Pumpkin Crumb Cake

If there were two kitchen teams — one of baking and one of cooking — I would UNDOUBTEDLY wish to be a first draft pick for the cooking team. Big knives, big spoons, big pots, big pans and big bottles of olive oil — I’ll take ‘em all! Baking has never much suited my fancy. While I enjoy indulging in a baked good, I am a self-professed professional taste tester. I do not have an affinity for actually baking, BUT I can absolutely be swayed into baking, it’s not even a sway, it’s a full blown emotional desire to do so, when it comes to people that I love. Lucky you, right? If love you, I’ll bake for you.

While sitting at the kitchen table, one sunny fall morning over breakfast, my aunt mentioned, “I’d love to bake a pumpkin crumb cake. I keep seeing recipes for it.” My uncle greeted this statement with, “Oh, that sounds good.” The air smelled of coffee, toast and eggs, I thought about how the smell of pumpkin spice in the kitchen would be warming. I love when my aunt makes her pumpkin pancakes, and it is pumpkin everything season. So, when my aunt and uncle left for the day, I took to the kitchen on a mission to bake this very cake before they arrived home.

I have a trusty recipe for the ultimate New York style crumb cake, but I wanted to do a deeper dive. Everything I bake is an evolution of an existing recipe that I’ve tweaked again and again — from scones, to brownies, cookies and cakes. Apparently, this is how much I love family and friends, or it says something about my compulsive desire to be somewhat “perfect” — that although I dislike baking, I will commit to tweaking a recipe until I am satisfied with the outcome. I don’t think that’s too far off a desire for anyone committed to their kitchen craft.

Through some research, I came across a New York Times recipe for a pumpkin crumb cake. The ratings for this cake were solid, but there were two things that stood out to me as I read the recipe 1) there was no sour cream or yogurt in the batter and 2) the crumble topping didn’t use melted butter, which gives thick, buttery crumble vibes — this recipe used room temp butter to make the crumb topping. Despite these observations, I made this version of the cake. The ingredients were simple, accessible and readily available in the house.

The cake batter came together beautifully. The recipe started with a base of whipped light brown sugar and eggs. Then the pumpkin puree, spices and butter/oil mixture were whisked in. Finally, the flour was added along with baking powder, baking soda and salt. All pretty standard.

The batter was extra thick and relatively smooth, flowing perfectly into a prepared baking dish. It was also aromatic (I also snuck in extra pumpkin spice). While the recipe called for an 8x8 square baking pan, that seemed like too thick of a cake for my liking, so I went with a longer more rectangular shape of an 11x8 baking dish — but I think I could have even stretched the batter about as far as a 9x13 for a less thick cake/base.

The crumble topping was added and, as you can see from the photos, the topping was more granular than crumbly and thick. I personally prefer a more dense crumble topping, but I will say that the recipe measurements created the perfect amount of crumble to cover the entirety of the cake itself.

Upon the completion of baking, the cake presented perfectly, and while the cake received good reviews from my aunt and uncle, surprised by the spicy smell upon entering their home, we all agreed on the same notes. Sure the cake was pretty delicious and perfectly topped, but we thought the cake itself could have used extra fat and moisture — not to mention a bigger, fatter, more buttery crumble topping would have been welcome. While the bites were not dry, they were not soft and crumbly. All in all it was a 6/10 for us. So, in about two weeks, when I head to my parents house to run the senior center through the Thanksgiving holiday, we will give this cake a do-over with the above notes on adding more moisture and a bigger, more buttery crumble. In the interim, thank you to the New York Times for this starter recipe which I so look forward to reimagining with a little more softness and fat.