Vanilla crumble cake

This is a cake that is astonishingly simple to make, yet looks very sophisticated. A perfect accompaniment to a cup of tea, this one also stores well in an airtight container - up to 5 days (though I am not sure I will ever get to test this at my home).

A simple addition of oats based crumble on top lends a very crunchy texture to this cake which beautifully balances out the softness of the sponge. The crumble, in itself, is very accommodating, you could toss in any nuts, seeds or chocolate chips along with the crumble to suit your taste-buds.

I made the cake with whole wheat flour instead of plain flour; the texture was absolutely soft and spongy so I may be getting rid of the bleached plain flour altogether for many sponge recipes.

Ingredients:

For the cake -

• 100 gm (approx 3/4th cup) powdered white sugar

• 75 gm (approx 1/2 cup) brown sugar

• 220 gm (approx 1 and 3/4th cup) whole wheat flour

• 3 medium eggs

• 60 ml or 1/4th cup milk

• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 2 pinches of salt

For the crumble-

• 70 gm softened butter

• 3/4th cup rolled oats

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• Optional - choco chips, nuts or seeds of choice

Method:

To make the crumble-

1. In a bowl, mix all ingredients except the optional chocochips/nuts together.

2. Rub with hands till you get a crumbly texture

3. Keep aside

To make the cake-

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees and line a 9 inch square baking tin with baking paper

2. In a bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt

3. In another bowl, whisk butter and sugar till light and fluffy

4. Add flour to the butter mix and fold in, add one egg and gently whisk.

5. Continue adding flour and egg alternately. Add milk just before the last flour addition. Adjust the quantity of milk to get a dropping consistency for the batter

6. Add vanilla extract and fold in

7. Tip the batter into the baking tin

8. Release bubbles by tapping gently on a flat surface

9. Spread the crumble topping evenly on top of the cake surface. Sprinkle chocolate chips or nuts on top

10. Bake for 45-50 mins at 180 degrees.

11. Cover the cake with a silver foil mid-way through the bake to avoid excessive burning of the top