Until I started cooking from American cookbooks, I’d never heard of crumb or coffee cakes. Which is a great shame, but I’m making up for lost time! For the Brits, as far as I can tell, a crumb cake is a coffee cake minus nuts, however, this isn’t anything to be sad about. A well-made crumb cake can be absolutely delicious, as my tummy can attest.

This cake was one of the first to catch my eye when I gleefully flicked through my new cookbook–The Complete Cooking Light Cookbook–on Saturday afternoon. I was bored, had all the ingredients in the cupboards… so I wound up in the kitchen baking. Alas, the cake was so quick to make that it only alleviated my boredom for half an hour.

The buttermilk gives the cake a tender and moist texture which works well with the strong–yet not over-powering–cinnamon flavour. I was surprised at how aromatic and flavourful it was, despite only having Schwartz cinnamon in the cupboard. If you happened to have some Vietnamese cinnamon in your spice cupboard, you could make an incredibly special cake…. Plate with some peach compote and a generous spoonful of clotted cream and you’ve got an awesome autumn dessert! For my purposes, however, this cake was simple and beautiful all on its own.

Cinnamon Crumb Cake

Source: The Complete Cooking Light Cookbook

Serves 8
WW (UK) points: 3.5 per slice.

1 1/4 cups (160g) all-purpose (plain) flour
2/3 cup packed (125g) brown sugar (I used a mixture of light and dark, but mainly light)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup (60g) chilled stick margarine or butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup (125ml) low-fat buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350�F / 180�C / Gas Mark 4. Coat an 8-inch tin with cooking spray.

Lightly spoon the flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl, and cut in margarine with a pastry blender or 2 knives until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Reserve 1/2 cup flour mixture for topping, and set aside.

Combine remaining flour mixture, baking powder, and baking soda, and add the buttermilk, vanilla, and egg. Beat at medium speed of a mixer until blended. Spoon batter into prepared tin. Sprinkle reserved 1/2 cup flour mixture over batter. Bake for 30 minutes or until cake springs back when touched lightly in center. Cool in tin on a wire rack.