Strawberry Rhubarb Coffee Cake

I love nothing more than a baking request. (Well, that might be an exaggeration. I love Kosta Browne wine [we got on the wine club list! we got on the wine club list! we got on the wine club list! after only 3 years of waiting, we got on the wine club list!] + The Husband + the Cats + Orange is the New Black + the couch. Yeah, that combination is pretty much the thing I love most, but throw a baking request in there, and you could kill me and I’d be fine to die right then and there.)

So this new friend Bob made a request for a treat with rhubarb in it, and I just about exploded with excitement. I scoured the internet. I found a lot of ideas on the goddamned word wide web, and if my blog didn’t depend on the internet machine in order to reach you (yes, YOU- reading this right now because of the wonders of the web), I’d throw my laptop out our 31st floor window (the window opens just enough to push this little Mac out, killing a small dog below, perhaps) because: TOO MANY OPTIONS. I had to make my dessert transportable, so cobblers and crumbles were out. I was totally inspired by a rhubarb meringue pie idea, which was unfortunately the complete opposite of transportable. And so the Strawberry Rhubarb Coffee Cake was born.

Picture a biscuitty-buttermilk-cake with a layer of strawberry-rhubarb-goo in the middle, then topped with a buttery-sugary combo that crisps as it bakes. It’s all going on in this dessert, my friend. It’s the real freaking deal. I give it an A+ on the final product and the smell as it bakes, which basically makes up for the fact that it’s a pain in the ass to make (stand mixer AND food processor used, AND some stovetop time with the whole fruity-filling). But absolutely worth it. I will make this one again. And again. And so will you.

Adapted from Taste of Home’s recipe…

STRAWBERRY-RHUBARB FILLING:

4 cups (1 quart) fresh strawberries, mashed

3 cups sliced fresh or frozen rhubarb (chopped into 1-inch pieces)

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup cornstarch

CAKE:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter, cold & cut into pieces

1-1/2 cups buttermilk

2 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

TOPPING:

1/4 cup butter, melted then cooled

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar
1. FILLING: In a large saucepan, combine rhubarb, strawberries and lemon juice. Cover and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes. Stir sugar and cornstarch into saucepan, and bring to a boil on medium-high heat. Cook and stir for 2 minutes, or until thickened. Remove from heat and set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 350° and grease a 9 x 13″ baking pan.
3. CAKE: In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Pulse in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs the size of peas.
4. In a medium bowl, beat buttermilk, eggs and vanilla; stir into crumb mixture until just combined. Spread half of batter evenly into prepared pan.
5. Carefully spread filling on top of batter.
6. Drop remaining batter by tablespoonfuls over filling.
7. TOPPING: melt butter in microwave and stir in flour and sugar until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle evenly over batter.
8. Bake 55 minutes (until cake tester pulls out mostly clean of crumbs), then cool on a wire rack. (Place a baking sheet under pan to catch any juice spillovers as the cake bakes, as the cake will rise to the height of your pan.)
Tips:
- Want to get creative? Use any kind of fruit that you’d like. I think blueberry would rock, but then again peach would be great. (Just make sure the fruit is ripe.)
- No food processor or stand mixer? You can do it the old fashioned way. Cut in the butter manually and stir it all together on your own. Arm muscles are sexy!
- I was stumped by this batter. It’s nothing like any cake batter I’ve ever made, where you cream the butter & sugar and follow other strictish rules. This was like a biscuit or a muffin, sort of but not really. Blew my mind.
- The topping might seem funny and clumpy. Just persevere. Break it up into crumbs and sprinkle away like it looks/seems normal.
- The cake freezes like a champ. Wrap it tightly and thaw in the fridge or on the counter… serve at room temperature (or a little bit warm with whipped cream or ice cream).
- Enjoy!
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May 17th, 2014 | More Sweets Please | No Comments | Tags: Cakes, Fruit