Chocolate Crumb Cake

One bowl. One pan. One clever trick that turns a single batter into both cake and crumb topping.

You start by stirring flour and sugar together, then scoop out half a cup and set it aside. That reserved mix becomes your crumb topping. Everything else gets combined with butter, egg, milk, and chocolate syrup to make a tender, chocolatey batter.

Pour it into the pan, scatter the reserved crumbs on top, and bake until the kitchen smells like a bakery. The topping crisps into sandy, sweet clusters while the cake stays moist and fudgy underneath.

Serve it warm from the pan with a cup of coffee and call it breakfast. Or dessert. Or both.

Pro Tips

• Don’t overmix the batter. Stir just until everything comes together. Overworking it develops gluten and turns a tender crumb cake into a tough one.
• The crumb topping works better with cold butter. If your butter is soft, the reserved mixture will clump instead of forming those sandy crumbles. Pop it in the fridge for a few minutes if needed.
• Test at 30 minutes. Every oven is different, and a 9-inch square cake this thin can go from done to dry in just a couple of extra minutes.