Crumb Cake

Growing up in NYC had alot of perks. Can you imagine that it wouldn't? Anyway, my dad is entirely German, with a teeny touch of Swiss thrown in. His family has always lived in predominantly German areas of Brooklyn and Queens after they immigrated from the Black Forest region of Germany back in the early 1800's. In these areas there are fabulous German bakeries. We even had one 5 blocks from my house on Jamaica Ave - I forget what it was called - and there was Reinwald's over on Braddock. Then there was Glendale Bakery, in, well, Glendale (where my dad spent some time growing up). Maybe the one on Jamaica was called Glendale Bakery too? Anyway, they always made these fabulous crumb cakes (a very German cake, unique to New York City), and forever I've been searching for a great recipe for one. This is probably the closest to the kind I grew up with, although the texture and taste of the cake is a little different than what I am used to. Nevertheless, this recipe from Martha Stewart is pretty freaking good, and of course you give it a good spanking of powdered sugar at the end. My husband says it is better than he has ever had, which were dried out and well, probably not from NYC. Yum!

PS - don't forget the cinnamon in the crumb topping... I did the first time around and had to scrap the whole thing after it was baked.