Seeking Sweetness in Everyday Life

Guess what? Yesterday was CakeSpy's dad's birthday. Happy birthday, SpyDad!

And for this occasion, SpyMom made up something very special: Blitz Kutchen. What's that, you ask? Well, it's a recipe from the The Settlement Cook Book, the "first classic collection of American ethnic recipes"--a book which really reflects the American melting pot, with recipes which take inspiration from several of the "old countries" but often involve ingredients discovered or more readily found on US soil.

But that's not the only reason this crumb cake is special: as SpyMom says of why she chose this recipe to make for the Mr.: "It is his favorite German crumb cake I made the first birthday I was married to him."

Isn't that just so adorable you could die? Here's the recipe.

Further notes from SpyMom: "I use a old round pan, the vanilla option and this was the first time I added the almonds to the crumb topping. They are good though. And I added apple slices before the crumbs went on, love it that way."

Crumb Cake (Blitz Kutchen)

For the cake

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
grated rind of 1 lemon, or 1 teaspoon vanilla
4 eggs, unbeaten
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder

Crumb Topping (streusel)

1/2 cup flour
2-4 tablespoons butter
5-6 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
almonds

Procedure

Preheat oven to 350. Cream butter and sugar, add lemon rind or vanilla, add the eggs one at a time (reserving one egg white). Beat well, then add flour and baking powder (mixed). Stir well, pour into a buttered oblong shallow pan, 8x12 inches. Spread with the reserved egg white, cver with streusel, and bake 1/2 hour or until browned.

To prepare the streusel: Mix first 4 ingredients by rubbing well with the finger tips until small crumbs are formed. Add a few chopped or pounded almonds. Sprinkle over the cake before baking.