Rhubarb Coffee Cake

 

It was many years ago that I first tried the recipe for this apple coffee cake. It was so easy and so good, I thought, “I should memorize this recipe for the purpose of instant gratification.” I haven’t managed to accomplish that just yet, but I have put the basic recipe to other uses including a blueberry version and this rhubarb cake. Since I love the idea of a base recipe with multiple variations, I call that just as good.

This is still a very simple cake pulled together using the method of a quick bread rather than that of a more delicate or fancy cake. I think it takes longer to go out to the back yard to cut the rhubarb than it takes to mix the batter. 

I like the bit of whole wheat pastry flour in this. I’ve been finding quick breads made with all white flour to be a bit pasty and not as flavorful as they could be, so I add some whole grains when I can. I suppose I could also say that the whole grains make this cake healthier, but with a whole cup of sugar in the batter and more in the topping, I’m not sure I'd really have the high ground. You could substitute the whole wheat pastry flour with more all-purpose flour if you prefer.

I added almonds to the topping to give it a little more substance. The butter-sugar-flour mixture kind of melts into a crunchy lid on top of the cake, and I like the way the almonds gave it a more crumbly texture. If you happen to keep streusel in your freezer for fruit crisps on demand, you could save some time and use that in place of the topping recipe below.

I added some almond extract along with the vanilla to the cake batter, which not only complemented the nuts in the topping, but enhanced the fruitiness of the rhubarb. There’s enough rhubarb to create tart, gooey pockets and keep the cake moist without making it mushy or difficult to serve as a cohesive square. Because this cake is delicious, but informal enough to slice a square from the pan for snacking at any time of the day. Or with any company.

 

Rhubarb Coffee Cake with Almond Crumble Topping

You can use any topping you may be keeping on hand to make fruit crisp in place of the topping in this recipe. 

Topping

1/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour

3 tablespoons dark brown sugar

¼ cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1/3 cup chopped almonds

Cake

1 cup all-purpose flour

½ cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup granulated sugar

1 ½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon fine salt

Finely grated zest of 1 medium-size lemon

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1 large egg

¾ cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon almond extract

1 cup chopped rhubarb

1. To make the topping, combine the 1/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour and brown sugar. Cut in the cold butter with a fork or with your hands, continuing to work it until the butter is well coated and in small pieces. Stir in the almonds. Refrigerate while preparing the cake batter.

2. Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare an 8-inch square baking pan by spraying it well with cooking spray or greasing it with butter or oil. Set aside.

3. In a medium-size bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, ½ cup whole wheat pastry flour, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt. Whisk or sift together to combine well. Add the lemon zest and work it into the flour mixture with a fork or with your hands until it is well-distributed.

4. In another medium-size bowl, beat the egg and melted butter together. Add the milk and extracts and whisk to combine.

5. Stir the egg mixture into the flour mixture, mixing until the dry ingredients are just moistened. Stir in the rhubarb.

6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Crumble the topping evenly over the cake batter.

7. Bake at 350 F for 40-45 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center of the cake comes out with no batter sticking to it. (Make sure that if you do see some gooey moisture on the pick that you haven’t poked into a slice of cooked rhubarb, which will remain moist.) Cool on a wire rack. Serve warm or cool completely.

Makes 9-12 servings.

Other recipes like this one: Rhubarb and White Chocolate Blondies, Rhubarb Pudding Cake, Blueberry Coffee Cake with Brown Sugar Crumble Topping, Apple Cinnamon Coffee Cake

One year ago: Sesame Noodles with Ginger Cilantro Sauce

Chocolate Zucchini Coffee Cake

 

I actually feel a bit guilty presenting this cake as a zucchini recipe. It’s a bit indulgent for an over-abundant vegetable vehicle. The zucchini is rather well-hidden, in fact. There’s so much chocolatiness and richness and cake-ness that the two whole cups of shredded zucchini can be your little secret.

This coffee cake is a simple adaptation of this Chocolate Zucchini Quick Bread. Quick bread batters, such as those for muffins, quick bread loaves, and coffee cakes, can usually be interchanged; baked into each other’s shapes, if you will. For example, I recently baked this zucchini bread recipe into 24 muffins instead of two 8-inch loaves. I guessed that the batter for the original chocolate zucchini bread loaves would fit in a 13 x 9-inch rectangular cake pan, and it worked so nicely, it made me look like I really knew what I was doing!

I also borrowed from another Archive recipe, this cappuccino coffee cake, for the crumb topping. It’s a sweet and chocolatey addition to an already sweet and chocolatey cake. The crumb topping works really well here, but you could make the cake without it. If you don’t top it with crumbs, you could frost your cake with something like the cream cheese frosting in this carrot cake recipe.

Despite having two cups of wholesome vegetables in the batter, this recipe doesn’t exactly make a virtuous dish. This is definitely a rich, sweet treat, made moist by some of that surplus zucchini. It’s certainly dessert-worthy, and is great on a coffee or tea break, but I’m here to tell you that it makes a delicious, if indulgent, breakfast, too! Just as a coffee cake should!

Chocolate Zucchini Coffee Cake with Chocolate Crumb Topping

For the crumb topping:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup dark brown sugar

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

¼ cup cocoa powder

½ teaspoon fine salt

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold

For the cake:

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

¾ cup cocoa powder

1 ½ teaspoon baking powder

1 ½ teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon fine salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

3 large eggs

1 cup granulated sugar

¾ cup dark brown sugar

½ cup canola oil

¾ cup plain yogurt

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups shredded zucchini

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. In a small bowl, combine all of the topping ingredients, except the butter. Stir together to combine well.

2. Cut the butter into small pieces. Work the butter into the flour mixture with a pastry blender, a fork, or with your hands until the butter is in very small pieces that are well-coated with the flour mixture. A clump of the mixture should hold together when squeezed. Cover and keep refrigerated until ready to use.

3. Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter or spray with cooking spray a 13 x 9 inch baking pan. Set aside.

4. In a large bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Whisk or sift together to combine well.

5. In another large bowl, beat the eggs, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together with a whisk until the mixture is smooth and pale. Beat in the oil, yogurt, and vanilla extract, continuing to whisk until very smooth.

6. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and stir just until the dry mixture is moistened. Stir in the zucchini and chocolate chips.

7. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and smooth out the top. Squeeze the crumb topping into clumps and distribute it evenly over the batter. Bake at 350 F for 50-55 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center of the cake comes out without any wet batter clinging to it. Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.

Makes 26-20 servings.

Other recipes like this one: Zucchini Multigrain Coffee Cake, Carrot Snack Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

One year ago: Lemon Layer Cake

Cappuccino Coffee Cake

It’s great when an idea turns out to be a really good one. That’s what happened with this delicious coffee cake. And while I can definitely say that I got this idea, I can’t exactly say that I came up with it on my own. It’s more like I acquired it.

Actually, this coffee-flavored coffee cake is a combination of two ideas that came from other people. The authors of many cookbooks that have recipes for quick breads will tell you that muffin recipes can be converted in to coffee cake recipes simply by baking them in a cake pan. This makes perfect sense, of course. (After all, the cupcake is just a different way of baking a cake.) I decided to make a coffee cake out of the batter for these Cappuccino Muffins.

 

The second idea I totally stole is Dorie Greenspan’s “Cocoa Crumbs” from Baking Chez Moi. In that book, she suggests that, while she likes to bake these crumbs into crunchy bits to sprinkle on desserts like mousse or pudding, they would be also be great sprinkled on cake batter like a streusel topping.

These two great ideas turned out to make beautiful music together, or at least a wonderfully delicious coffee cake, perfect for a lazy weekend morning. I added some instant expresso to a half batch of the crumbs to give them a mocha twist, and their bittersweet crunchy goodness is a fabulous accompaniment to the soft, coffee-rich muffin-turned-cake. The cake is at its absolute best when still a little warm from the oven, but it’s great later on, too, or even the day after (just be sure to wrap it up well.)

It’s hard to know which is the more triumphant victory: the success of the cake or the success of the crumbs. You know, I think I’ll just revel in this as a win-win. I’ll try not to let it go to my head.

Cappuccino Coffee Cake with Mocha Crumb Topping

Adapted from The Ultimate Muffin Book by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough and Baking Chez Moi by Dorie Greenspan

For the Mocha Crumb Topping:

½ cup all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons light brown sugar

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder

¼ teaspoon fine salt

2 ½ tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

For the Cake:

8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick)

1 cup milk

2 tablespoons instant espresso powder

2 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon fine salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 large egg

1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon almond extract

1. To make the topping: in a medium bowl, combine the ½ cup flour, brown sugar, 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, cocoa, 1 teaspoon espresso powder, and ¼ teaspoon fine salt. Mix together well. Add the 2 ½ tablespoons butter cubes and rub them into the dry ingredients, squeezing to create coarse lumps. Set aside, or refrigerate until ready to use.

2. Preheat oven to 400 F. Spray a 9-inch square baking pan with nonstick cooking spray or grease it with butter. Melt the remaining stick of butter and set aside to cool slightly.

3. In a small saucepan, heat the milk over medium-low heat just until there are just a few bubbles around the edges of the pan. The milk will be scalded but not yet boiling. Stir occasionally to keep the milk from scorching on the bottom of the pan. Whisk in the espresso powder. Set aside to cool slightly.

4. In a large bowl, combine the flour, 2/3 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon fine salt, and cinnamon. Whisk together to combine well. Set aside.

5. In a medium-size bowl, whisk the egg and the cooled melted butter until smooth. Slowly whisk in the milk mixture. Whisk in the vanilla and almond extracts.

6. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir until the dry ingredients are just moistened. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan. Squeeze the topping into clumps and sprinkle them over the batter.

7. Bake at 400 F for 25-30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached. Cool completely or enjoy slightly warm.

Makes about 12 servings.

Other recipes like this one: Cappuccino Muffins, Hazelnut Latte Muffins, Apple Cinnamon Coffee Cake, Blueberry Muffin Coffee Cake with Crumb Topping