My rhubarb coffee cake is a rhubarb-packed buttermilk cake with a light streusel top. Good for the soul. Great for breakfast ๐
Easy breakfast cakes like this rhubarb coffee cake are are a specialty of the Great Island kitchen. There’s nothing fussy or complicated about them, but they taste fabulous and they’re easy to make. This one is loaded with tart nuggets of rhubarb, but you can swap out the fruit as the seasons change. My daughter will be visiting from LA this week and I’ll maker her one. It’s a little love she can eat with a fork.
rhubarb coffee cake ingredients
I double down on the vanilla in this recipe; the flavor goes so well with rhubarb. In this case I’m playing with two less common vanilla products: vanilla paste and vanilla powder. The paste is made from ground vanilla bean pods, and give a richer vanilla flavor than plain extract. If you zoom in you can actually see the little flecks in the cake. The powdered vanilla is perfect in situations where you don’t want to add any extra moisture, like in the streusel. The flavor of the powder is more mild.
YOU CAN BUY VANILLA PASTE HERE
YOU CAN BUY POWDERED VANILLA HERE
for the cake
- rhubarb
- flour
- butter
- sugar
- buttermilk
- egg
- baking powder
- salt
- vanilla paste
for the streusel
- flour
- butter
- sugar
- vanilla powder
storing your rhubarb coffee cake
Your cake will keep for several days, on the counter. Cover with foil, or put under a glass cake dome.
yes, it can be frozen
Rhubarb coffee cake will freeze nicely. Let the cake cool completely, then double wrap and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw on the counter.
can this rhubarb cake be made gluten free?
Yes, just substitute a good gf baking mix for the flour and cornstarch. You’ll need 2 cups.
variation ideas
- Rhubarb Ginger Coffee Cake: add 1 tablespoon of grated fresh ginger to the rhubarb for a spicy twist. You can also add powdered ginger to the streusel for an extra pop of flavor.
- Rhubarb Blueberry Coffee Cake: go half and half with fresh blueberries with the rhubarb. The combination of sweet blueberries and tangy rhubarb is delicious, and the colors make for a beautiful presentation.
- Rhubarb Almond Coffee Cake: sub in 1/2 cup of almond flour for some of the all purpose flour and sprinkle 1/4 cup of sliced almonds on top of the streusel topping. The nutty flavor and crunchy texture of the almonds pairs perfectly with the tangy rhubarb. Use almond extract instead of vanilla (but don’t use as much, almond extract is strong!)
- Rhubarb Lemon Coffee Cake: add 1 tablespoon of grated lemon zest to the rhubarb mixture.
- Rhubarb Cardamom Coffee Cake: add some ground cardamom to the streusel and the coffee cake for a warm aromatic flavor.
feed your rhubarb craving
- Forgotten Rhubarb Recipes
- Rhubarb Crumble Tart
- Rhubarb Martini
- Rhubarb Soda
- Rhubarb Fool
- Strawberry Rhubarb Smoothie
- Rhubarb Bread
Rhubarb Coffee Cake
Equipment
- 9×9 baking pan
- parchment paper (optional)
Ingredients
crumb topping
- 4 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut in small pieces
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tsp powdered vanilla
for the cake
- 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 Tbsp vanilla paste or extract
- 1/2 cup cultured buttermilk
- 3 cups rhubarb, thinly sliced
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 360F. Grease a 9×9 square baking pan and line with parchment paper 'sling' if you'd like to be able to lift the coffee cake out for easy slicing.
- First up, make the streusel topping. Mix the butter with the sugar, flour, and vanilla powder. Use your fingers to rub the chunks of butter into the flour. Keep at it until you reach an even crumbly consistency. Set aside. Note: you can do this even faster in your food processor: pulse/process until you get your desired consistency.
- For the cake, whisk the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl to combine. Set aside.
- Cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy. I do this in my stand mixer, but you can do it with electric beaters if you prefer.
- Add the egg and vanilla and beat until well combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl to get everything incorporated.
- With the mixer on low, add 1/2 of the flour mixture. When that has almost been incorporated, add the buttermilk. When that's incorporated, add the rest of the flour mixture. Scrape down the bowl so that everything is well combined.
- Fold in the rhubarb (the batter will be very thick) and turn into your prepared pan. Spread out evenly, and then top with the streusel mixture.
- Bake on the middle rack of the oven until golden, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out without wet batter on it, about 40 minutes.
- Let the cake cool for 10-15 minutes before slicing.
very tasty and easy to make
Thanks Jenny, that’s what I love to hear about so many of my baking recipes. Baking shouldn’t be complicated!
Easy to prepare and moist and delish! I didn’t have buttermilk on hand, so used Greek yogurt with a splash of vinegar. Great recipe. A keeper.
Thanks Linda, the yogurt was a smart substitution.
What a great recipe. I was a bit skeptical at the ratio of rhubarb to batter seemed very high. My daughter told me to trust TVFGH, so I made it as directed. Even not rhubarb lovers thought this was fantastic.
LOVE this! Daughter knows best ๐
Where can i find vanilla powder