Lavish cinnamon brunch cake

Now that the fear of emptying the pantry with crumb cake recipes is long gone I can gladly present you this cake: delicious, full of cinnamon flavor – and I do love cinnamon, you know that – and super tender, to the point of being difficult to slice. The streusel is tasty, crunchy and smells so good you’ll be glad that there’s a very generous layer of it.

Bake the cake today and thank me later. ;)

Lavish cinnamon brunch cake
from Lisa Yockelson’s amazing bible of flavors

Cinnamon streusel:
1 ½ cups (210g) all purpose flour
pinch of salt
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 cup (175) light brown sugar, packed
½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks/168g) unsalted butter, cold, cut into chunks
1 ¼ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup (110g) pecans, coarsely chopped

Cake:
2 2/3 cups (373g) all purpose flour
1/3 cup (40g) cake flour*
2 teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
¾ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1 cup (2 sticks/226g) unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup (132g) light brown sugar, packed
½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
3 large eggs
2 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup (240ml) buttermilk**

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter a 32.5x22.5cm (13x9in) baking pan.
Start by making the streusel: in a large mixing bowl combine the flour, salt, cinnamon, brown sugar and granulated sugar. Add the butter chunks and, using your fingertips, rub the ingredients together until medium crumbs form. Sprinkle over the vanilla, add the pecans and mix. Refrigerate until needed.
Now, the cake: sift the all purpose flour, cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg into a medium bowl. Set aside.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter on medium speed for 4 minutes. Add the brown sugar and beat for 1 minute; add the granulated sugar and continue beating for a minute longer. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing for 30 seconds after each addition. Blend in the vanilla. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. On low speed, alternately add the sifted mixture in three additions with the buttermilk in two additions, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Scrape the sides of the bowl.
Transfer the batter to the prepared baking pan and smooth the top. Sprinkle the streusel evenly over the batter, squeezing portions of it with your hands to form larger lumps.
Bake the cake for about 45 minutes or until he topping is set and firm and wooden toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Let the cake cool completely before slicing and serving.

* homemade cake flour: 1 cup (140g) all purpose flour minus 2 tablespoons + 2 tablespoons corn starch

**homemade buttermilk: to make 1 cup buttermilk place 1 tablespoon lemon juice in a 240ml-capacity measuring cup and complete with whole milk (room temperature). Wait 10 minutes for it to thicken, then use the whole mixture in your recipe

Serves 20 – I made the exact same recipe using a 20x30cm (8x12in) baking pan