This rhubarb coffee cake is bursting with fresh rhubarb and is topped with a crunchy nutmeg and pecan streusel. The perfect way to enjoy rhubarb season!
Don't say I didn't warn you guys that there were many fruity posts to come!
I am deep in the throes of some sort of major fruit craving phase of my pregnancy. The little munchkin wants fruit for breakfast (in the form of smoothies, which I will be posting on sometime in the next week). Then he wants some grapes or cherries for a snack while I'm at work. Then, he wants fruit for dinner, too!
I suppose it really could be worse...I'm currently not eating giant handfuls of chocolate chips, although you should check back with me in a few weeks. Maybe that's the next progression of food cravings 🙂
I have for you wonderful readers a delicious rhubarb recipe. Two in less than a week (and one more to come)! The reason for this is that I went a little overboard with the rhubarb at the farmers market, and found myself with an ample supply of it. Which is great, because you don't want to see what my pitiful garden rhubarb patch looks like right now.
Reasons you'll ♡ this rhubarb coffee cake
- it's the perfect sweet-but-not-too-sweet coffee cake
- the tangy rhubarb goes really well with the nutmeg-pecan streusel
- it holds up well over several days
After baking this cake, I purposefully placed it in the furthest, darkest corner of my kitchen. Because I know how these things work, me and coffee cake.
My ploy didn't work. Even if I couldn't see it very well, I could hear it yelling ever so loudly 'eat me!!'
It was chiseled away, bit by bit, every time we walked by. It was impossible to resist.
It did not last 24 hours at our place.
Oops.
I love a good coffee cake. Especially one with some sort of fruity element and a sweet, crunchy streusel topping, like this one.
This coffee cake is no exception. It has a double dose of my all time favorite spice, nutmeg. This cake has fresh ground nutmeg in the cake itself, as well as in the streusel. Double yum!
Nutmeg and pecans...classic flavor combination. Nutmeg and rhubarb? Maybe not. But it works!
I should also mention that this cake is packed with rhubarb...3 ½ cups to be exact! If you, like many people I know, have an out-of-control rhubarb patch and are getting tired of the same old rhubarb crisp recipe, this is a really great way to put a dent in your supply.
You might want to make a double batch, though, if you want to avoid the troubles that I had 😉
Tips & equipment for rhubarb coffee cake
- you will need a 9 inch baking pan
- if you can find fresh nutmeg, I highly recommend using it! I used my favorite microplane to grate it.
- looking for more rhubarb recipes? Check out these Cinnamon Rhubarb Muffins, this Strawberry Rhubarb Rose Sangria and this tutorial on How to Freeze Rhubarb
Rhubarb Coffee Cake with Nutmeg & Pecan Streusel
Ingredients
Coffee Cake
- 1 ½ cup all purpose flour 188g
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg ½ a seed
- ¾ cups brown sugar packed
- 1 egg lightly beaten
- ⅓ cup unsalted butter melted and cooled for a few minutes
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 ½ cups rhubarb stalks cut into ½ inch pieces
Streusel
- ½ cup brown sugar packed
- ½ cup all purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg ½ a nut
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- ½ cup toasted pecans chopped
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 375 F.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and sugar. In a separate small bowl, combine beaten egg with buttermilk, melted butter and vanilla. Add to dry ingredients and mix until smooth. Add rhubarb and mix in.
- Pour batter into a parchment-lined 9X9 inch pan. You may need to push the batter into all the corners.
STREUSEL:
- Mix together brown sugar, flour and nutmeg. Add the butter, cutting it in with a pastry tool until mixture is crumbly. Stir in chopped pecans. Sprinkle evenly over the cake.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
