How to make Rhubarb Crunch Cake
You need 3 cups worth of fresh Rhubarb cut small. Go raid the neighbors house (or 2 of them) if you need more. Umm, yes I might be speaking from experience.
Dice it up. Small is what you want so the rhubarb “melts” into the cake and doesn’t leave woody chunks. That’s no bueno.
Toss the rhubarb in a bowl and add a 3 oz package of strawberry gelatin (I used sugar-free Jell-O brand)
In the bowl of your mixer add 2 sticks of room temperature butter (1 cup). Cream until light and fluffy.
Add in 1 1/4 cups white sugar and cream some more.
Ever wonder why it’s called “cream”? Isn’t it already cream?
Sorry
Add 3 eggs, 1 teaspoon of vanilla and 1 cup of milk and beat it until incorporated. (notice I didn’t say “cream”?)
Add 2 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the butter mixture and mix until just incorporated.
In a small bowl mix together 3/4 cup of dark brown sugar, 3 tablespoons white sugar, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and 3/4 cup chopped nuts of choice.
Note 2: I don’t like nuts in my baked goods….so I omitted that part of this recipe. So if you’re looking for them in the next picture, sorry. No can do!
Top the cake with the nut & brown sugar topping.
Bake at 350 for 35 minutes or until the center is done and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Slice and EAT! Delicious! Even with my mess up on the strawberries and omission of the nuts, this cake was very good. You definitely want to give it a shot.
Ruby’s Rhubarb Crunch Cake
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Ingredients
Cake
3 cups fresh rhubarb, cut small
2-3 cups fresh strawberries, chopped
1 3 oz package of strawberry gelatin
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups white sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup milk
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
Topping
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
3 tbsp white sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup chopped nuts (of choice)
Instructions
1 Preheat the oven to 350. Butter a 9×13 inch baking dish and set aside.
2 In a large bowl, mix together the rhubarb, strawberries and strawberry gelatin. Set aside.
3 In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter and cream until light and fluffy. Add the sugar and cream until combined. Add the eggs, vanilla and milk and mix to incorporate well. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and mix until just combined.
4 In a small bowl, mix together the ingredients for the topping and set aside.
5 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 remaining batter and rhubarb. Sprinkle the top with the topping mixture.
6 Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
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.
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.