Bake #7: Jenny Bakes Streusel Cupcakes

Once upon a time, my usual morning routine was to make a stop at our neighborhood Starbucks store before heading to work everyday - rain, snow, sleet or shine! Vente double-shot decaf non-fat sugar-free extra hot latte (vente non-fat decaf cinnamon dolce latte during the holidays) Phew! Need to take a deep breath before saying that out loud; good thing that I was a regular as after a while, the girls behind the counter knew exactly what order to call out to the barista as soon as they saw me walk through the door. V, 2, Decaf, NF, ex-hot latte scribbled on my cup! My colleagues would often tease me that they'd need a programmer to de-code the long scribbles all over my Starbucks cup each time. Come to think of it, it can be quite a fun game, really! Pay attention to the check boxes and codes on the Starbucks paper cup the next time someone orders a complicated drink and you'll see what I mean. The same time my barista was preparing my cuppa, Steph would be nuping a coffeecake in the microwave and in no time, I'd have my latte in one hand, warm coffeecake on the other, then back to the car and off to work. Everyday. Every single work day. Without fail. I'm such a creature of habit. Oops, this is not a blog about my life, is it?
I was somewhat "reluctant" to get back to regular cupcakes this week and was hoping Tina would change her mind about this week's pick. Boy, am I glad she didn't. This cake takes me on a trip to memory lane and helped remind me of those days. Given my apprehension, I halved the recipe and by the time their wonderful aroma of the streusel filled the kitchen, I knew I should've just gone with the full portion! The cake base was surprisingly moist and soft - "surprisingly" because the batter sure didn't look like it was going to be the soft-texture type of cake. What do I know?
This cake is definitely all about the streusel topping though. Brown-sugar-flour-butter.....and I added a little oatmeal (the instant kind) to give it that extra crunch. How bad can that be?? I downed probably 2 (maybe 3) of these as soon as they were out of the oven. Gulped a cuppa and that, my friends, was the highlight of my day! Guess what I'll be having for b'fast tomorrow morning?
C'mon, have you baked yours yet?!?