Rhubarb Crunch Coffee Cake

One of the {food} things I miss most about not being in Canada is watching the Food Network. I have a couple of favourite Canadian chefs and I often go back to the website to check out their new recipes. When I saw that Food Network had a Cooking Club Challenge every month and that they were cooking a recipe of Anna Olson’s {one of my all time favourite chef’s} I felt inspired to join the ranks.

The original recipe is for a Sour Cream Apple Coffee Cake but I adapted it to be a bit more seasonal by replacing the apples with chopped fresh rhubarb and adding a bit more brown sugar to balance it out. The crunch of walnuts along with the light crumb, crusty caramelized outer shell and slight tartness from the rhubarb make this perfect for a spring brunch or afternoon snack.

Rhubarb Crunch Coffee Cake

Serves: 9-12 servings
I made mine in two 6 inch round cake pans but they overflowed quite a bit so I would suggest sticking with the 8 inch square.

Ingredients

Cake

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 cups flour
• 1.5 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Crunch Topping

• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup walnut pieces
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

Rhubarb

• 2 cups diced rhubarb
• 2 tablespoon brown sugar

Instructions

Cake

1. Cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time.
2. Add vanilla and sour cream. Stir to combine.
3. Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Stir into wet ingredients just until incorporated.

Crunch Topping

1. Combine ingredients until evenly moistened.

Rhubarb

1. Stir together rhubarb and brown sugar.

Assembly

1. Spoon half of the cake batter into a greased 8 inch square cake pan. Smooth top.
2. Sprinkle half of the crunch topping over batter in pan. Top with remaining batter and smooth out.
3. Combine remaining crunch topping and rhubarb. Sprinkle over all.
4. Bake for 55-60 minutes at 350ºF until toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean.

Adapted from Sugar.