cookie butter-cream cheese NY style crumb cake

Every year on January 10 I ask the husband what kind of cake he wants for his birthday tomorrow.
And every year, like clockwork he responds with "crumb cake".
What kind of crumb cake I ask.
He says "ahh, it don't matter"
:::thud:::
Sometimes I hate being married to a non-foodie.
The answer I'm expecting is:
"Oh I would love a kicked up devils food cake with toasted marshmallow frosting, crunchy honey nut-peanut butter filling....all with dark chocolate-caramel ganache and freshly whipped cream!"
Right?
Good answer indeed.
So I ask him if I can kick up the crumb cake with something new and fun, yet totally flavorful?
He says, "you won't make it savory will you?"
Of course my mind goes "ohhh what a great idea!"  LOL
I respond, like I do every year, with 'no, it will tastes great--you love it every year and never complain'.
And there is where the idea of cookie butter in the crumb cake came in.
Hubby hasn't a clue what cookie butter is--he thinks its just peanut butter anywho.
Did he love it?
Yes he did.
Did he know it was cookie butter?
No.
But he knew there was cream cheese in there.
Progress for a non-foodie.....




We will put down rows of cream cheese, then cookie butter, swirl the two a bit, then fill in the gaps with crumbs!

Swirl or not.  It's up to you.

Fill in the gaps with crumbs.
Make sure there are crumbs on all gaps!

Looks good enough to eat raw doesn't it?

Mmmm, can you see the perfect ratio of cream cheese to cookie butter to crumb?


So, yeah, this would be the ultimate indulgence in NY style crumb cake.

cookie butter-cream cheese crumb cake

print recipe

Cake:

¼ cup canola oil, plus more for pan  

½ stick unsalted butter, melted.

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan  

½ cup + 2 TB granulated white sugar  

1 ts baking powder  

½ ts coarse salt  

1 large egg  

½ cup + 2 TB half & half   

2 ts pure vanilla extract  

Crumb Topping:

1 cup flour

1 cus packed light brown sugar

¾ ts coarse salt

½ TB ground cinnamon

1 stick unsalted butter, melted & cooled

For the crumb topping:

In a medium bowl, combine all dry ingredients, pour melted butter over mixture, and toss with a rubber spatula until large crumbs form. Set aside.

cream cheese mixture

8 ounces cream cheese, room temp.

1 large egg yolk

4 ts white sugar

For the cream cheese mixture:

Mix all in a bowl (really well) until ready to use. Set aside.

For the cookie butter:

½ - ¾ cup cookie butter

Cook Notes:

The crumb topping makes a lot.  If you don’t like a lot of crumb on your cake, then half it. 

The cake dough is sticky and thick; so it will be hard to spread into pan.  I use patience and wet fingers to spread the dough.  Make sure to get all the corners.

Also, the cake when baked is thin.  This is a NY style cake, which means more toppings than cake.

The cake cooks up quick because the batter is thin.  Please check at the 20 minute mark.

Looks for light golden edges.  It will be hard to tell if this is done because of all the cream cheese and crumbs.  But I’ve found after baking this several times that 20-23 minutes is really all it needs.

For cake:

Place rack in center of oven, and heat oven to 350°.

Lightly butter a 9 x 13 baking pan and dust with flour, and tap to remove excess. (I’ve also used the Pam with Flour and it worked just fine). Set aside.

In a medium bowl, sift together 2 ¼ cups flour, add in the granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a second bowl, whisk together egg, butter, half & half, canola oil, and vanilla.

Using a rubber spatula, fold dry ingredients into egg mixture.  

Spread batter evenly into prepared pan, and set aside. (to keep batter from sticking to your hand or spoon, just wet or oil your fingers or a spoon and spread evenly throughout pan). 

The batter should be about half an inch high.  It will cook/rise to an inch thick.

Next put on the cream cheese mixture; I did this in vertical lines in the pan.

And on the other sides of the cream cheese lines I added in a line of cookie butter. 

If you want to pipe the cream cheese mixture on that’s fine.  I just used my hands.

If you want slight swirls, take a chopstick and gently swirl the opposite of the lines.

Next add on the crumbs.

I added the crumbs in the areas where there were no cream cheese lines or cookie butter lines (see photo).

Then transfer pan to oven, and bake for 12 minutes, rotate pan. Then cook another 10- 12 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Check cake at 20-23 minute mark for sure. 

Let cake cook completely before slicing.

Using a serrated knife or bench scraper, cut into 3-inch squares.

Store in an airtight container for up to two-three days.