Rhubarb Sour Cream Coffee Cake is a fantastic way to use some of the extra Rhubarb out in the garden. It’s a luscious moist coffee cake with tasty tender bits of tart rhubarb, topped off with a wonderful cinnamon crumb topping!

I know! Rhubarb is a love/hate vegetable. Yes! It’s a vegetable.

I’ve been putting this incredible veggie in pies, cakes, muffins, breads, jams, and ice cream toppings for years! (Look at the rhubarb lovers being healthy! Lol Next time you’re eating a piece of rhubarb pie, pat yourself on the back!)  The founders of the food pyramid are applauding you for your love of that tall skinny tart vegetable!

If you’re looking for a way to get your kids to eat their veggies…maybe try this Rhubarb Coffee Cake! I know I was able to get in a good week’s worth in a day! (wink, wink)

Ingredients

• ¾ cup butter, softened
• 1½ cups of granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup, 8 ounces, sour cream
• 3 cups chopped fresh, or frozen, rhubarb

Topping

• ½ cup packed brown sugar
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ cup cold butter, cut into small cubes

How to Make Rhubarb Coffee Cake

Let’s begin with the best helpful tip I can give, for every recipe! Preparation!

TIP: The key to making baking a smooth experience is “preparation”! I like to have all my ingredients prepared in advance. If dry ingredients need to be whisked together…do so beforehand. If fruits or vegetables need to be chopped, prepare them beforehand. It helps prevent any slip-ups and makes baking fun! That said, this is a recipe with items that can be “prepared” before you begin.

In the bowl of your stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar until fluffy!

Add 3 large room-temperature eggs, one at a time. (We don’t want any of them to miss their moment in the spotlight!)  Beating after each addition.

Tip: Crack your eggs into a small bowl first. This will prevent any egg-shell from going into your cake batter. (If you prefer eggshells in your cake…skip this tip! Little extra protein never hurt anybody. Lol) 

Add vanilla; mix well.

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, ¾ teaspoon salt.

Add to creamed mixture and alternate with 1 cup of sour cream. This will fully incorporate all the ingredients.

This is a VERY thick batter. It’s on the verge of a soft dough. Most coffee cakes and short cakes are very thick cake batters. They tend to be a denser snack type of cake.

Adding Rhubarb

Fold in prepared rhubarb. Fold, do not stir!

TIP: The purpose of “folding” is to help you with your laundry skills. No it’s not! I’m just kidding.

Folding helps the rhubarb retain its moisture. It’s a more gentle way of incorporating fresh ingredients that contain a lot of water into a batter. So bring that batter from the bottom to the top and repeat until the rhubarb is fully incorporated.

Spread into a greased 9 x 13 pan. Note I said “spread”. Pouring this batter is near impossible because of how thick it is.

Crumb Streusel Topping

Time for the “Crumb” topping! I love crumb toppings. It’s my favorite. I’m not a huge frosting fan…so crumb is my topping of choice! I love the crispy bits of cinnamon.

In a bowl, combine brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon.

Cut in 1/4 cup cold butter. 

Tip: Cut cold butter into small cubes before cutting into the sugar and flour. It will make it much easier to “cut” the butter into your dry ingredients.

Use a pastry blender or your hands to cut the butter into the flour mixture. I like to use my hands. It’s just so much easier to work the cold butter into the dry ingredients.

Mixture should resemble coarse crumbs. If your mixture is sticking together and not forming crumbs..add a Tablespoon or two more of flour.

Topping Cake

Sprinkle crumb topping over the top of cake batter.

Baking Instructions

Bake in a preheated 350° oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 45–50 minutes.

Isn’t that a pretty cake! I just want to hike my way across that beautiful crispy tasty crumb!

Cool cake on a wire rack.

Recipe Wrap-Up

Look at that wonderful Rhubarb Sour Cream Coffee Cake! It’s an awesome breakfast cake or a great afternoon “snack cake”. (Hey, it’s how I like to snack! Veggies…remember!) 

This recipe can be modified from a Rhubarb Coffee Cake to a Peach Coffee Cake, or an Apple Coffee Cake. Reduce the sugar to 1 cup since those are naturally sweeter fruits than rhubarb.

I can hardly wait for peach season, so I can give this recipe a try with fresh peaches!

A simple, yet luscious cake the whole family will enjoy and a great way to use up that rhubarb!

Here are a few of my other Favorite Cake Recipes

• World’s Best Vanilla Cake Recipe
• Banana Cake with Cream cheese frosting
• Dark Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Buttercream
• Cake Mix Cinnamon Coffee Cake
• Too Much Chocolate Cake

I’d love to have you to follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest, where I share all my latest favorite recipes.  You can also sign up for my bi-monthly Newsletter…be one of the first to see what new recipes are headed to Norine’s Nest.

I hope you’ll love this cake as much as I did!  It was just too good to trust myself to be alone with the two of them. Thank goodness for willing taste-testing friends.  Thanks for joining me!

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