Please pardon me, friends, as this recipe has nothing to do with the crops that we grow. It is, however, one of my favorite recipes since childhood. It’s my mom’s recipe, and she would make this coffee cake for my father and me even though she can’t stand rhubarb. She never ate a bit of it, but my dad and I loved it.
Perhaps you’ll give it a try…
INGREDIENTS
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 egg
1 cup of buttermilk*
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla (I usually go heavy on the vanilla.)
1 1/2 cups diced rhubarb (I always go heavy on the rhubarb.)
Plus, for sprinkling on the top:
1/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
*Buttermilk: If you don’t have buttermilk (as I usually don’t), you can fake the buttermilk by adding 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to a cup of milk. Let that stand around on your countertop for 15 minutes, and then you have a workable substitute for the buttermilk.
Preparation:
Cream together the butter and the sugar.
Add the egg.
Combine all the dry ingredients (not counting the rhubarb, white sugar, or cinnamon).
Measure out the buttermilk and pour the vanilla into that.
Alternately, add the dry ingredients and the buttermilk to the butter-sugar-egg mixture. Add the rhubarb, and stir everything together.
Pour batter into an 8″ x 12″ cake pan.
Mix together the white sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle that mixture evenly over the top of the batter.
Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool and serve!
I actually think this is one of those funny recipes that tastes better the day after you’ve made it, so … don’t feel any pressure to eat the whole thing right away. Enjoy!