Rhubarb Crumb Cake
It’s rhubarb season! There are few seasons I look forward to more than spring. While it’s still quite chilly here on the coast when the calendar turns to spring, it’s still my favorite time of year. This is the time when all my favorite fruits and vegetables start to appear at the farmers markets. Strawberries, cherries, apricots, fresh peas and rhubarb just to name a few. This is the produce I have dreams about. Once it appears, my imagination goes wild with ideas both sweet and savory.
I’ve been eating rhubarb since I was a kid. Every spring when rhubarb showed up at the market, my mom would grab a bunch along with a basket or two of strawberries. Then she’d come home and whip up a strawberry rhubarb sauce that we’d spoon over everything from ice cream to cottage cheese. Mom is honestly why I love strawberries and rhubarb so much. While she’d always make a sweet sauce out of the vegetable (yes, it’s a vegetable), as I’ve gotten older, I’ve discovered it can be turned into a savory dish as well. I now use rhubarb in everything from muffins to chutney.
This time around I made a crumb cake. See, I’m a big streusel fan. Don’t get me wrong, I love a simple cake. But a cake with a sweet crumble on top takes that cake to a whole other level. A simple mixture of flower, butter and sugar, streusel is usually sprinkled over the tops of cakes, muffins and pies. It looks pretty while adding another texture and flavor for your palate. It’s a nice addition here because when the rhubarb is roasted, it gets a tart, jammy flavor that melds wonderfully with the sweet, crunchy streusel.
This dessert can be whipped up in no time at all. While it’s a basic cake recipe of flour, eggs, sugar, butter and vanilla, what makes this cake the perfect spring dessert is the rhubarb and crumble. Those two simple things make this a lovely cake that will look stunning on any table, especially if you add a dollop of whipped cream.
Ingredients
- 3 - 4 stalks of rhubarb, halved lengthwise and cut into 3-inch pieces
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar, divided
- 1-3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup light-brown sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 10 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, divided
- 1-1/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 cup plain yogurt
- 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-inch round springform cake pan. Dust pan with flour and set aside.
- Toss rhubarb with 1/4 cup sugar. Let rest about 30 minutes, tossing occasionally.
- To make the streusel, whisk together 1/2 cup flour, brown sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl. Using your fingers, cut in 4 tablespoons cold butter until medium clumps form. Chill at least 20 minutes.
- Whisk together baking powder, remaining flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a small bowl.
- Stir together remaining butter and sugar in a large bowl. Beat in eggs, one at a time.
- Mix in half the flour mixture until just combined. Add the yogurt and zest. Mix in remaining flour mixture until combined. Spread batter in prepared pan.
- Sprinkle half the chilled streusel over batter. Place rhubarb in neat lines on top of batter and streusel, top rhubarb with remaining streusel. Bake until cake pulls away from sides of pan and a toothpick, when inserted, comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool 20 minutes. Remove from the pan and let cool completely. Slice and serve with whipped cream
