(Crumblicious) Rhubarb Coffee Cake

Hooray it is rhubarb season here in Southern NH!  Yes, indeed.  Last year a good friend of mine gave me a rhubarb plant (I think he was sick and tired of hearing me always wish and moan and groan for my very own rhubarb patch in my back yard).  The funny thing is is that I totally forgot about the plant until just last week when as I walking around in my back yard and came upon the lovely large leaves of the rhubarb stalks. Yippee my VERY own rhubarb is growing! I am happy girl. 

I was even a happier girl when I came upon a lovely recipe for Rhubarb Coffee Cake from The Culinary Enthusiast (my blog assignment for the month of April from The Secret Recipe Club).  Such. A. Good. Recipe.  A yummy recipe that makes a moist layered coffee cake filled with fresh rhubarb and topped with a thick layer of crumbled sweetness - which is why I had to add to the name of this recipe "CRUMBLICIOUS" as the crumble topping is a large part of this cake.  So good!  And the beauty of this recipe is that you could easily substitute a different kind of fruit for the rhubarb filling such as berries, apples or even a mixture of strawberries and rhubarb.  YUM. I just love a versatile recipe!

Kelley, from The Culinary Enthusiast is a young woman from Chicago that enjoys being in the kitchen and loves food to the fullest.  I could definitely picture myself becoming good friends with Kelley for not only does she LOVE food but she LOVES to travel - my kind of gal! Her blog is well rounded for not only does she have a large selection recipes for baked goods (2 thumbs up from me!) but also a large variety recipes for savory dishes.  She also does a great job in reviewing new/recently released cookbooks which is always fun to read about in my eyes. I really enjoyed getting to "know" Kelley through her blog this past month! Thank you Kelley for all your sweetness, happiness and talent that you have added to the food blogging world. :-)

(Crumblicious) Rhubarb Coffee Cake

(recipe from The Culinary Enthusiast)

Rhubarb Filling Ingredients:

2 (heaping) cups rhubarb, sliced into 1/4-1/2" pieces

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 tsp cornstarch

1/4 tsp salt

Crumb Ingredients:

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/8 tsp salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

1 3/4 cup cake flour (all-purpose flour will work also)

Cake Ingredients:

1/3 cup sour cream (or plain yogurt)

1 large egg

1 egg yolk

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup cake flour (or all-purpose flour)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

6 Tbsp softened butter, cut into 8 pieces

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease an 8x8 baking pan and set aside.

2. In a medium size bowl add in all filling ingredients - toss to combine well.  Set aside.

3. Prepare crumble topping in a medium bowl.  Add in sugars, cinnamon, ginger and salt.  Whisk all together and then pour in melted butter.  Mix together until smooth.  Add in flour until well combined.  It will resemble a solid dough.  Pack down into the bowl and then set aside.

4. Prepare cake batter.  In a small bowl combine sour cream, egg, egg yolk and vanilla extract. - set aside for the moment. 

5.  In a Kitchen Aid bowl fitted with a paddle attachment add into bowl flour, sugar, baking soda and powder and salt.  Mix together well. Add in softened butter pieces and one spoonful of the sour cream/egg mixture.   Beat together on low speed for a good 20 seconds and then increase speed for another 30 seconds.

6. Add in remaining sour cream/egg mixture. Mix all together for about 30 seconds.

7. Pour 1/2 of cake batter into prepared pan and then the rhubarb filling. Then dollop remaining cake batter over filling.

8. Break up crumble mixture with your hands or a fork into uniform pieces and sprinkle evenly over cake.  Pop cake into preheated oven for 45-55 minutes. Inserted toothpick will come out clean when coffee cake is fully baked.  Cool to desired temperature - warm or cold - and serve.

Yummmmmy.

Even my littlest enjoyed a little bite of it....she enjoys all of my baked treats....and I love her.

.

Happy (Crumblicious) Rhubarb Coffee Cake Baking!

Sweet and Tart Rhubarb Cake

I am delighted to report that I am now officially an owner of a rhubarb plant! Yes, for years now I have been wanting my very own rhubarb patch.  Many of my friends have offered me a snippet of their patch as rhubarb very easily transplanted but for some reason I never got my act together and took them up on their offer.  A couple weeks ago Jeff came home with a couple of plants from a friend's garden and guess what, rhubarb was one of them!  Happiness, I will now have my very own rhubarb patch next year!

So quick, go grab some rhubarb that may be still left in your garden or in the grocery store and make this cake.  I love this recipe for not only is it packed with tart rhubarb (which is shredded rather than cut into small chunks) and a good helping of cinnamon but it also calls for 1/2 cup of yogurt.  In all my baking experience whenever a recipe includes yogurt in it the end result is always deliciously moist.  Needless, to say this cake was indeed moist....which I blame on the yogurt.  Originally, plain non-fat yogurt was called for but all I had was Greek vanilla yogurt - the substitution worked out great!

Sweet and Tart Rhubarb Cake

(recipe slightly adapted from Confessions of a Bakeaholic - gorgeous and scrumptious blog!)

Ingredients:

4 stalks of rhubarb - peeled, cut in 1/2 and pull into strips

3 eggs

1 cup canola oil

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 1/2 cups flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

4 tsp cinnamon (yes, this is the correct amount...there is a lot of cinnamon in this cake - adjust if you so wish)

1 dash ground nutmeg

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup plain or vanilla yogurt (I used vanilla Greek yogurt)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease pan of choice - BUNDT, 9x13 or two loaf pans.

2. Prepare rhubarb by peeling off thin stringy layer, then cutting stalks into 5-6" pieces and then peeling into strips (as seen in picture above).

3. In a large bowl beat together eggs, oil, sugar and vanilla extract.  Slowly add in dry ingredients - flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg.  Combine thoroughly.

4. Add in prepared rhubarb and yogurt - stirring until well combined.

5. Pour cake batter into prepared cake pan of choice.  Bake for 45-55 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool at least 10 minutes in pan before removing to serving platter.

*I served this cake without frosting but of course if you would like to kick it up a notch, frost it with your favorite Cream Cheese Frosting....super yum! You could also add in a cup of cut up strawberries to the cake batter as another variation on this recipe.

Happy Sweet and Tart Rhubarb Cake Baking!



Rhubarb meets Strawberries....in a pie! - on a "Fruity Friday"

Strawberries are sweet and red.  Rhubarb is tart and greenish-red.  Mixed together they are lovely....especially with a little sugar and cornstarch and placed in a pie shell.  Strawberry-Rhubarb pie is lovely!  And oh yes, YUMMY yum YUM!!!! - especially made with a crumb topping.  

Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie

(recipe originates from Very Culinary)

Fruit Ingredients: 

4 cups rhubarb - ends trimmed and stalks cut into 1/2" pieces

2 cups strawberries - well washed and quartered

1 cup sugar

2 tbsp cornstarch

1/8 tsp salt

prepared deep-dish pie crust (I made mine from The Pioneer Woman's recipe or you can simply use a store bought pie crust....totally up to you).

Ingredients for the crumb topping:

3/4 cup flour

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

3 tbsp granulated sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp salt

6 tbsp COLD unsalted butter (cut into small pieces)

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Place oven rack to the lowest level. 

2. Gently mix together the prepared rhubarb and strawberries in a large bowl.  Add in sugar, cornstarch and salt.

3. Toss (gently) all together with a wooden spoon or a large plastic spatula.  Set aside.

4. Make the crumb topping in a medium bowl.

Combine well the flour, sugars, cinnamon and salt......

.....then add the COLD small pieces of butter.....

 ....then  your hands or a pastry cutter (one of my favorite tools in the kitchen) combine all ingredients together until large clumps form......

5. Place mixed fruit into prepare pie shell.

7. Top with crumb topping.  

Place your pie on a cookie sheet that has been lined with tin-foil (this will catch any of the juices that overflow from the pie - you don't want the juices to overflow onto your oven floor....it's a sticky mess).

8. Place in oven - reduce oven temp to 375 degrees F.  Bake until topping is browned and crust is lightly browned - about 1 1/2 hours.  Keep an eye on the crust for if it looks like it is getting too "browned" you will want to cover with tin-foil.

Cool (as long as you can stand to) and serve.  Vanilla ice cream goes lovely with this pie if you happen to have any on hand.

Such happiness!  Spring-time happiness at that!

Happy Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie Baking!

~avril :-)