ISO recipe for crumble topping

[gfron1]

I'm looking for a topping like you would find on mass bakery coffee cakes. HERE'S an image of what I'm shooting for. My toppings are tasty but I want to recreate this texture that has so much appeal and comfort to customers. Can someone share a recipe please.

Thanks.

[CaliPoutine]

Cook's Illustrated has a recipe from NY crumb cake. Its sooooo amazing.

I'll PM you the recipe.

[Nyleve Baar]

Here's my standard crumble topping. I use it on coffee cake, muffins, fruit crumbles and instead of a top crust on fruit pie. It doubles or triples well, and freezes perfectly. Make sure you work the butter into the flour/sugar well so that it's incorporated rather than just cut in - don't want nuggets of butter.

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl (or in a food processor), cutting the butter into the mixture until it forms a slightly sticky crumbly mixture. Sprinkle over pie fillings instead of a top crust, use on top of fruit crisps, or even sprinkle on top of muffins before baking. Bake according to whatever recipe you’re using.

Makes enough to top one 9-inch pie or one batch of fruit crisp.

[gfron1]

Great! Thanks guys. I'll let you know how it turns out.

[pastrygirl]

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

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Looks like equal parts by weight?

[Nyleve Baar]

In truth, never weighed the ingredients. It's pretty foolproof.

[gfron1]

The CI recipe is exactly what I was looking for - thanks. I'll try Nyleve's recipe on my next batch for comparisons sake. Hot crumble coming out of the oven in 2 minutes - just in time for breakfast.

[jfield]

The basic crumb topping posted by NB is exactly what I would have suggested, as well. For what it's worth, add a pinch of salt--it will really bring out the flavor (unless you're using salted butter).

[gfron1]

Here's what I ended up with. I'll need to increase the batch for the amount of crumble that I want, but it really was perfect. This is a raspberry, blueberry, ginger crumble. Thanks again.

[Abra]

A typical French version would be, by weight, two parts butter, one part flour, one part sugar. Just FWIW, but the French love crumbles and make them a lot.

[pastrymama]

I have found that if I use clarified butter my crumbles come out more crumbly and crispier.

[jlwquilter]

To throw in another version of crumb topping... my go to recipe is the same as already noted except that mine subs in 1/3 cup of oats for some of the flour. I find the oats add a nice flavor and texture as well as added nutrition... hey, I can almost sell it as a "health food" topping!

[Pam R]

I don't know what a crisp is vs. a crumble. Anyway.

I made one tonight for dessert tomorrow night (it'll be nice rewarmed).

3/4 cup butter

1 (slightly heaping, because it doesn't really matter) cup of oats

1 (ditto) cup AP flour

1 cup dark brown sugar (I used dark, because it worked well with the fruit but usually use light brown sugar)

pinch of salt

some allspice and cinnamon

If it's too dry, I add a little butter -- to wet, a little flour. It's so good over well-spiced fruit. In this case a mix of pears, plums and nectarines with allspice, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. I think crumbles are the best fall desserts.

[CanadianBakin']

A tip I learned to help with presentation is to press the crumble through a cooling rack that has a grid to get a slightly more uniform crumb. It's a lot easier than trying to break it up with your fingers.

[Chris Hennes]

3/4 cup butter

1 (slightly heaping, because it doesn't really matter) cup of oats

1 (ditto) cup AP flour

1 cup dark brown sugar (I used dark, because it worked well with the fruit but usually use light brown sugar)

pinch of salt

some allspice and cinnamon

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I'm not sure about adding oats to get the Entenmann's texture: if I recall, this type of crumble is not crunchy at all, but quite soft. Rob, is that what you are going for, or are you looking for something crispy?

[gfron1]

Definitely no oats in the version I wanted and got. Although I could see grinding oats into for a bit more depth.

[reenicake]

this may seem like overkill, but some chopped nuts make a lovely addition to crumb topping. and for a killer apple pie, grated sharp cheddar. both make it more crisp and brown (from the added fat) but irresistibly fragrant.