Strawberry Rhubarb Coffee Cake

First there was a crumble.

Then there was pie.

Now, there is coffee cake.

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As much as I wanted to save this rhubarb for another crisp, I couldn’t help folding it into this coffee cake. The few stalks left in the fridge were just waiting to be mixed into a new dish with their best friend, the strawberry.

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Besides, this was one way I could justify having something that was almost a dessert for breakfast.

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The coffee cake itself isn’t overly sweet, so the tart rhubarb and sweet berries really shine through. The fruit melts into the batter, making a fluffy base for the crisp and crumbly topping.

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Want some strawberry rhubarb but don’t want to deal with pie crust? Here’s your answer.

Need an excuse to eat cake for breakfast? This should be a no-brainer. Each piece almost has it’s own fruit serving – you can’t beat that!

 

Strawberry Rhubarb Coffee Cake

Makes: 9 servings

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup buttermilk (to make it vegan, use 1 cup almond milk + 1 Tbsp lemon juice instead)
  • 1/4 cup oil
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup chopped rhubarb
  • 1 cup chopped strawberries
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 2/3 cup oat flour
  • 1/4 cup oil

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. In large bowl, whisk the buttermilk, oil, sugar, and vanilla together.
  3. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt.
  4. Fold the chopped rhubarb and strawberries into the batter.
  5. Pour mixture into 8×8 baking dish.
  6. In small bowl, mix the brown sugar, cinnamon, oat flour, and oil together until the mixture is combined and a little crumbly.
  7. Sprinkle the topping over the batter.
  8. Bake at 375 for 35-40 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

38 comments

  1. I love breakfasts that are dessert like :) I haven’t had coffee cake in so long- that crumbly topping always makes me smile :)

  2. Pass me a plate of this please!

  3. this sounds like the perfect way to start the day! :)

  4. I have never made a recipe with rhubarb! I always see it and think to myself “oh look, red celery!”

  5. Ok! I am getting some rhubarb at the farmer’s market this weekend — what I have in my garden does not amount to much.

  6. AMAZING breakfast! I’ll have to pick up some rhubarb!

  7. I want this for breakfast!

  8. I love a good coffee cake! How yummy!

  9. Great idea!! Much easier than pie and much more acceptable to eat for breakfast… Plus, it’s so pretty!

  10. What a great coffee cake! I love the strawberry rhubarb combination, and especially in a treat where I don’t have to make a crust.

  11. I have to admit, since my palate tends to crave something savory & salty over something sweet in the morning I rarely make coffee cakes, but now I’m not sure why. I always love the crumble topping and I bet it pairs perfectly with the rhubarb and strawberries. I haven’t eaten much rhubarb in my life but now you’re making me think I should be more adventurous. In fact, I actually have a curry recipe that involves rhubarb so perhaps I may have to try it out for an upcoming potluck I have involving farmers’ market foods.

  12. The combination of strawberry and rhubarb is genius! My husband requested a strawberry/rhubarb crisp for his birthday a few weeks ago. SO delicious!

    Definitely going to give this a try!

  13. Cake for breakfast? Say no more!

  14. Oh my…. I have always loved strawberry and rhubarb together, but I have NEVER seen it in coffee cake. This is awesome! Growing up, my grandma made a mean strawberry rhubarb crumble, which I did eat for breakfast… but probably shouldn’t have. This recipe makes it socially acceptable – IM ON IT!

  15. I actually have never had rhubarb before, but I know my hubs like the rhubarb/strawberry combo – and I like that there isn’t like two cups of sugar in the recipe! :D

  16. I should make this to take to my parents house this weekend as to prevent eating the entire thing. Looks amazing!

  17. I don’t know that I’ve ever had rhubarb?! This looks so good!! When you come to RIC for the next WF Cooking Demo you should definitely bring some of this mmmkay ;) (definitely wish you lived closer so you could though for real!!!)

  18. Rhubarb reminds me so much of summer’s back east when I was younger! My mom used to make fresh rhubarb preseverves and angel food cake and it was such an amazing combo! Great recipe I hope I can make one day!

  19. I’m embarrassed to say…I’ve never had rhubarb!! Isn’t that terrible?!? But this recipe definitely makes me want to change that. I honestly don’t even know if my grocery store sells it.

  20. You read my mind! I have some rhubarb in the garden, and some guests coming for the weekend…so this is perfect. Perhaps with some pecans added to the topping?

  21. I baked with rhubarb for the first time last week. It didn’t go well, probably because I didn’t mix in another fruit and the bitterness was too much for me. Maybe I’ll have to pick up some more rhubarb + strawberries to try one of your recipes!

  22. okay, so i just said that i wanted the focaccia. but i really really want this coffee cake! strawberries + rhubarb were made to go together!!

  23. Hi, made this cake yesterday when I stumbled upon your recipe looking for a simple rhubarb pie recipe. I was a bit skeptical before (no eggs! no butter!), but even with using rhubarb only it turned out to being super yummy, easy and quick! Thanks for posting!!

    • I’m so glad to hear that you liked it! I can’t wait for strawberry season next year so I can make it again. :)

  24. You should probably take the “vegan” tag off of this recipe. It looks good, and I may still make it, but the first ingredient is buttermilk. Buttermilk is not vegan, so I won’t be making it as planned for the vegan member of the household today.

    • Sorry about that! I was basing it off another vegan coffee cake recipe and forgot to put the note in to use the almond milk + lemon juice in place of buttermilk to make it vegan. I’ll add that in.

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