Cinnamon Crumble Breakfast Cake

So, apparently it takes 10 inches of snow overnight on top of a layer of frozen slush to cancel school here in Jefferson County. First snow day since we moved to Colorado!! That's three years! Oh, and it's still snowing. And I really need to go to the grocery store, and really don't want to... On the plus side, it's gorgeous, and cozy, and I get to hang out in my pajamas all day and let the boys be complete couch potatoes. I'll order them outside at some point, but lately their version of playing in the snow entails creating nests in the snow and sitting there, eating snow. In their defense, this fluffy, light as air stuff is completely useless for building anything, including snowballs. So, fresh air at least, right?

I didn't get a chance in my last post to apologize for disappearing for a month. February seems to be my slump-month, where it's hard to get inspired or motivated about much of anything. Maybe because I spend so much energy being excited about Christmas! I may take little breaks now and then, but I promise I'll never disappear completely without letting you know! Thank you for sticking around. :)

Cinnamon Crumble Breakfast Cake (adapted from The English Kitchen)
Printable Recipe

2 cups all-purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
6 Tb cold butter, cut into tablespoon-sized chunks
2/3 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 Tb cinnamon
4 Tb melted butter

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

pinch of salt
3 Tb softened butter

1 cup powdered sugar
2 Tb cream cheese, softened
1/2 tsp vanilla
2-3 Tb milk

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Butter a 9-inch cake pan or pie dish and set aside.

 Whisk the flour, salt, and baking powder together in a large mixing bowl. Add the butter and cut/rub it into the flour until no chunks remain that are bigger than small peas.  Add the buttermilk and stir with a fork until the mixture comes together in a soft, dough. Knead gently a couple of times to gather all crumbly bits, then turn out onto a lightly floured work surface and roll/pat out to a large rectangle, about 10 inches by 13 inches and 1/3 inch thick. (Feel free to sprinkle the dough with flour if it's too sticky) 

Stir the brown sugar, cinnamon and melted butter together in a small bowl. Spread this over top of the dough as evenly as possible. Press it gently to help it stick to the dough. Using a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut the rectangle length-wise into 1 inch strips. Roll one strip into a tight roll and place it in the center of the buttered baking pan/dish. 

Add the remaining strips, wrapping them around the center until you have filled your pan and it looks like a giant cinnamon roll. If it doesn't quite fill the pan, press down gently on the whole roll to spread it to the sides.   

Stir the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt together in another small bowl for the crumble topping.  Add the butter and rub all together until crumbly. (Remember, this takes a while! Keep at it until it comes together in large chunks and feels like stiff, crumbly cookie dough. If you have some chunks and lots of powdery stuff, you're not there yet) Sprinkle this in clumps evenly over the top.

Bake at 425 for 10 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 400 degrees and bake for an additional 20 to 25 minutes until nicely browned. If you think it is getting too dark on top, cover lightly with a piece of aluminium foil.

Remove from the oven to a cooling rack for about 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and cool to barely warm. Whisk together all of the ingredients for the glaze, adding the milk a tablespoon at a time until you have a nice drizzly glaze.  Drizzle this over top of the cake while the cake is just warm. Let set for a few minutes, then cut into wedges to serve.

So first off, this cake is infinitely easier than cinnamon rolls, right? And faster. No hours of rising time here! Now, while my 1-Hour Cinnamon Rolls are just about the best cinnamon rolls I've ever had, and are TONS quicker than usual, there is a new cinnamon-y breakfast treat in town, and it just may have made those yeasty rolls obsolete!

Holy Moly friends, this cake is SO GOOD!! Light and fluffy, with that perfect buttery, flaky, biscuit-type texture, tons of crumbly crunchy cinnamon bits and sweet, creamy glaze, just wow. A new family favorite, without a doubt!

We all agreed that we'd rather have this cake than cinnamon rolls any day! That may sound like blasphemy, but you really have to try it and see what I mean. Mmm, those ribbons of gooey cinnamon goodness all the way through... Maybe we'll have this for our snow day lunch... Stay warm!