Lemon Cheese Crumb Cake by Rachel

Well, I made a mistake and ordered way too many lemons from Fresh Direct.  So, with all those lemons staring me in the face and the snow keeping me inside, I decided to do something about them.  I wanted a moist cake with plenty of lemony punch and this crumb cake did the trick.

Ingredients

For the Cheese filling

8 oz of Cream Cheese, softened

1 tbsp lemon juice

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg

For the Cake

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup sugar

4 tbsp unsalted butter

1 egg

2/3 cup buttermilk

2 tbsp lemon juice

zest of 1 lemon

For the Crumble

2/3 cup flour

2 tbsp butter, softened, not melted

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp lemon juice

zest of half a lemon

Olive oil for your pan

- Let's make the cheese filling first.  Put the cream cheese into a mixer and beat it for about a minute to loosen it up.  Then, add in the egg, 1/4 cup of sugar, lemon juice and vanilla extract.  Beat until well incorporated.  Set aside.

-  In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  

- Cut the butter into small bits and mix into the flour until the texture is like sand.  It's okay if there are lumps of butter left.  They should all be smaller than the size of a pea.

- In a separate bowl, mix together the egg, lemon juice, lemon zest, and buttermilk.

- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until incorporated.  Don't over-mix though, otherwise your cake will come out too dense.  The batter should be thick and lumpy. 

- Now, time for the crumble which is the easiest part.  Mix the butter, sugar, flour, lemon juice, and zest together with a fork.  Using the bottom of a whisk, press the whisk into the mixture to form the "crumb" texture.  Do this until all the sugar and flour are incorporated into the crumbs.

- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

- Time to assemble!  Oil your pan with a little olive oil. 

- Using half of the cake batter, fill the bottom layer of the pan evenly- you'll need to really spread it since the batter is thick.  Second, pour on the cheese layer and spread evenly.  Top it with the rest of the cake batter.  Don't worry if the cheese layer sneaks up over the cake layer.

- Top the whole thing with the crumble.  Try to sprinkle it as evenly as possible.

- Pop in the oven and let it bake for 40-45 minutes.

- Remove from the oven and test the done-ness with a toothpick.  It should come out clean.

- Wait to eat this!  It needs to cool.  You should probably give it 20 minutes to cool before eating.

Enjoy on the spot or refrigerate and wait to enjoy with a warm cup of coffee or tea.  The cake came out really nice and moist with a little hint of cheesecake flavor.