It's a combination of sugar, flour, butter, and little bit of cinnamon, just like you would expect in a streusel. SS: Crumbs are the magic ingredient, right? That gave us a nice sturdy base, still tender enough to bite through easily, but with enough structure so that we could start piling the crumbs on top and they would stay in place.

We ended up using all-purpose flour, which has about a 10 to 12 percent protein content. As you know, different flours have different protein content the higher the protein content, the more structure your final baked good will have. What we did for the cake layer was to experiment with different types of flours. TS: The key is, in order to get that many crumbs to sit comfortably on top of a piece of cake, you have to have a fairly sturdy base. She grew up with this thing she headed up our team in developing this recipe. We employed Katie Laird, who's one of the test cooks in the kitchen. TS: The first step in developing this recipe was to find a New Jersey native on our staff who knew exactly what we were going for. Can you fill me in on what we need to do at home? This solves that problem by going totally crazy with the crumbs on the top. Normally – or oftentimes – you will see people eating a crumb cake, picking off the crumbs, and leaving the cake aside. It's a square of white cake that's made with a yeasted dough, which gives a nice yeasty flavor. TS: Very similar to a coffee cake, and definitely not a frosted cake. It's not like a coffee cake then, it's deep with crumbles? We’re looking at a 1:1 ratio of crumbs to cake that makes it better. But if you are New Jersey, rather than a light and restrained crumble of streusel on top, they really go to town with the crumbs. Here's the thing: when you cut it into squares, it becomes a bun. You came across something called a crumb cake it's a sheet cake that has a streusel topping on top. You’ve probably had experience with a crumb bun, you just don't know it.

Tucker Shaw: This is our favorite kind of controversy because it deals with dessert. I'm a Midwesterner I have no idea what the controversy could be. Sally Swift: You recently did a story about crumb buns that has set off a flurry of controversy. Tucker Shaw, from Cook’s Country, tells us the secret to perfecting this New Jersey favorite at home. But if you can’t make it to The Garden State, we’ve got you covered. Fans from across northern New Jersey make it a weekly stop. At the bakery, staffers use industrial-size baking sheets to bake the cakes before sprinkling them with a thick layer of streusel (they go through 2,000 pounds of crumbs a week!) and cutting them into slabs or squares, depending on your order. Since 1948, B&W Bakery in Hackensack, New Jersey has been at the center of the crumb bun universe.

A mountain of crumbs