Brown Butter Streusel Mini Crumb Cakes

Did I ever mention that I have a thing for baking pans? When I saw a mini crumb cake pan at Williams-Sonoma several years ago, I knew I had to have it! It is a really cool pan with removable bottoms which makes removing the little cakes very easy. The recipe makes a dozen so I don't make them very often. This past week I made treats for a ladies fellowship group and I jumped at the chance to use my special pan. 


The browned butter makes these crumb cakes extra special. I brown the butter first so that it can cool completely before starting the recipe. I decided to make the cinnamon apple variation printed on the back of the box. I was happy that they turned out good, but next time I will increase the apple quantity to 1-1/2 cups. The one cup of apples gives you just a hint of apple. I think they could be a lot better with more apple pieces. To make this work, I will add a little less batter, add the apples and pat them down into the batter a little more. I will also add the crumb topping just to the top of the rim, which will probably leave some unused crumbs. As you can see from the photo below, when the cake rises, it pushes the crumb out and over the rim. It's not really a problem, but if part of it falls off, you have a lopsided crumb cake.

The outer cakes brown more than the inside cakes

Enjoy!