Source: The Encyclopedia of Herbs and Spices. Hermes House*
Makes 12 servings.
Preparation time: 1 hour
Tips: Double topping for a extra thick crumb layer.
Ingredients
Preparation
1 1/2 cups self rising flour, see note 1
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened
3/4 cup vanilla sugar, see note 2
3 whole eggs, beaten
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 to 2 Tbsp milk
1. Preheat the oven to 350 F degrees. Lightly grease and line with parchment paper a shallow 9x7 inch or equivalent pan. For muffins grease well 6 to 8 large muffin cups.
2. Make the topping. Sift the flour into the bowl and rub in the butter with your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs. Stir in the vanilla sugar and set aside.
3. Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl. Add the butter, vanilla sugar and eggs. Beat well until the mixture is smooth, adding the vanilla extract and just enough milk to give a soft dropping consistency.
4. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the Streusel topping over the surface and press down to cover.
VARIATION: spoon about 1/2 the dough mixture into the prepared pan, spread jam on top. Add remaining batter. Using a butter knife, cut across the batter in swirl motion to disperse jam into the batter. Sprinkle the Streusel topping over the surface and press down to cover.
5. Bake for 45-60 minutes until browned and firm. Cover the cake loosely with foil if the topping browns too quickly.
6. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then lift with paper out on to a wire rack to cool completely.
7. Cut into bars, squares, as you like it.
Best eaten warm out of the oven.
NOTES : Recipe’s photo shows Streusel with a inner layer of raspberry jam.
1) To replace self rising flour use: 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour + (1+3/4+1/8) tsp baking powder + 1 pinch salt
2) To make vanilla sugar, store sugar in a seal container with a vanilla bean inside.
3) For the topping using package "self rising flour" makes the topping rather salty. I prefer to mix 1 cup all-purpose flour + 1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder, omit salt instead.
* By Andi Clevely, Katherine Richmond, Sallie Morris and Lesley Mackley
STREUSEL TOPPING: (see tips)
1 cup self rising flour, see note 1 & 3
6 tablespoons unsalted butter (3/4 stick)
6 tablespoons vanilla sugar, see note 2
Powdered sugar to dust after baking, optional
VARIATION:
1/2 cup strawberry jam or fruit jam
Vanilla Streusel Cake
Bars or Muffins
