Cardamom Crumb Cake

I got this recipe from Rosa and, as you probably guessed, I’ve changed it a bit!

Crumbs
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans
1/3 cup sugar
1 Tbsp grated orange zest
½ tsp instant coffee powder
½ tsp ground cardamom
¼ cup unsalted butter or margarine, cut into small pieces, at room temperature

Cake
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 ¼ tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp instant coffee powder
2/3 cup sugar
2 Tbsp finely grated (or chopped) orange zest
½ cup unsalted butter or margarine, melted and cooled
2 large eggs
½ cup milk
½ cup coffee, cooled
½ tsp vanilla

For the Crumbs
Put all the ingredients except the butter in a bowl and toss them to blend. Add the butter and, using your fingers or a spatula, mix together until you have crumbs of various sizes. Set aside.

For the Cake
Center a rack in the oven and preheat it to 400 °F. Grease an 8-inch square pan and dust with flour.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cardamom and coffee powder.
In a small bowl, mix the sugar and the orange zest together with your fingers, until the sugar is moist and the smell of orange is strong. Blend into the dry ingredients.
Put the butter, eggs, milk, coffee and vanilla in medium bowl and mix to blend.


Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ones and stir with a wooden spoon to blend until the batter is evenly moist.
Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan and top with a thick, even layer of crumbs. Gently pat the crumbs into place.



Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the cake has risen (it will crown), the crumbs are golden and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer to a rack to cool.