. Spread crumbs around the outer edge of the pan first, then evenly fill in the center.
- Place pan in preheated oven for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the pan comes out clean. Cool cake in pan 30 minutes. Dust top with powdered sugar, then remove cake from pan using parchment sling. Cut into 16 2" squares.
Replacing cake flour with all-purpose flour removes the tender, fine crumb that defines a true New York style bakery cake. This formulation relies on low-protein flour to keep the dense batter from developing excess gluten structure. The hallmark of the style is an extraordinarily deep layer of buttery streusel topping, often equal in weight to the cake base itself. Bakers frequently err by melting the butter for the crumb completely past the cooling stage, which dissolves the sugar instead of creating coarse, pea-sized clumps. Mixing the base requires adding chilled butter gradually to dry ingredients until a sandy consistency forms, rather than creaming butter and sugar together in the traditional cake method. Operating the stand mixer on medium-high for at least one full minute after adding the buttermilk, vanilla, and eggs builds the necessary emulsion in a batter that resembles stiff frosting. Placing the baking pan on the upper-middle oven rack at 325 degrees Fahrenheit prevents the bottom and heavy sugar topping from scorching before the center sets. Allowing the baked cake to rest undisturbed in the pan for thirty minutes firms the crumb sufficiently for safe extraction via the parchment sling.
