Do you ever feel like a three year old child who doesn’t want to share? That’s how I feel about this crumb cake. I didn’t want to share so I made six 4-inch personal crumb cakes. You’ll understand once you taste the soft, fluffy lemon scented cake with juicy blueberries, a ton of sweet crumb topping and a lemony cream cheese icing. You’ll want every bite for yourself! I was also hesitant to share the recipe. But I was taught to share recipes by my two grandmothers who were amazing cooks and bakers. They shared their knowledge and recipes with anyone who asked. Recipes are a legacy that should be passed on to family and friends. If you’re reading this, I consider you a friend. So enjoy this recipe that’s especially dear to me because it’s based on my Grandma’s Apple Crumb Cake recipe.
I used a six serving shallow jumbo muffin pan to bake the cakes. The muffin cups are 4 inches across by 1 inch deep. To find the pan, click here. A hamburger bun pan for 4-inch buns will work too. If you happen to have six 4-inch cake pans, those work nicely. I used jumbo muffin liners to line the muffin cups, which fit perfectly by pressing them in around the inside bottom edges.
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4-inch crumb cakes
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- 3/4 cup (3 3/8 oz or 96g) all purpose flour, sifted Plus 1 teaspoon for blueberries
- 1/3 cup 2 3/8 oz or 66g) sugar
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 4 1/2 tablespoons (2 1/4 oz or 64g) cold, unsalted butter, cubed
- 1 1/4 cups 5 5/8 oz or 159g) all purpose flour, sifted
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 6 tablespoons (3 oz or 85g) unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup (5 1/4 oz or 150g) sugar
- zest of two medium lemons
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon pure lemon extract
- 1/3 cup (2 5/8 oz or 78ml) whole milk, room temperature
- 1/4 cup (2 oz or 59 ml) sour cream, room temperature
- 1 cup (6 oz or 170g) blueberries
- 1 tablespoon cream cheese, softened
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
- 3/4 cup (3 oz or 85g) powdered sugar, sifted
- pinch fine sea salt
- 2-3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Ingredients
Crumb Topping
Crumb Cakes
Cream Cheese Icing
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- In a medium bowl, whisk flour, sugar, brown sugar and salt together.
- Work in butter with your fingertips until the mixture looks like the consistency of wet sand. Press together to make chunks. Set aside in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line a 6-serving shallow jumbo muffin pan* with jumbo muffin liners.** Jumbo muffin liners will fit by pressing them around the inside bottom edges.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
- In a large bowl, cream the butter, sugar and lemon zest with an electric mixer on medium speed, until light and fluffy.
- Beat the egg, egg yolk and extracts into the butter mixture in 3 separate additions, making sure each addition is incorporated before adding the next.
- In a small bowl, whisk the milk and sour cream together.
- On low speed, mix the flour mixture into the batter in two additions alternating with half of the milk mixture after each addition. Beat just until combined.
- Transfer batter to the prepared baking pan, evenly distributing the batter and filling the cups about half full.
- In a medium bowl, toss the blueberries with 1 teaspoon of flour and place them into the cups on top of the batter, about 1 ounce (28g) in each. Top each one with crumb topping.
- Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean, about 25-30 minutes. Let cakes cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the cream cheese, melted butter, powdered sugar, salt and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Add additional lemon juice, a little at a time until the desired consistency is reached. Drizzle over the cooled cakes.
*To find the muffin pan I used, click here.
**To find jumbo muffin liners, click here. To find 4-inch cake pans, click here.