Rhubarb does coffee cake beautifully. The problem with rhubarb is, it’s sour. The problem with coffee cake is, it’s often cloyingly sweet. Together, they are a match made in heaven.
This particular rhubarb coffee cake is classic comfort food, tweaked just a bit for ingredients I keep on hand. It’s a sour cream coffee cake, basically, but I rarely have sour cream in my fridge. I always have full fat yogurt, however. So that’s what my coffee cake calls for.
This kind of free wheeling substitution doesn’t universally work, of course. You can’t just substitute baking soda for powdered sugar, even though they are both white and kinda powdery.
But I happen to think the yogurt substitution is an improvement. It adds an extra tang to the cake that sets off the floral rhubarb and warm ginger, and helps to balance the sweetness of the crumb topping.
Give it a try, let me know what you think.
Step-by-Step Visual Guide
1. Gather your ingredients.
2. Make the crumb topping. Set aside for later. Hat tip to my 6 year old for doing this step and the next.
3. Sift the dry ingredients together. Set aside for later.
Tip: If you sift your dry ingredients onto a piece of parchment, adding those ingredients to the mixing bowl later will be very easy (image on bottom right).
4. Make the batter. It will end up very thick.
5. Fold in the rhubarb by hand, then scrape all the batter into your parchment-lined pan. Add the yummy crumb topping. Hat tip to Homebrew Husband for being my hand model for this step and the next.
6. Bake the coffeecake at 350. It should take about an hour. Let cool 30 minutes in the pan before removing.
7. Enjoy!
Printable Recipe
Ginger Rhubarb Coffee Cake
Prep
Cook
Total
Yield 16
Ingredients
For The Crumb Topping
- 1/2 cup lightly packed brown sugar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup all purpose flour
For The Cake
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup lightly packed brown sugar
- 1 cup whole milk yogurt
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 pound chopped, fresh rhubarb (about 3 cups)
Instructions
Make the topping
- In a medium bowl, mix brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon and salt with a fork until blended. Pour in melted butter and stir to blend. Add flour and stir until blended - the mixture will look like a smooth dough. Set aside.
Make the cake
- Line a 13 x 9 baking dish with parchment paper. Adjust the oven rack to the center position and preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, ginger, and salt into a medium bowl. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until smooth. Add the granulated and brown sugars and continue to beat well. Add the egg and continue to beat until the mixture is light and fluffy.
- Reduce speed to low and mix in the yogurt and vanilla extract, stirring until just combined.
- Add the flour mixture to the butter-sugar mixture and mix on low until the flour is fully incorporated and the batter is uniform, but do not overmix. Scrape the bottom of the mixing bowl periodically. The cake batter will be very thick.
- Remove the bowl from stand mixer and fold the rhubarb pieces into the batter by hand with a silicon or rubber spatula. The mixture will look like it's about half rhubarb, and quite chunky.
- Scrape all the cake batter into the prepared baking dish. Work the batter gently all the way out to the sides of the pan, and smooth the top of batter with the spatula.
- Add the topping over the cake batter by squeezing chunks of the crumb topping together with your fingertips. Drop these clumps evenly over the cake batter, covering cake completely.
- Bake the coffee cake until a skewer or the tip of a knife inserted into the center comes out clean, 60-70 minutes. The crumb topping will be deep brown and slightly crisp, and the cake will have risen slightly in the pan.
- Transfer the cake to a cooling rack and allow to cool in the dish for at least 30 minutes. Remove the cake from the dish by lifting it out with the parchment paper, and allow it to finish cooling.
- Cut cake into pieces and serve slightly warm or at room temperature.
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That looks so good. My rhubarb needs transplanting, will spare you the details, but this inspires me. Yeah on the substitution. I always have yogurt too and sour cream maybe twice a year. Great to have you back!
I’m glad I’m not the only chronic yogurt substituter! I love a good rhubarb/ginger combo, and the topping to cake ratio here looks ideal 😉
Yum!
I made rhubarb curd last night. The rhubarb flavor didn’t come through very well at all. But I’ve been thinking it would be a nice sauce on something that had more rhubarb flavor in it.
There’s been rhubarb cake, rhubarb sodas, rhubarb cocktails, rhubarb crisp…it’s just a fantastic time of year!
This looks amazing! I have got to find a way to make rhubarb grow in the south. Maybe on the north side of the house… otherwise I’m reduced to paying through the nose, if I can find it at all!
Thanks for the fantastic recipe! Enjoyed the coffee cake with a scoop of ice cream!
Glad you liked it!
I can’t figure out how to rate the recipe…so I’ll leave my comment here: SO DELICIOUS! Incredibly tender, so flavorful, a huge hit at my house and at my neighbors’ – I’ve already made it twice this week 🙂
Yay! Glad you like it! I don’t know what the deal is with that rating thing. I keep trying to just turn it off but it always comes back like I owe it money. Thank you for leaving your feedback here!