So a while ago, I made a take on the LAUSD coffee cake in the form of doughnut creams. I wanted to revisit that inspiration, but this time, making a giant crumb cake! For the cake batter itself, I went with a take on hot milk cake, which is a soft, springy cake made with heated milk that is whisked through the batter. I also used vinegar in the cake batter so that it will culture the heated milk, almost like a buttermilk, for additional fluffy and moisture, and added in some nutmeg as well, just since that plays off of dairy so beautifully and gives the cake that “coffee shop”-feel to it. For the crumbs, I went with a rather straightforward shortbread dough, since that will bake off nicely on top and inside of the cake to give it another texture throughout. A warning about this recipe, the cake came out huge. Like the size of my head-huge. You can totally split this into 8 smaller cakes or probably 24 individual cupcake-versions of this if desired(if doing the 8, bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes, and for the cupcakes, same temperature, but for 18 minutes instead). Serve with tea or coffee just to round out that crumb cake at a coffee shop experience!

For the crumbs:
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
a pinch of salt
1 egg yolk

Mix to form your dough. Keep in small pieces and refrigerate for easier assembly. Alternatively, you can also freeze the dough and grate it with a cheese grater to form finer and more consistent crumbs for sprinkling.

For the cake:
2 cups milk
1 stick unsalted butter
1/2 cup canola oil
4 eggs
2 tbsp cider vinegar
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 tspn vanilla extract
a pinch of salt
1/4 tspn nutmeg
1 tspn baking soda
1 tspn baking powder
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

In a pot, heat up the milk and butter. In a bowl, whisk together the canola oil, eggs, cider vinegar, sugar, vanilla, salt, and nutmeg. Once the butter is melted into the milk, pour the mixture into the eggs while whipping to combine. Sift into that the baking soda, baking powder, and flour and fold together for create your batter.

In a lined 8-inch cake round, pour in half of the batter first. Sprinkle on half of your crumble, then pour on the rest of the batter, and the rest of the crumble. Bake at 350 degrees F for 55 minutes. Cool before unmolding.