Rhubarb Coffee Cake

This rhubarb coffee cake combines an almond-scented, light, buttery cake base with fresh tart rhubarb on top for an elegant spring and summer brunch or dessert.

If you want more rhubarb recipes, I highly recommend checking out my rhubarb sweet rolls or strawberry rhubarb pie recipe.

Recipe Development

This rhubarb cake recipe has a troubled history. Mostly troubled in the sense that I could not leave a perfectly fine cake alone.

I tested the cake repeatedly, and by repeatedly I mean no less than four times over the ~two months of rhubarb season (brief, but glorious). Not because it was bad the first time, or the second time, or the third time. I kept testing it and tinkering with it because I believed I could do better than a “good” cake, despite several testers telling me it was delightful the way it was.

Sometimes I tell myself my perfectionist nature is an asset. This isn’t one of those times.

If I could have just accepted that this almond-scented, light, buttery coffee cake with tangy rhubarb on top was perfectly fine as it was on the first or second try, this recipe would have been published 3 months earlier than it was. I’m finally publishing this rhubarb coffee cake exactly the way I made it the first time, because it was just right the first time.

Why you’ll enjoy this rhubarb cake

• The cake itself is light and fluffy, scented with almond and vanilla
• The tart rhubarb offsets the sweet cake in a wonderful contrast of flavors. Great way to use extra rhubarb if you’re lucky enough to have a rhubarb plant!
• Great to have with a cup of coffee at brunch or scoop of vanilla ice cream for dessert (I choose both)
• Who knows if it’s the “best ever rhubarb cake” or “the only rhubarb coffee cake recipe you’ll ever need” or whatever other superlatives people use when naming recipes – but it’s dependable, it’s elegant, it has been tested to high heaven, and it is delicious.

Ingredients

Only a few ingredients needed for this simple rhubarb coffee cake, and you can substitute or customize as noted below to make it your own! See the recipe card at the bottom of this post for full ingredient list and measurements.

• All-purpose flour
• Almond flour (or pecan flour, or more all-purpose flour)
• Baking powder and baking soda for leavening
• Salt
• Unsalted butter
• Granulated sugar
• Eggs
• Vanilla extract
• Almond extract* this is the key ingredient for classic almond flavor!!
• Buttermilk, or kefir, sour cream, or Greek yogurt (see recipe card for full substitution notes)
• Fresh rhubarb cut into 2-inch pieces (pink/red rhubarb is better than green rhubarb for best color in the finished cake)

How to make a rhubarb coffee cake: step by step

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Generously grease a 9-inch springform pan and line with parchment paper if you like; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or a hand mixer, cream together the butter and white sugar on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, beating on medium speed until fully incorporated after each addition. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and beat briefly to combine.
5. Add a third of the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and beat on low speed until combined, then add half the buttermilk and beat on low speed again. Repeat with remaining third of flour mixture, the rest of the buttermilk, and end with the last third of the flour mixture. Beat on low speed until the batter is smooth, but do not overmix.
6. Scrape cake batter into the prepared springform pan and smooth it out with a spatula. Arrange the sliced rhubarb over the top of the cake batter in any pattern you desire – I liked a chevron pattern. Brush the rhubarb pieces evenly with the melted butter, then sprinkle with remaining 1 tbsp sugar.
7. Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until edges of cake are browned and a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cake cool completely on a wire rack before serving.

Substitutions and Additions

• Rhubarb: I highly recommend using fresh rhubarb for best results, but you could use frozen rhubarb as long as it is fully defrosted, drained of any excess liquid, and patted dry before arranging on the cake.
• Buttermilk: you can substitute an equal amount of kefir, sour cream, or full-fat Greek yogurt, or use 1/2 tablespoon of lemon juice mixed with 1/2 cup of milk and leave to curdle for 5 minutes before using.
• Almond flour: you can use pecan flour or another nut flour in its place, or substitute an additional 1/4 cup (30g) all-purpose flour.
• Gluten-free: substitute an equal weight (187g) of a gluten-free all-purpose flour mix that contains xanthan gum. I tested and like Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1:1 Baking Flour. Note: Almond flour is gluten-free, but I do not recommend using all almond flour in this cake! It behaves very differently from all-purpose flour, and the cake would be very dense and gummy.

Storage

Baked rhubarb coffee cake will keep:

• at room temperature in an airtight container, for up to 1 day. 
• in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
• You can freeze the baked rhubarb cake for longer storage, up to 3 months if well-wrapped in plastic wrap and stored in a freezer bag. Defrost at room temperature for 2 hours or overnight in the fridge before serving.

Baker’s tips for success

1. Rhubarb Color. For the best color in the finished cake, choose rhubarb that is as deeply red as you can find at your local grocery store. I was told by a vendor at the farmers market that red stalks have been exposed to more sunlight, whereas green stalks are more likely to be seen earlier in the season when clouds and rain prevail. I also found that brushing melted butter over the arranged rhubarb before baking also kept the color more intact.
2. Thin rhubarb is best. Some rhubarb cake recipes use diced rhubarb, but I prefer its gorgeous color on top of the cake in thin strips. Cut your rhubarb in half lengthwise (for really thick stalks, you might even need to cut in quarters) so you have thin stalks that will stay on top of the cake as it bakes, rather than sinking into it. Then cut it into about two inch lengths for arranging.
3. Pattern. Arrange the rhubarb in whatever pattern you like best – I did a modified chevron a couple times, as shown in these photos, but it also works by just laying the rhubarb all in one direction if you prefer the simple route or are pressed for time.
4. Springform pan. Using a springform pan with removable sides is definitely the best option for this cake, as having to remove the cake from a regular cake pan would be more likely to damage the fragile rhubarb on top.
5. Use buttermilk. In the process of my tinkering, I tried this cake with buttermilk, sour cream, and greek yogurt. I was surprised that I liked the buttermilk version the best, as it was the lowest fat option. Something about the flavor just works in this cake. If you don’t have buttermilk, you can certainly use an equal amount of kefir, sour cream or greek yogurt instead in a pinch, or make your own homemade buttermilk (notes are in the recipe).

More Spring Brunch Recipes

• Rhubarb Sweet Rolls
• Strawberry Oatmeal Crumble Bars
• Fresh Strawberries and Cream Scones
• Lemon Yogurt Loaf Cake
• Berry Buttermilk Cake

So, here’s the recipe for this very good, very dependable, easy rhubarb cake. Thanks for being here – I truly appreciate it.

Recipe

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