Outrageously Buttery Crumb Cake

This simple crumb cake is the BEST I ever tasted. The cake is so moist, and there is a ton of buttery crumb topping to die for. It's my aunt's recipe from the 1970's (hence the 1 pound of butter) and therefore of uttermost decadence, but oh so addictive! I've made this recipe so many times, with so many compliments. I basically eyeball the measurements now (I like a lot of cinnamon) but below is the original recipe.

• Preparation Time: 15 mins
• Cooking Time: 30 mins
• Total Time: 45 mins
• Calories: 559 Calories

Ingredients

• ½ cup butter, softened
• 1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
• 3 eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 ⅓ cups packed brown sugar
• 4 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ cups butter
• ⅔ cup water
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, or to taste
• 1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar for dusting (Optional)

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 12x18-inch jellyroll pan.

Step 2

Beat the yellow cake mix, water, eggs, and 1/2 cup softened butter together with an electric mixer in a mixing bowl until thoroughly blended, about 2 minutes on medium speed. Pour the cake batter into the prepared jellyroll pan.

Step 3

Bake in the preheated oven until the edges of the cake are light brown but the middle of the cake is still slightly gooey, 15 to 17 minutes.

Step 4

While the cake is baking, mix together the brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla extract, butter, and flour together in a large bowl until the mixture forms medium crumbs. Remove the cake from the oven, and press about 3/4 of the crumb topping onto the top of the almost-baked cake. Reserve the remaining topping.

Step 5

Return the cake to the oven, and bake an additional 10 to 12 minutes, until the crumb topping is firm and the cake is cooked all the way through.

Step 6

Remove the cake from the oven, and sprinkle with the remaining crumb topping. Let the cake cool to room temperature, and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar.