Sour Cream Crumb Cake

Tired of that plaid tablecloth yet?

I. Love. Crumb cake. (coffee cake).  A lot.  It's been years since I've been able to eat this delicious, crumbly, and moist treat and I have missed it so.  This is another first attempt for me and I'll say it was a good one.  The crumbs are crispier than I am normally used to so this isn't quite New York style but it's still delicious.  If you like a crispy crumbly topping and a moist yet substantial cake, this is the crumb cake for you.

Now I was concerned at first when I pulled it out of the oven that I should have let it bake longer.  I did the toothpick test a few times and it came out clean.  Then, remembering that I used dark brown sugar rather than all white sugar so that was going to change some things, my roommate and I tasted it and I was no longer concerned.

Adapted from All Recipes
Cake Ingredients:
1 cup of butter (2 sticks), melted
1 cup of dark brown sugar
1 cup of white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup of sour cream
1 tsp of vanilla extract
2 cups of GF all purpose flour (Bob's Red Mill)
1 tsp of Xanthan gum (Guar gum if you need to avoid corn)
1 tsp of baking powder
1/8 tsp of salt
Crumb Ingredients:
2/3 cup of GF all purpose flour
1 cup of dark brown sugar, packed
4 tbsps of melted butter
2 tsps of cinnamon

Steps:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan
Cream together sugars and melted butter
Beat in eggs one at a time, then add sour cream and vanilla
Mix in the flour, baking powder, and salt
Pour batter into pan and set aside
Combine crumb ingredients in a medium sized bowl and sprinkle all of it over the batter. Spread it evenly (you shouldn't be able to see the cake through the crumbs)
Bake for 40-50 minutes (do a toothpick check)
Let cool in pan on a wire rack, cut and serve!

I actually was drinking coffee while I made these

Flourless Chocolate Cake

 Rich, buttery, chocolatey, and decadent.  For some reason there are many complicated versions of flourless chocolate cake, but this version is a simple 5 ingredients.  But it packs quite a punch and is surprisingly non dense.  If you want a rich chocolate dessert to satisfy your gluten free and non-gluten free friends that is simple to whip up, this is the treat for you!

No mixer required!

I really need to get a cake plate...

Ingredients:
8 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate
1/2 cup of butter (1 stick)
3/4 cup of sugar
1 tsp of vanilla
3 eggs, beaten

Steps:
Preheat your oven to 300 degrees F
Prepare an 8inch round cake pan by greasing and dusting with cocoa powder.  (I also suggest adding a parchment paper (wax paper) circle to the bottom of the pan prior to greasing and cocoa powdering)
Melt butter and chocolate together, either using a double boiler, a bowl over a pot of boiling water, or the microwave (like I did)
Remove from heat and add in sugar, vanilla, and eggs, stir until combined (easily done with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula)
Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 30-40 minutes
Let cake cool for approximately 10 minutes in the pan
Turn cake onto wire cooling rack to finish cooling
Serve warm
Eat with ice cream or whipped cream for added deliciousness

First flourless chocolate cake success.  It would also be delicious but denser and more brownie like if you substitute some of the melted chocolate for cocoa powder (1/4 cup of cocoa powder per 2 ounces of chocolate approximately).  Top a brownie version of this with ice cream? Yes please.