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The recognizable food brand Entenmann’s began as a Brooklyn-based bakery in 1898 when German baker William Entenmann started to sell freshly baked items from his horse-drawn wagon. The family-owned and operated business quickly gained a reputation among New Yorkers, and one treat in particular made a lasting impression on Ol’ Blue Eyes. Among the various kinds of food and drink that Frank Sinatra adored, Entenmann’s crumb coffee cake could very well be situated near the top of the singer’s list.
The famous crooner began ordering regular deliveries of the bakery’s crumb coffee cakes in the 1950s. While the packaged product can now be found in markets — and ordered online for less than $9.89 per cake – to be delivered and cut to serving size, the sweet treat wasn’t always so readily available. Sinatra’s standing bakery order helped ensure that slices of the moist golden cake was always within reach. Fortunately for the singer, Entenmann’s original Long Island bakery was not far from Sinatra’s New Jersey home.
Entenmann’s crumb cake is a sweet treat worth singing about
Crowned with crunchy crumbles made from cinnamon and powdered sugar, this kosher product is ideal to present alongside coffee or tea for morning and breakfast spreads. The origins of the crumb cake can be traced to Germany, where 17th-century cooks sprinkled streusel over cakes before placing them into ovens to bake. Entenmann helped popularize this recipe among an American audience, and, of course, a fleet of coffee cake recipes sprouted up in response, offering equally delicious cakes that are flavored with dark brown sugar for extra richness, fruit, icing, chocolate, and even espresso.
Today, Entenmann’s original crumb cake recipe has expanded into other products, like single-serving cakes, mini crumb cakes (which you can buy via Amazon), and both French and New York-style crumb cakes. We can only wonder if any of these snack-sized versions would have ended up in Sinatra’s dressing rooms alongside bowls of his preferred Life Savers candies – or perhaps he would have stayed with his tried and true favorite.
