Anna Sultana’s Crumb Cake / The Perseid Meteor Shower

COVID-19 has made this a summer like no other.

Including here in Manitoba.

Most of our usual festivals and events have been cancelled, and we’re nervous about going out for groceries, let alone having simple get-togethers.

Parents here, as everywhere else, are worried about what to do this September.

Should children go to school, or stay home and learn on-line?
Modern technology is amazing, but it does lack that human touch.

Some events and things can be handled on-line, but others can't.
We still have to eat something solid, something that we can touch.

Virtual reality will not work for the dining room table.
Meal times and snack times demand a bit of cooking.

The take out places have been saying that NOBODY touches the food they sell.
All well and good.
I do support local businesses, but after a while one can actually get tired of take out.
Since cheesecake usually helps keep me calm, last month I posted the recipe for Woolworth Icebox Cheesecake.

It’s an old favourite, and I do love cheesecake, but just like take out, one can get tired of eating cheesecake. Really.

When I was growing up Entenmann’s Crumb Cake was a popular dessert.

Ma had a recipe for it.
Warning: the recipe requires cake flour.

If you have cake flour on your shelf, all is well and good.

If you don't have it, you can make a cake flour substitute.

If you don’t have time to make a cake flour substitute and your store doesn’t have bags of cake flour on its shelf (yes, supplies - even of staples - have been a bit erratic since the virus came), then this recipe is for you.

Time was a precious commodity in Ma's home so she often used this recipe.

It calls for regular flour and will give you a delicious crumb cake.

About the sky this month...

The annual Perseid Meteor Shower is returning, with the peak of the shower happening between August 11 to 13.

The bright meteors are a favourite summer sight, and the virus can’t stop them.

Why not bake a crumb cake and enjoy the night skies with a slice? 

The kiddies can have a glass or two of lemonade.

Piña Coladas or Strawberry Daiquiris (with or without the rum) would be appreciated by the adults.

Stay safe and well, everyone!

Hints:

It your family really likes crumb toppings, the crumb recipe can be doubled.
it won't affect baking time.

If you have salted butter, don't add the 1/8 teaspoon salt.

This cake is denser than the recipe using cake flour. 
A smaller slice will be filling.

                        Crumb Cake

For the Crumb Topping

In a small bowl mix together 

1/3 Cup sugar

1/3 Cup dark brown sugar 

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon 

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 Cup unsalted butter, melted and still warm

Add

1 3/4 Cups flour

Stir until the mixture is a solid dough.

Set aside to cool.

For the Cake

Place the oven rack in the upper-middle position.

Preheat oven to 350º F

Grease and flour 2 8-inch square baking pans

In a large mixer bowl place

1 Cup butter, softened

1 3/4 Cups sugar

4 large eggs 

Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy.

Add

2 1/2 Cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder 

Beat at low speed just to combine.

Add

1/2 Cup milk

1 1/4 teaspoon vanilla 

Beat at low speed just to combine.

Spread the cake batter in the prepared pans.

Using a rubber spatula, spread the batter into an even layer. 

Break apart the crumb topping into large pea-sized pieces and spread the pieces in an even layer over the batter.

Do not push the crumbs into the batter.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes. 

The crumbs should be a golden brown.

A toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake should come out clean.

Place the pans on a wire rack.

Let the cakes cool at least 30 minutes.

Just before serving dust with

confectioners' sugar 

Anna Sultana’s Banana Oatmeal Crumb Cake - Full Hunter’s Moon

A little while ago I posted the recipe for Ma’s 

Banana Pound Cake With Caramel Glaze.

It is a great way to use overripe bananas.

And it makes an impressive dessert if you’re having the family over for a big meal.

But it is big if you’re cooking for a small family.

And it does take a bit of time to bake.

Ma had a a quicker recipe that uses the bananas.

This is a smaller cake, so it’s just right for a regular meal.

Hints:

If you don’t like a caramel flavour use regular sugar.

If you’d like to dress it up you could dust it with confectioners’ sugar.

You could also make a quick glaze and squiggle it over the cooled cake.

This is a small amount and is a bit runny.

Don’t try to ice a whole cake with it.

In a small bowl combine

1/4 Cup oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

a dash of salt

Add 

3 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa

1 Cup sifted icing sugar

Beat well until smooth.

You want it to be runny but still solid enough to hold its shape.

Drizzle over the cake.

If you’d like a mocha flavour add 1 Tablespoon instant coffee.

Still have a few more overripe bananas?

Why not make a few loaves of Ma’s Banana Bread?

                        Banana Oatmeal Crumb Cake

Grease and flour an  8 inch square pan

For the Crumb Topping

Place in a medium bowl
3/4 Cup rolled oats
1/3 Cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 Tablespoons butter, melted 

Cut the ingredients together until crumbly.

Set aside.

For the Cake

Stir together in a medium bowl

3/4 Cup all-purpose flour 

1 1/3 Cups rolled oats 

1/4 teaspoon salt 

1 teaspoon baking soda

Set aside.

Peel and place in a measuring cup (a 2 Cup size gives you room to work)

2 very ripe bananas

Mash well.

You want to have 1 Cup of mashed bananas

Preheat oven to 350º F

Combine in a large mixer bowl

1/2 Cup butter, softened
2/3 Cup brown sugar, packed  

Beat until light and fluffy.

Beat in

2 eggs 

1 teaspoon vanilla 

Add the mashed bananas.

Add the combined dry ingredients.

Stir just enough to blend.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Sprinkle over the batter

2 Tablespoons chopped walnuts 

Top with the crumb topping.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes.

A toothpick inserted into the centre should come out clean.

Cool on a wire rack.

About the sky this week…

According to the Farmers Almanac:

The large, waxing Moon will be right between planets Uranus and Neptune. Because the Moon will be so big and bright, you might not be able to see the two planets. Look to the southeast in the evening.

October 26 – Venus reaches its greatest elongation west of the Sun in the morning sky. Look to the east, before dawn: Venus is also very close to Jupiter and Mars, which will be the closest for all of 2015. We won’t see this close of a grouping of planets until January 2021. 

Bonus: look for Mercury near the eastern horizon while it’s still dark.

October 26— The nearly-full Hunter’s Moon will be at it’s closest point to Earth.

October 27 – Full Hunter’s Moon, astronomically full at 8:05 a.m. The entire disc of the Moon is fully illuminated by direct sunlight. Though the Moon is only technically in this phase for a few seconds, it is considered “full” for the entire day of the event, and appears full for three days.

I think the kiddies will be calling it the Halloween Moon!

Anna Sultana’s 'Entenmann’s Crumb Cake / Homemade Cake Flour Substitute

Ahhh….  Entenmann’s!

Anyone who grew up in New York knows about Entenmann’s.

Entenmann’s has been a part of New York's life for over 100 years.

They perfected their marketing when they invented the "see-through" cake box.

We saw it while Ma was picking up her basics.

After enough begging, Ma surrendered and bought a cake.

We enjoyed it.

Even Ma enjoyed it.

But not enough to make a habit of buying a store bought cake every week.

If you’ve never had an Entenmann’s cake, despair not.

Ma asked around and got a recipe from another mom, who also wasn’t going to admit defeat by buying a store bought cake every week.

Moms, in those days, had their pride, and their ways.

I just heard that Entenmann’s has stopped baking in Bay Shore.

What next?  Will the Pope leave Rome?

Hints:

If you don’t have cake flour, DO NOT substitute regular flour.

It just won’t work.

You can make a substitute, but it’s going to take a little effort…

Homemade Cake Flour Substitute

Measure out 

10 Cups all-purpose flour  

Remove 1 1/3 Cup flour and put it back in your canister. 

Replace the removed flour with 1 1/3 Cup cornstarch.

Sift flour 5 times.  Yes… 5 times.  

Sifting will help combine the mixture and lighten and aerate the flour.

Use the amount called for in the recipe and store the rest.

If you don’t have buttermilk, substitute an equal amount of plain, low-fat yogurt.

This recipe was developed when no one had ever heard of cholesterol.

If you’d like to make it a bit healthier, substitute for the cup of butter in the topping:

1/2 Cup margarine 

3 ounces oil

About the 2 eggs and 2 yolks… you can substitute 3 large eggs.

Every little bit helps.

                        Crumb Cake

Crumb Topping

In a small bowl mix together 

2/3 Cup sugar
2/3 Cup dark brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 Cup unsalted butter, melted and still warm

Add

3 1/2 Cups cake flour 

Stir until the mixture is a solid dough.

Set aside to cool.

Cake

Place the oven rack in the upper-middle position.

Preheat oven to 325º

Grease 2 8-inch square baking pans

In a large mixer bowl place

2 1/2 Cups cake flour
1 Cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Beat at low speed just to combine.

Add one piece at a time

3/4 Cup unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces, softened 

Beat until the mixture looks like crumbs.

There should not be any butter chunks visible.

Add

2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla
2/3 Cup buttermilk

Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute.

Spread the cake batter in the prepared pans.

Using a rubber spatula, spread the batter into an even layer. 

Break apart the crumb topping into large pea-sized pieces and spread the pieces in an even layer over the batter.

Do not push the crumbs into the batter.

Bake for 35 - 40 minutes.

The crumbs should be a golden brown.

A toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake should come out clean.

Place the pans on a wire rack.

Let the cake cool at least 30 minutes.

Just before serving dust with 

confectioners' sugar 

Cooled leftovers can be covered and stored at room temperature for up to 2 days.

In our family - there were 5 of us - it didn’t last that long!

Anna Sultana’s Caramel Apple Cheesecake

In January, 2010 I was a food blogging newbie.

And I made mistakes.

I actually insulted a cheesecake recipe.

Yeah… I did.

Cheesecakes are serious food business.

Just as a recap, here are cheesecake recipes I’ve posted over the years:

The 1960s Co-Op Refrigerator Cheesecake - Margaret Ullrich

Carmela Soprano's Ricotta - Pineapple Pie (Cheesecake)

Carmela Soprano's New Jersey Cheesecake recipe / Graham Wafer Crust

Carmela Soprano's Ricotta Cheesecake / Uses for Ricotta

Sweetened Condensed Milk Cheesecake, with and without fruit 

/ Homemade Sweetened Condensed Milk

I am not going to make any comments.

Hey, I finally learned my lesson.

I recently posted the recipe for Ma’s Apple Cinnamon Bread.

Ma also sometimes added chopped apples to cheesecake.

She had found the recipe in the New York Daily News.

And, no, I am not going to make any comments!

Hints:

The original recipe called for cooking the caramel topping in a double boiler.

Well, the recipe hade been published in the 50s.

It is now the twenty-first century.

Microwave ovens have replaced double boilers, thank goodness!

                              Caramel Apple Cheesecake 

In a small bowl combine

3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped

2 Tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Set aside.

For the Crumb Topping

In a small bowl mix together 

1 Cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 Cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
1/2 cup margarine

Mix until everything is in pea-sized pieces.

Set aside.

For the Crust

Preheat oven to 350º

In a medium bowl mix together 

2 Cups all-purpose flour
1/2 Cup firmly packed brown sugar

Add

1/2 Cup margarine

3 ounces oil

Cut in until the mixture is crumbly.

Press the crumbs into a 9 x 13 inch pan.

Bake 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

WHILE THE CRUST IS BAKING:

For the Cheesecake

In a large mixer bowl place

3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
3/4 Cup sugar

Beat at medium speed until smooth.

Add, one at a time

3 large eggs

Scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula, beat well after each addition.

Add

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Mix in just until done.

Pour over the warm crust.

Spoon the prepared apples evenly over the cream cheese mixture.

Sprinkle the crumb topping over the apples. 

Bake 45 minutes, or until filling is set. 

Cool. Refrigerate 4 hours. 

For the Caramel Topping

Place in a microwaveable bowl

20 caramels

1/4 Cup milk

Stirring every 30 seconds, microwave until caramels are completely melted.

(on HIGH for about 1 - 1 1/2 minutes)

Remove from microwave and stir until blended. 

Cool 10 minutes or until slightly thickened.

Drizzle over cake.

Anna Sultana’s Cinnamon Swirl Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Autumn inspires ups to make substantial meals.

And solid meals inspire us to make real desserts.

No… Jello with banana slices won’t do.

Really, summer's gone.

Ma had a recipe for a coffee cake that is good enough for holiday family gatherings.

But it’s also easy enough to make for a regular Autumn dinner.

Or any family dinner.

Hints:

Not a regular user of sour cream?  Worried about the fat?

Sour cream also comes in low fat form, and that will work in this recipe.

Don’t have pecans? Chopped walnuts or almonds also work in the recipe.

                        Cinnamon Swirl Sour Cream Coffee Cake

For the Cinnamon Swirl

In a small bowl mix together 

1/2 Cup sugar

1 Tablespoon cinnamon

Set aside.

For the Crumb Topping

In a small bowl mix together 

3/4 Cup all-purpose flour

3/4 Cup dark brown sugar

1 Tablespoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 Cup pecans, coarsely chopped

1/2 Cup margarine, softened

Mix until everything is in pea-sized pieces.

Set aside.

For the Cake

Preheat oven to 350º

Grease a 9×13 inch pan

In a medium bowl combine

3 1/2 Cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Set aside.

In a large mixer bowl, beat at medium speed

1/2 Cup margarine, softened

3 ounces oil

2 Cups sugar

Beat until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

Add, one at a time

4 large eggs

Scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula, beat well after each addition.

Add

2 Cups sour cream

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Mix in just until done.

Stir in the flour mixture.

Spread evenly half of the cake batter in the prepared 9×13 baking pan.

Sprinkle the cinnamon swirl over top.

Spread the remaining batter evenly over the cinnamon mixture.

Sprinkle the crumb topping over the entire cake.

Bake for 60 minutes.

The cake should be a deep golden brown.

A toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake should come out clean.

Place the pan on a wire rack.

Let the cake cool completely.

Another good recipe for family gatherings is 

Carmela Soprano's Mom's Pear and Grappa Pound Cake

Yes, it has booze in it.

Yes... it helps at family gatherings.