Every spring I hafta make this coffee cake, and this is not just any old coffee cake, it’s my Rhubarb Coffee Cake with a Vanilla Streusel and to top it all off, a Vanilla Sauce. Did you get all that? It’s a one, two, three punch of sweet tart goodness. This is just the thing to serve for family and casual company that stops by.
Rhubarb Streusel Coffee Cake with Vanilla Sauce
Over the top and out of bounds, hands down, Rhubarb Streusel Coffee Cake is one of my all-time faves. This spring, I’m rewriting & reposting with new photos.
About Rhubarb Streusel Coffee Cake with Vanilla Sauce:
This Rhubarb Streusel Coffee Cake with Vanilla Sauce is bursting with tart rhubarb goodness, and when chopped finely, the rhubarb all but melts into the cake. The streusel topping makes a thin, shiny, crispy layer across the top.
This is NOT one of the prettiest coffee cakes in the pan; the rhubarb can cause little waves in the top. Plated and drizzled with the sauce, you’ll see just how useful all those little dents are. They hold some of the sauce as the rest pools.
And the vanilla sauce? At first glance at the ingredients, you might suspect it could be a bit bland, but trust me, it’s not. It’s almost like a melty candy. The coffee cake, the streusel, and the sauce together are just a medley of goodness.
The Vanilla Sauce
Let’s Talk About the Streusel:
The streusel topping with the white sugar, while traditional, isn’t the standard streusel we think of today. In this recipe and almost all the older Rhubarb recipes (many from Germany), white sugar is always used over brown sugar. The white streusel is almost a crispy layer on top. It complements the rhubarb flavor perfectly.
The white sugar topping doesn’t get melty and gooey like a brown sugar streusel, though; the sugar stays a little grainy and crunchy. After a day or two, the topping softens up, and while it’s still delish, it isn’t quite at its peak.
If you want to sub in a brown sugar streusel, feel free. A lot of Pinterest commenters have noted they have. Check this Classic Coffee Cake recipe. But only use half that streusel recipe on this coffee cake. This Rhubarb Streusel Coffee Cake won’t stand up to the full amount.
Making Rhubarb Streusel Coffee Cake with Vanilla Sauce:
The sauce for this recipe can easily be made ahead. It becomes a bit thicker in the fridge, but can easily be warmed back up in the microwave for the original texture.
This is going to be one of the easiest coffee cakes you’ve ever made, and it can be mixed by hand. You might want to think about using this as a base for other coffee cakes. Just sub out the rhubarb. This cake would be a perfect 1st project for a budding baker, too. I made this today in a 9 x 13″ pan, but if you’d like a higher cake, try a 9 x 9″ pan.
I thought this would be a great recipe to show off my “Miracle Goop” a homemade quick-release mixture for cakes. It works very well on this cake, which has a tendency to be a little sticky.
Miracle Goop Pan Release
If You Like this Recipe, You Might Like These:
If you love rhubarb as much as I do, you might like some of these recipes. Search for others by clicking on the Rhubarb tag at the bottom of the post, or use the Search bar.
- Strawberry Rhubarb Baby Cakes: these are basically muffins baked in mini loaf pans. If you don’t have the pans, bake in a standard muffin tin.
Strawberry Rhubarb Baby Cakes
- Sour Cream Rhubarb Coffee Cake: another easy mix by hand coffee cake – it might look like this coffee cake, but it’s a whole different style.
Sour Cream Rhubarb Coffee Cake
Saving Money on Groceries:
What you pay for groceries depends not only on WHERE you shop, but WHEN. Be strategic and stock up at rock-bottom prices.
- The best sales are before holidays; check out Win at the Grocers. Use these sales not just for your holiday, but to stock up at a low for the coming weeks to months.
- Take advantage of discount stores like Aldi or Lidl. The pricing at Buyer’s clubs is not always the lowest, but can trump in quality; be selective.
The best way to save money on this or any recipe is to have a well-stocked pantry, fridge, and freezer full of sale-priced items.
Rhubarb:
- If you can, pick your own or beg a neighbor (pay them back with a slice or two of the cake).
- If buying fresh rhubarb, you’ll need more than a pound because you’ll need to trim the leaves and ends off.
- Rhubarb comes frozen in 1-pound bags. Frozen items like this are usually cheapest after harvest. Supply and demand, right? Prices will rise over winter, but look for sales around holidays.
Buttermilk:
- Buttermilk varies wildly in price and quality. If buying, try to have other recipes lined up to use the rest.
- It stores better in a tightly closed glass jar than the original carton and lasts for weeks without going bad. It may need to be shaken together. Trust your nose and look for discoloration to determine if it is off.
- The substitution of a tablespoon of vinegar in a one-cup measure with the remainder milk is far cheaper and works in many recipes.
General Baking Items:
- Never buy baking items when needed and never pay full price. Instead, stock up during your grocery holiday sales, especially before Easter and the Winter Holidays. Many items are up to half off.
- Discount stores have good pricing on baking items year-round, as does your buyer’s club, although quantities are larger.
- Immediately when arriving home, freeze items containing flour for three days.
Hello and welcome. I’ve been making this cake for ages and recently updated it in 2016. The recipe is the same, and it’s still a favorite. I hope you enjoy it as much as we have over the years, and I hope you’ll explore my site while you’re here – shares never hurt either. 🙂
Mollie
Rhubarb Streusel Coffee Cake with Vanilla Sauce
Rhubarb Streusel Coffee Cake with Vanilla Sauce
A beautiful, delicate cake draped with vanilla sauce.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 12 to 15 servings 1x
- Category: Desserts Cakes
- Cuisine: German
Ingredients
Cake:
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 to 2 cups diced (about 3/8’s to 1/2″) rhubarb (see note)
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1/2 cup cream or evaporated milk
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 to 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
For the Cake:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour (or use my “Goop”) in a 9 by 13″glass pan.
In a large mixing bowl, add melted butter, sugar, egg, and buttermilk. Whisk together.
In a smaller bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar mixture, and beat until just moistened. A few small lumps are fine.
Fold in the chopped rhubarb. Pour and spread the batter into the prepared pan.
In a small bowl, combine the butter and sugar for the topping. Sprinkle evenly over the batter. Bake for 30-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean and the top of the cake is lightly browned.
For the Sauce:
For the sauce, melt butter in a medium saucepan. Add the sugar and evaporated milk or cream. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1 minute; it will slightly thicken. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. The sauce will continue to thicken as it cools, rewarm slightly to serve.
Note on rhubarb: When I bake this in a 9 x 13″ pan, I generally use the smaller amount of rhubarb; it helps the cake hold together better. When baking in a smaller pan, use the larger amount.
note: This streusel forms a gorgeous, slightly crispy layer but softens by the next day. We like it best regardless, but for a more classic streusel, increase butter to 4 tablespoons and add 1/2 cup of flour or use the brown sugar streusel linked in the post.
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I’ll be posting Rhubarb Coffee Cake with a Vanilla Sauce at Fiesta Friday # 177.
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