Rhubarb Crunch Cake
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There’s nothing quite like a slice of Rhubarb Crunch Cake to celebrate the best of spring and early summer baking. Bursting with fresh rhubarb, sweet strawberries, and topped with a cinnamon brown sugar nut topping, this easy dessert is the perfect mix of tart, sweet, with a crisp topping. Whether you’re serving it at a backyard barbecue, spring brunch, or just want a cozy afternoon treat with your coffee, this dessert delivers.
If you’ve never baked with rhubarb before, this is the perfect beginner-friendly recipe to highlight its unique tang. Paired with strawberries and a crumbly, nutty topping, it’s a rustic, crowd-pleasing dessert you’ll want to make all season long…and a delicious way to use up your garden bounty.
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Heather’s Notes
- Fresh rhubarb + strawberries = unbeatable combo. Tart rhubarb pairs beautifully with the natural sweetness of strawberries, creating a balanced, flavorful cake.
- Crispy, nutty crunch topping. The cinnamon brown sugar topping adds texture and a warm spice that compliments the fresh fruit perfectly.
- Moist, buttery base. The cake is soft and tender without being too dense, soaking up all the juicy fruit goodness as it bakes with a texture similar to coffee cake.
- Easy to make ahead. This delicious dessert cake tastes even better the next day, making it perfect for prepping in advance for parties or gatherings.
- Spring and summer in every bite. This rhubarb crunch recipe captures the essence of the season and is a great way to use up a bumper crop of garden rhubarb.
What is rhubarb?
Rhubarb is a unique, tart vegetable that’s often treated like a fruit in baking thanks to its bright, tangy flavor. Recognizable by its long, celery-like stalks, usually deep red or pink, though sometimes green, rhubarb grows in cooler climates and is a springtime favorite. While the red celery stalks are edible (and delicious when sweetened), the rhubarb plant leaves are toxic and should never be consumed. Rhubarb shines in fruit desserts like pies, fruit crisps, and cakes, where its sharpness balances out the sweetness of other ingredients, especially when paired with fruits like strawberries. Its natural acidity and bold flavor make it a standout in seasonal baking.
Ingredients You’ll Need
For the Fruit Layer:
- 3 cups fresh rhubarb, diced
- 2 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
- 3 oz package of strawberry gelatin
For the Cake:
- 1 cup butter, room temperature
- 1 1/4 cup white sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup milk
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
For the Crunch Topping Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup chopped nuts
- 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
- 3 tbsp white sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
Instructions to Make this Easy Recipe
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Butter a 9×13-inch baking dish or line it with parchment paper.
- Prepare the fruit. In a medium bowl, toss diced rhubarb, chopped strawberries, and strawberry gelatin. Set aside while you make the batter.
- Make the cake batter. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the unsalted butter and cream until light and fluffy. Add the sugar and mix until combined. Add the eggs, vanilla, milk, and mix to incorporate well. Add the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt) and mix until just combined.
- Make the topping. In a small bowl, mix chopped nuts, brown sugar, cinnamon, flour, and melted butter until crumbly. Sprinkle evenly over the fruit.
- Assemble the cake. Spread half of the cake batter in the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Top with half of the rhubarb mixture and then repeat with the remaining batter and rhubarb layer. Sprinkle the nut topping over.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the top is golden brown and crisp.
- Cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or cold with a dollop of whipped cream.
tips for storing
- Refrigerator: Store leftovers covered in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat individual slices in the microwave for 15–20 seconds to soften the topping slightly.
- Room Temperature: If your kitchen is cool, you can leave the cake out, tightly covered, for up to 2 days.
- Freezing: This cake freezes beautifully. Wrap slices tightly in plastic wrap and store in an airtight container for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge or warm in the oven.
- Make-Ahead Tip: You can bake the cake a day ahead—it tastes even better after the flavors have melded!
FAQs
Yes, you can use frozen fruit in this recipe. Just be sure to thaw and drain any excess moisture to avoid a soggy cake.
Chopped pecans and walnuts are both great choices. You can also use sliced almonds or leave them out entirely if you have a nut allergy.
Absolutely! Just substitute your favorite 1-to-1 gluten-free flour blend for the all purpose flour. The texture may be slightly different, but the flavor will be the same.
Rhubarb Crunch Cake Recipe
Ingredients
For the Fruit Layer:
- 3 cups fresh rhubarb, diced
- 2 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
- 3 oz package of strawberry gelatin
For the Cake:
- 1 cup butter, room temperature
- 1 ¼ cup white sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup milk
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp kosher salt
For the Crunch Topping Ingredients:
- ¾ cup chopped nuts, pecans, walnuts, or slivered almonds
- ¾ cup dark brown sugar
- 3 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Butter a 9×13-inch baking dish or line it with parchment paper.
- Prepare the fruit. In a medium bowl, toss diced rhubarb, chopped strawberries, and strawberry gelatin. Set aside while you make the batter.
- Make the cake batter. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the unsalted butter and cream until light and fluffy. Add the sugar and mix until combined. Add the eggs, vanilla, milk, and mix to incorporate well. Add the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt) and mix until just combined.
- Make the topping. In a small bowl, mix chopped nuts, brown sugar, cinnamon, flour, and melted butter until crumbly. Sprinkle evenly over the fruit.
- Assemble the cake. Spread half of the cake batter in the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Top with half of the rhubarb mixture and then repeat with the remaining batter and rhubarb layer. Sprinkle the nut topping over.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the top is golden brown and crisp.
- Cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or cold with a dollop of whipped cream.
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Nutrition
* Nutritional information is not guaranteed to be accurate.
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Please consider Leaving a Review!This delicious recipe for Rhubarb Crunch Cake is the kind of nostalgic, homey dessert that brings people together. It’s simple, seasonal, and incredibly satisfying with its contrast of textures, bright tangy fruit, and streusel topping. If you’re looking for the perfect way to use up your rhubarb patch bounty (or grocery store), this is it.
Tag @farmgirlgourmet on Instagram if you make this—I’d love to see your crunchy, cozy creations! Happy Baking!
Original recipe
Everyone, I want you to meet Ruby. Well, meet this sweet picture of Ruby. She, unfortunately, left this Earth to be with her creator a while ago, but when you make a mark on people’s lives, as she did mine, you live on forever.
Ruby lived across the street from my Grandmother forever. Her kids played with my Mom and Aunt when they were growing up. Our families were so close that her granddaughter, Hilary, and I used to say we were cousins when we were young. I guess we are related by many branches on the family tree, but we were as close as first cousins growing up. The other day I was digging through my personal cookbook that has little pockets at each section, when I came across a hand written recipe, by Ruby, for “Rhubarb Crunch Cake” stuffed in one of the pockets. When I unfolded it and saw her handwriting the memories of her came flooding back. I recalled being a very young girl, maybe 5 or 6, and standing on a stool in Ruby’s kitchen watching her cook.
She was most famous for her amazing ravioli’s, but her culinary awesomeness didn’t stop there. Anything from her kitchen was sure to be out of this world and I knew I had to make her Rhubarb Crunch Cake and share it here with all of you. The only thing missing was a picture of this wonderful woman. So I contacted my “cousin” Hilary to see if she had one. Low and behold the picture above was in my inbox. Seeing her smile and her perfect black hair brought back the strangest memory ever. The smell of her house. I have no idea why that was the first sense, but it was and I was filled with joy.
That’s what I hope for my children and their children is to remember the smell of my home when I’m no longer here to create it. What a fabulous memory. What a fabulous woman. I miss you Ruby and I know that you are looking down and smiling looking beautiful as ever and laughing with your infectious laugh. Here’s a hunk of Rhubarb Cake just for you!
Recipe By:
Co-Founder at Spiceology | More About Heather…
Heather is a recipe developer and content creator living in Vancouver, Washington. She started Farmgirl Gourmet in 2006, almost 20 years ago, as a way to share recipes with friends and family. Heather is also the co-founder of Spiceology , a unique spice company, which she started in 2013. She shares family friendly recipes for easy everyday meals with a gourmet twist.
a longtime family favorite recipe to use in season rhubarb
Hey there! Just used this for my SRC post on Monday. Delish! Love your site. Keep up the great work.
Just made this gluten and dairy-free with frozen rhubarb and dried cherries. Chose pecans for the topping and served with coconut milk non dairy I’ve cream. Terriffic!
This cake looks amazing – you baked up a great tribute. I love your story about Ruby; it’s true – sometimes we find “family” by accident as well as by blood. Finally…I’m totally, completely in lust with your baking pan. It’s gorgeous!
@MotherLodeBeth – you could use unflavored gelatin or just omit it all together to achieve still amazing results.
Saw this recipe on the L A Times What did you eat this weekend? site. Need to find something other than store bought Jello to use since we dont use artifical flavors or ingredients on packages we cannot pronounce. We eat a lot of rhubarb which we have a lot of.
Wonderful recipe and tribute. I love the crumb and topping of this cake.
Aw, what sweet memories! Ruby sounds like a wonderful woman!
I may be the only person on earth that hasn’t tried rhubarb, and seeing all these posts lately really make me want to try it. I’ve got to join the rhubarb club, and this cake looks like a great reason to.
I heart everything rhubarb and this sounds fantastic!
What wonderful memories! I love how food can take you back to a place or time. The cake looks fabulous!
This is a great way to use Rhubarb while it’s in season!
How pretty is the dish you baked it in?! Love it! Oh, and the cake also 😉
What a lovely post. I’m sure Ruby would be honored that you felt that way. 🙂
Looks delicious! Love that pan you baked it in, too 🙂
Sweet story too 🙂
What a lovely story and tribute to Ruby. This cake looks beyond wonderful. We are huge rhubarb fans in this house and I truly can’t wait to make this.