Old Fashioned Rhubarb Coffee Cake

Old Fashioned Rhubarb Coffee Cake recipe features a homemade cake filled with delicious rhubarb and a crunchy cinnamon sugar topping.  This will quickly become one of your favorite coffee cake recipes.

Yum, this cake is the best!  It would pair delightfully with coffee for breakfast or is perfect enough to eat as a dessert.

Every year, I am looking for new recipes to try to use the bounty from our rhubarb plant.  On top of the list is Grandma’s Rhubarb Pie, but I also have discovered Rhubarb Bread, Rhubarb Muffins and Grandma’s Rhubarb Streusel.

Recently, I was scouring an old cookbook called Carefree County Cooks from Imogene, Iowa where I found this homemade Rhubarb Cake recipe.  After whipping it up and delivering a warm slice to Dad, I immediately got a text message saying that this recipe was blog-worthy (straight from Dad’s mouth, and he’s a rhubarb expert).

The cake recipe is simple to make, and consists of pantry staples – butter, brown sugar, egg, buttermilk, flour, soda, vanilla, salt, cinnamon and nuts. I had all the ingredients on hand, and you probably do too.  I would definitely classify this as an old-fashioned recipe; no fancy ingredients involved.

How To Make Easy Rhubarb Cake:

Find the full recipe at the bottom of this post.

Prepare the cake batter by mixing brown sugar, butter, egg, buttermilk, flour, baking soda, salt, vanilla and rhubarb.  Pour into a prepared 9 x 13 inch pan. Sprinkle over topping consisting of sugar, cinnamon and nuts. Bake until toothpick comes out clean.

Notes About Old Fashioned Rhubarb Cake Recipe:

• This rhubarb cake is simple! I broke the recipe down into creaming the butter mixture and then adding the dry ingredients alternately with the wet ingredients. However, if you are short on time or are feeling lazy, just toss all the cake ingredients in together and mix well.  Easy as pie, or cake that is.
• I diced the rhubarb in 1/2 inch chunks.
• The topping calls for nuts, and you can pick your favorite or whatever you have on hand. I used sliced almonds, but the recipe calls for chopped pecans.  There is no right or wrong.
• If you aren’t familiar with what parts of the rhubarb are safe to eat, check out this post to learn more.
• Buttermilk may be the one ingredient that you don’t have on hand. Here’s a substitute – fill up the measuring cup almost to the 1 cup line with regular milk and then add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar.  In a few minutes, you’ll have buttermilk.  I use this trick all the time.

More Coffee Cake Recipes

• Honey Bun Coffee Cake
• Grandma’s Sour Cream Coffee Cake
• Pistachio Coffee Cake
• Glazed Fresh Berry Coffee Cake from Farmwife Feeds

Linking up to Weekend Potluck.

Print

Old Fashioned Rhubarb Coffee Cake

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

45 mins

Total Time

55 mins

 

Old Fashioned Rhubarb Coffee Cake recipe features a homemade cake filled with delicious rhubarb and a crunchy cinnamon sugar topping.  This will quickly become one of your favorite coffee cake recipes.

Course: Breakfast, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: easy rhubarb cake, rhubarb coffee cake

Servings: 16 people

Author: Barbara

Ingredients

Rhubarb Cake

• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 egg
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups rhubarb, diced

Cinnamon Sugar Topping

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cups chopped nuts

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a 9 x 13 inch baking dish by greasing and flouring.

2. With a mixer, cream brown sugar, softened butter and egg until smooth.

3. In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking soda and salt.

4. Alternately add buttermilk that has been mixed with vanilla and flour mixture to the creamed butter mixture. Do not over-mix.  Once completely incorporated, stir in diced rhubarb.

5. Pour cake batter into prepared dish. 

6. In a small bowl, mix 1/2 cup sugar, cinnamon and nuts. Sprinkle evenly over batter.

7. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.