Rhubarb Crumb Cake

Gardening season has begun! We've been building raised beds, adding compost, planting seeds. However, we must wait for the bounty, as currently the only things growing right now are chives and rhubarb. But the rhubarb is glorious!

I've been eyeing Smitten Kitchen's rhubarb crumb cake for some time now, so I finally gave it a go. Although SK lauds the crumb topping as the reason to make this, I'm going to have to disagree with her there because frankly, the bottom cake layer and the rhubarb itself are what make it so dreamy. In fact, next time I make it (and I will make it again, oh yes), I'll cut the crumb mixture in half.

I guess I'm not that crumby of a gal. Ha.

Always the improvisor, I made a few changes to her recipe, but feel free to check out the original here. The pictures alone make it worth the visit. I'm going to post my half-crumb version of the recipe, so double up on the crumbs if that floats your boat.

Rhubarb Crumb Cake

For the rhubarb filling:

1 and 1/2 pounds rhubarb, trimmed

1/2 cup sugar

1 Tablespoon and 1 teaspoon cornstarch

1 teaspoon ground ginger

For the crumbs:

1/3 cup dark brown sugar

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1 stick butter (1/2 cup), melted

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

For the cake:

2/3 cup sour cream

3 large eggs

1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

2 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

12 tablespoons softened butter, cut into small pieces

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease an 9x13" baking pan. For filling, slice rhubarb 1/2 inch thick and toss with sugar, cornstarch and ginger. Set aside.

To make crumbs, in a large bowl, whisk together sugars, spices and butter until smooth. Stir in flour with a spatula. It will look like a solid dough.

To prepare cake, in a small bowl, stir together the sour cream, eggs, and vanilla. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, and baking powder. Add butter and a spoonful of sour cream mixture and mix on medium speed until flour is moistened. Increase speed and beat for 30 seconds. Add remaining sour cream mixture in two batches, beating for 20 seconds after each addition, and scraping down the sides of bowl with a spatula. Scoop out about 1/2 cup batter and set aside.

Scrape remaining batter into prepared pan. Spoon rhubarb over batter. Dollop set-aside batter over rhubarb; it does not have to be even.

Using your fingers, break topping mixture into big crumbs, about 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch in size. They do not have to be uniform, but make sure most are around that size. Sprinkle over cake. Bake cake until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean of batter (it might be moist from rhubarb), 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes. Cool completely before serving.