Classic Rhubarb Crisp with Buttery Crumble Topping

 

Warm weather is the perfect time for cool and refreshing desserts and if you enjoy rhubarb as much as I do, here is an easy and delicious dessert to put together.  I usually like to try at least one new rhubarb recipe when my rhubarb is ready for picking.  Seeing an instagram friend's @2020kcmd post was the initial inspiration for making rhubarb crisp. If you have a friend or neighbor that asks if you want some rhubarb, take it and make this! 

The rhubarb crisp recipe I chose was originally shared by a dear friend who sadly passed away not long ago, Barbara from Moveable Feasts.  She loved rhubarb as I do and shared many great recipes, including this one, which comes from Mark Bittman.  The crumble topping, however, comes from my blogging friend and fellow garden lover of over 20 years, Monique at La Table de Nana.  She shared an apple crisp with crumble topping from this French site.  It is a delicious, buttery, crunchy topping that holds up beautifully to the moisture in the rhubarb.  

This is a lightly sweetened, pure rhubarb dessert with orange or lemon zest and juice added for a bit of citrus brightness. The sweet crumble topping adds the rest of the sweetness to the dessert.   

A large scoop or two of vanilla ice cream gives the whole dish a creaminess that is irresistible!  Enjoy! 

Classic Rhubarb Crisp

Printable Recipe

Serves 6 to 8

6 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces, plus more for greasing pan
2-1/2 to 3 pounds rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 1/2 inch pieces (about 5 to 6 cups)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon orange or lemon zest
1 tablespoon orange or lemon juice

Topping:

1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup rolled oats (not quick oats)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup butter, cut into cubes

In a bowl, mix all of the topping ingredients with a fork until well combined and refrigerate for while making the rhubarb filling.

Preheat the oven to 375 F. degrees. Butter a 8 or 9 inch baking dish (I used a 11 x 7 inch glass baking dish). Toss rhubarb with white sugar, orange or lemon zest and just pour out into the baking dish, leveling it as best as possible.

Sprinkle crumble topping over rhubarb as evenly as possible. You may have extra, which can be refrigerated for a future crumble topping dessert.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until top is golden and beginning to brown and rhubarb is bubbling. Remove from oven and allow to cool. This is best eaten while slightly warm but may be made in the morning and refrigerated. Take out of refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature before serving or warm slightly in a 350 for about 20 minutes.

Serve with a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream.

Rhubarb-Strawberry Coffee Cake

Do you love rhubarb as much as I do?  Growing up in Wisconsin, it was a rite of spring for my mother to bake rhubarb pie or serve fresh rhubarb sauce.  My father used to call rhubarb the "Pie Plant".  Rhubarb thrives during the cool first months of spring and is one of the first food crops to be harvested. Our May has been unusually cool and wet so it is very happy this year!  Once summer begins, it's usually time to stop harvesting rhubarb to allow it to save it's strength for next year's growing season.  

Did you know that rhubarb is actually a vegetable?  

Each year, I like to try at least two new rhubarb recipes.  This year, the first recipe on my 'list' was this rhubarb-strawberry coffee cake. While it was a little more cake-like because of the pan I baked it in, you could use a wider pan to have less cake-to-filling ratio in each serving.  Go ahead and have a bite!

Or two!  It's delicious and just the kind of cake I love with a streusel topping and no frosting.  

I've mentioned how our weather here has been chilly and rainy this month and my The Lilies of the Valley were battered from the storms, wind and rain, but they still smell divine!  Just like the leaves of the rhubarb plant, they are also poisonous so don't let little ones put them in their mouth.

In spite of our weather, it's been a fun-filled May! I had a wonderful Mother's Day at daughter's home and, over Memorial Day, we were able to attend a Brewers baseball game with one of our grandsons and our daughter ♥  3 Home runs and a win for the Brewers last Sunday! A great game to see.

And, on a recent trip downtown, I spied these adorable swan paddleboats sitting empty in the lagoon near Lake Michigan.  Soon, it will be June and hopefully, sunny and warm again, so this sweet flock will be paddling all around making people smile.    

Here's to June and warmer weather!! 

Rhubarb-Strawberry Coffee Cake

Makes 8 Servings

Printable Recipe

Filling (cook and cool before proceeding with cake):

1/3 cup sugar 

1/8 cup + 1 Tablespoon cornstarch 

1 cup chopped fresh rhubarb 

1 cup chopped fresh strawberries  

Cake:

1-1/2 cups flour 

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder 

1/4 teaspoon baking soda 

1/2 cup (1 sticks) cold butter 

1 eggs 

1/2 cup buttermilk 

1/2 teaspoon vanilla 

Topping:

1/4 cup brown sugar 

1/4 cup all-purpose flour 

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1-1/2 tablespoons cold butter

1/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease an 8 or 9 non-stick springform pan. You may also use an 8 or 9-inch square Pyrex baking dish. If you are using an aluminum pan that doesn't have a non-stick coating, line the pan with parchment paper or the rhubarb will turn gray. 

In saucepan, combine 1/3 cup sugar and cornstarch. Stir in rhubarb and strawberries. Bring to a boil over medium heat and cook for 2 minutes, or until thickened. Remove from heat and let cool. 

In a large bowl, combine flour, remaining 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder and baking soda. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. In another bowl, beat eggs, buttermilk and vanilla. Stir quickly into flour mixture until just combined. Don't over-mix. Spoon about 2/3 of cake batter into prepared pan. Top with fruit mixture. Cover with remaining batter. 

Mix together topping ingredients and blend with a fork or your fingers until crumbling.  Sprinkle over top of batter. 

Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 45 minutes (depending on your oven and the depth of your pan), or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean and cake top is golden brown. 

Cool on wire rack for 10 minutes. Then remove cake from pan and cook completely.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Tart with Sweet Walnut Crust

  

This beautiful spring-time tart was almost a disaster as the original recipe only called for 2 tablespoons of potato or cornstarch to bind it together (it didn't happen), but a little tweaking with the addition of unflavored gelatin, it turned into a tart that held together beautifully and tasted wonderful!

The best way to serve this tart is with a dollop of crème fraîche or sour cream.  You can find my post on how to make your own homemade crème fraîche (which is a lot cheaper than store bought!) by clicking here.

The sweet walnut crust alone is worth trying, even if you don't care for rhubarb desserts.  I can imagine so many delicious fillings in this pastry!  Chocolate would be my first choice :)  I think I foresee a post on that coming up!

Strawberry-Rhubarb Tart in a Sweet Walnut Crust

Printable Recipe

Makes one 9-1/2 to 10-inch tart

Sweet Walnut Pastry (recipe below)

¾ cup sugar
Juice and grated zest of 1 large or 2 small oranges (4 tablespoons zest)
1 pound fresh rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 1-inch lengths
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tablespoons orange liqueur
2 tablespoons potato starch (I used corn starch)
2 pints red ripe, strawberries, hulled and sliced
2 packages unflavored gelatin, sprinkled over 1/3 cup cranberry or apple juice (or water)
½ cup strawberry preserves, heated until barely runny and strained
Crème fraîche or sour cream for garnish

For the walnut crust:

2 oz. (1/2 cup) finely chopped walnuts (food processor), toasted
6 oz. (12 Tbs.) butter, slightly softened
2 oz. (1/2 cup) confectioners’ sugar
1 large egg
7-3/4 oz. (1-3/4 cups) flour

First, place chopped walnuts on a small, rimmed baking sheet. Toast the chopped walnuts in a 350F oven for about 7-9 minutes, or until fragrant. Shake pan once half way through baking.  Allow to cool before making crust recipe.    

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Using an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and confectioners’ sugar at high speed until light and fluffy. Add the egg; mix to combine. Lower the speed to slow and add the flour, mixing until barely combined. Add the walnuts and continue mixing, scraping the sides of the bowl, until the dough comes together. Divide the dough. Wrap the half you’ll be using in plastic and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight. Wrap the other half well in plastic and then in foil and freeze for future use.

Lightly oil a 9-1/2-inch tart pan or use a non-stick tart pan.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a round about 1/8 inch thick. Arrange it in the tart pan, trimming to fit. Line the crust with foil or kitchen parchment and weight with beans, pie weights or a smaller oven-safe pan that will fit inside.

Bake until the edge is light golden brown, about 20 minutes. Carefully remove the beans and foil and bake until the bottom is dry and light brown, about another 5 minutes. Cool to room temperature.

To Make the Filling:

Bring sugar, orange juice and zest to a boil in medium, heavy-bottomed non-reactive pot. Add rhubarb and return to a boil, shaking occasionally so rhubarb cooks evenly, but without stirring, which will break it up. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes, or until rhubarb is soft. Add butter and shake to combine.

Whisk together liqueur and potato starch until smooth and stir into boiling liquid. Cook until mixture is clear and thickened, about 2 minutes. Fold in half the strawberries, remove pan from heat.

In a glass measuring cup, add 1/3 cup fruit juice or water. Sprinkle the 2 envelopes of unflavored gelatin over the top of the liquid and allow to sit for 1 minutes. Then microwave the gelatin mixture on high for about 30-40 seconds, stirring once. Then pour the hot gelatin over the hot fruit mixture and carefully fold the gelatin mixture and fruit mixture together until well combined. Allow to cool slightly.

Spoon filling into crust and top with remaining strawberries. Brush strawberries with preserves to make a shiny glaze and chill tart until set, about 2 hours. If you have leftover filling, you can put it in a small dish and refrigerate and enjoy on its own.

Serve topped with crème fraîche or sour cream.

Rhubarb-Strawberry Oat Squares

Here is another delicious rhubarb recipe for those of you lucky enough to obtain fresh or frozen rhubarb! It's still rhubarb season here and, if you haven't already noticed, I love rhubarb.

I adapted this recipe from several different oat bar recipes, using what I thought were the best parts of each. Mine has a delicious, crumbly oat crust and topping and is filled with a thickened rhubarb and strawberry compote.  Chopped almonds are added to the oat mixture to give the oats a delightful crunch.

The oat 'crust' and topping are so tasty and you could any filling you prefer such as blueberries, just strawberries, raspberries - or even a jar of preserves or canned pie filling. 

Best of course the day they are made, but I kept them in the refrigerator overnight and they were still delicious the second and even third day after allowing them to come to room temperature.

These squares would be perfect to bring to a picnic or summer pot luck buffet!  They can be eaten with your fingers so no need for a fork.

Can you believe it's officially summer next week? I can't believe the first two week of June are almost over.  Whoa!

Rhubarb-Strawberry Oat Bars

Printable Recipe

Makes 16

For Rhubarb-Strawberry Filling:

1-1/2 cups diced rhubarb (you may use frozen rhubarb in this recipe)

3/4 cup diced strawberries
3/4 brown sugar, packed

3 tablespoons water

1 teaspoon lemon juice

5 teaspoons cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon of water to make a slurry

For Oat Crust and Topping Mixture:

3/4 cup old-fashioned oats

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 teaspoons salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup finely chopped almonds

8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, cut into small pieces (diced)

Tip: To finely 'chop' almonds, place them in a plastic zipper bag and crush them with a large, flat object such as a meat mallet. 

Line an 8 or 9 inch square baking pan with parchment paper.  Cut 2, 8 x 16 inch pieces of parchment paper and press to fit pan, leaving an overhang on both sides to use and handles for lifting (or you may use a non-stick spray). 

To make the Rhubarb-Strawberry Filling:

Combine the rhubarb, strawberries, brown sugar, water and lemon juice in a large saucepan.  Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium.  Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring, until rhubarb is tender. Add the cornstarch/water mixture to the rhubarb-strawberry mixture and cook while stirring for about 2 more minutes or until nicely thickened.  Remove from heat and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350F

Combine the oats, flour, sugars, chopped almonds, salt and baking soda in a large bowl and stir to combine.  Add the diced butter and mix into the oats mixture with your fingers until entire mixture is crumbly and well blended. 

Press half of the oat mixture into prepared pan.  Top with rhubarb-strawberry mixture.  Sprinkle the rest of the oat mixture over the top and press down lightly.

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool completely and remove from pan with parchment 'handles' and cut into squares (cut in half, then in half again on each side). Or ,cut squares in pan and remove individually. 
 

Adapted from Taste of Home and America's Test Kitchen

Raspberry Rhubarb Cheesecake Bars

The garden is growing and supplying me with plentiful rhubarb. I thank the English settlers who brought rhubarb to the United States in the 1820s! How swiftly it spread in popularity across our country where it thrived.

Each year, I try to find at least 2-3 new rhubarb recipes to try.  Some are absolute winners and some...not so much.  This one is an absolute winner!  Sliced rhubarb is mixed with raspberries rather than the traditional strawberries.  I loved the combination. 

A nutty, shortbread base and a creamy, cheesecake-like topping make this recipe easy to make a day ahead.  We had friends for dinner this weekend and this was the dessert I offered. Thumbs up all around the table!  Although this doesn't need anything else to make it delicious, we added a scoop of lemon-flavored ice cream and a few extra raspberries.  Hello, sunshine! 

In the garden, the peonies are blooming.  Much like Lilies of the Valley, peonies have a fragrance that is incomparable.

Raspberry-Rhubarb Cheesecake Bars

Adapted from Southern Living, May 2015

Printable Recipe

Note: I adapted this recipe for an 8 x 8 pan - half of the original recipe.  My measurements are in parentheses.

CRUST

2 cups (1 C) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (1/4 C) powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon (1/4 tsp) baking soda
1/4 teaspoon (1/8 tsp) table salt
3/4 cup cold butter (6 tablespoons), cubed
3/4 cup (1/4 + 1/8 cup) toasted slivered almonds, coarsely chopped
Parchment paper and cooking spray to prepare the baking pan

RHUBARB-RASPBERRY FILLING

3/4 cup (1/4 + 1/8 cup) granulated sugar
1/4 cup (1/8 C) cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon (1/8 tsp) table salt
1 pound rhubarb or 1-lb package frozen rhubarb, thawed, (1/2 lb or about 2 cups fresh) cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
2 6-ounce (1 6-oz) containers fresh raspberries
1 teaspoon (1/2 tsp) vanilla extract

CREAM CHEESE BATTER

2 8-ounce (1 8-oz) packages cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup (1/4 + 1/8 C) granulated sugar
2 (1) large eggs
1 teaspoon (1/2 tsp) lemon zest
1 tablespoon (1 tsp + 1/2 tsp) fresh lemon juice

Optional garnishes:  Powdered sugar, fresh raspberries or lemon ice cream

To prepare the crust: Preheat oven to 350°.  Toast the almonds in a small frying pan over medium heat, stirring every few minutes, until golden. Coarsely chop the almonds and set aside. Spray an 13 x 9 (8 x 8 for half recipe) inch baking pan with non-stick baking spray.  Cut a piece of parchment paper the size of the bottom of the pan by outlining it on a piece of parchment and cut to fit. Place the parchment in the bottom of the pay and spray the parchment with baking spray. Stir together flour, powdered sugar and baking soda in a large bowl.  Cut the cubed butter into flour mixture with a pastry blender until crumbly. Stir in the toasted almonds. Press the mixture onto the bottom of the prepared pan.  Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack until ready to use.

To prepare the filling: Stir together the granulated sugar, cornstarch and salt in a large heavy saucepan.  Stir in rhubarb and 1 (1/2) container raspberries. Let stand 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Bring mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low, and simmer 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and stir in vanilla and remaining raspberries.

To prepare the cream cheese batter: Beat the cream cheese and granulated sugar with an electric mixer until smooth. Add eggs, 1 at a time, and beat just until blended after each addition. Add lemon zest and juice, beating well.

Spread Rhubarb-Raspberry Filling over Crust. Gently spread Cream Cheese Batter over filling.

Bake at 350° for 25 to 30 minutes or until set (mine took about 40 minutes). The center should have risen to the same height as the outsides. Cool on a wire rack at least 1 hour.

Cover and chill 4 to 8 hours. Cut into bars and serve with fresh raspberries or lemon ice cream. 

Rhubarb Custard Torte

There are so many recipes for rhubarb. Many families have a recipe that their mother or grandmother made. I love rhubarb and was so happy when the rhubarb I planted in my garden several years ago was big enough to harvest. Always on the lookout for a new recipe to try, this past week I found one in a food publication email. What caught my attention was that it had originated from a cook in Wisconsin. Karma. 

The shortbread base, custardy filling and the meringue-like top were delicious!  Meant to be eaten with a fork, I couldn't help but cut off the corner after it cooled and eat it with my fingers. You know when that first bite is an 'Ahhhh" moment! By the way, it holds together very well when eating it with your fingers :)  It truly needs no other enhancements like whipping cream or ice cream, but feel free. 

After taking these photos, and also eating the slice above, I quickly wrapped up the rest to take to my daughter's home for our Mother's Day dinner celebration before I could nibble it all up.  The story behind this torte recipe is wonderful and a tribute to the author's mother.  Click here if you'd like to read it.

The recipe makes enough for a 9 x 13 inch pan so would be perfect for a Memorial Day picnic or BBQ.  Even my husband, who does not like rhubarb, ate two pieces! What was left, my daughter took to work to share today.  Although she did confess it might not make it there :)

I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day...I certainly did :)

Rhubarb Custard Torte

Printable Recipe

Note:  I adapted this recipe slightly by using part brown sugar in the custard and I also added fresh strawberries in addition to the rhubarb.

Makes 1 9-inch by 13-inch torte

For the custard:

2 eggs
1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt 
3 cups fresh rhubarb, preferably red, sliced into pieces about a quarter-inch wide

1 cup fresh strawberries, halved and sliced a quarter-inch wide

For the crust

3/4 cup butter
1 1/2 C flour
7 T sugar

Preheat the oven to 350F. 

To make the custard, beat the eggs in a large bowl and add the sugar. Cream that combination slightly then add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Then, add the rhubarb and strawberries and mix together. Allow the mixture to sit for about 30 minutes, so the rhubarb and strawberries have a chance to release their juices slightly.

To make the crust, cut the butter into the flour and sugar, as you would a pie crust. The butter should be cold.  You can use a pastry cutter or just blend with your fingers until it resembles course meal. Press this into a 9" by 13" pan.

Pour the custard over the crust and smooth it evenly.  Bake at 350°F for 30–45 minutes (mine took a full 45 minutes). Bake it long enough so that the torte is set and slightly golden, but not toasty brown. 

Adapted from Jan Coulson's Rhubarb Torte

Rhubarb Almond Crumb Cake

This is probably the best rhubarb recipe that I've made.  Seriously delicious.  I recently saw this on Chow Chow Linda, a very nice blog that I follow full of great Italian recipes, but it is originally from a contest winner at Food 52.  I'm sure Linda, being Italian, was attracted to the fact that it has a slight Italian twist to it with the almonds in the crumb topping and almond extract in the cake.  I was worried how the almond flavor would taste with the rhubarb but it wonderful! 

This was such a delicious cake that I can't wait to try it with other seasonal fruit.  The nuts in the topping could be varied with the type of fruit also. The bonus was that it tasted even more delicious the second day after the moisture from the rhubarb had a chance to blend into the cake. It's a perfect coffee cake for the morning, for snacking in the afternoon, or you could make it an after-dinner dessert with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  You can see my rhubarb plants are still going strong in the background. 

I did reduce the amount of sugar in the cake batter from 1-1/4 cups to 1 cup and I think I could have even cut back to 3/4 cup easily as I don't like overly sweet desserts.  I also increased the amount of rhubarb from 1-1/2 cups to 2 cups.

We are hosting our gourmet group a week from Saturday - the first day of summer!  My husband and I will be busy getting the yard manicured and all the other things that need to be organized for hosting our group of 10 for this fun event so you will likely not see me posting or visiting as we get closer to the date. Until then - Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there and Happy Summer Solstice to all!

Rhubarb Almond Crumb Cake

Adapted from Food 52

Printable Recipe

Serves 8 to 10

For the crumb topping:

2 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 tablespoons slivered almonds, chopped
2 tablespoons rolled oats
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

For the cake:

An 8-inch spring form or deep cake pan

Butter for greasing the pan

2 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon almond extract
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 cups rhubarb, sliced into 1/2-inch pieces

Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Melt the butter and set aside to cool slightly. Butter the sides of an 8" spring form or deep cake pan.  Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit the bottom of the pan.

For the crumb, combine the dry ingredients in a small bowl. Using a fork or your fingers, gently work in the butter until small clumps form. 

Combine the eggs, sugar, salt, and almond extract in a large bowl. Beat the mixture on high until it triples in volume, about five minutes. Fold in the melted butter, flour, and rhubarb. Evenly spread the thick batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the crumb topping evenly over the top.

Bake for 60 to 75 minutes, until the topping is deeply golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Place the pan on a cooling rack and remove the cake when it’s completely cool.

Rhubarb-Strawberry Cake with Orange Peel

This was the second rhubarb recipe that I've made this year, and the first one that I could actually tell you about.  I won't cry about the jars of rhubarb jam that turned out like...Well, I won't. 

This was a success!  So delicious, that I couldn't help cutting off half of the 1 inch edge of the cake and devouring it before the first slice hit the plate.

My inspiration was a post on this sweet Italian blog.  Hers calls for lemon and poppy seeds. One smell and I knew my poppy seeds were past their prime.  However, while I searching for another unopened container of poppy seed I found a jar of Penzey's California dried orange peel that I knew it would make a delicious adaptation.  Does anyone else have their spices arranged in alphabetical order like I do? That's how I found the Orange Peel stored right next to Poppy Seed :) 

My cake turned out much more moist than the one that inspired me, even though I carefully measured the ingredients in grams with my digital scale. I did not have Italian 00 flour and perhaps that was the difference.  The moist and spongey cake didn't bother me at all!  Truly delicious. I had some with my coffee the following morning and, while it was still delicious, I can say that this cake is best eaten the same day it is made, so a small 8x8 or 9x9 inch pan is perfect for this recipe. 

I hope my rhubarb keeps producing so I can try a few more rhubarb recipes after this as I have quite a list!

I'm still spending lots of time in the garden keeping up with watering, weeding, mulching, adding more ties to support all of the the quickly climbing clematis.

I am loving all of the white blooming in the garden right now.

They are so pretty at dusk, my "glow-in-the-dark" white flowers.

Rhubarb-Strawberry Cake with Orange Peel

Adapted From Here

Printable Recipe

Recipe makes one 8x8 or 9x9 inch square baking pan (I used 9 x 9)

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt

1 large egg

1/4 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons dried orange peel

2 cups of clean and sliced rhubarb and strawberries (I used 1-1/2 cups rhubarb and 1/2 cup strawberries)

Preheat oven to 350F.  Cut a piece of parchment paper so that 2 sides are longer than the sides of the pan to use as 'handles' for removing the cake from the pan. Spray pan with Bakers Joy or other non-stick spray. 

In a bowl, beat the egg with the sugar. Add the oil, milk, yogurt and orange peel. Add the flour and baking powder and whisk until just combined.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Distribute the cut fruit evenly over the top of the batter. 

Bake in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes or until lightly golden on top. 

Cool on a baking rack and remove to a platter.

Rhubarb-Strawberry Hand Pies

I am the Proud Mama of a grown up rhubarb patch!  I planted it with no idea how to grow rhubarb and little did I know that there are RULES!  

The following spring after the rhubarb crown plant is planted, do not pick any rhubarb.  The following season after that, you may harvest just a very few stalks  (I actually left mine alone year two also, just to make sure it would be healthy).  The third year of growth you may finally take a full harvest - although leave at least one-third of the plant after each harvest to regenerate new growth.  Be sure to cut off any flower stalks that grow! After the last harvest, in early July, allow the plants to grow without picking any more stalks until killed by frost in the fall.  

Do you think I was ready after three years to have some rhubarb?  Oh yes! The very first thing I made were these rhubarb-strawberry hand pies.

Here is my little rhubarb patch. My rhubarb was very happy this year and I and have large bags of cut rhubarb in my freezer from my harvesting so I can continue to enjoy rhubarb sauce or these delicious rhubarb hand pies when the mood strikes.

I found the recipe for the hand pies here but I didn't care for the pastry crust in that recipe when I first made them.  Then I saw a recipe for King Arthur Flour's hand pie crust and gave the hand pies another try and it  was perfection.

I had never made hand pies before.  I love the single serving size and, obviously, being able to eat with your hands. Perfect for big and little boys or girls and picnics in the back yard :)

Feel free to substitute your favorite pie filling if you don't care for rhubarb!

Garden Update ~  Day lily time!  My favorite melon yellow day lily was a gift from a garden forum friend Kim, in Canada who even got all of the necessary horticulture certificates to send it to me years ago.  If you look closely, you can see my rhubarb patch from the other side of the fence :)  Summer's bounty - never ceases to thrill me.

Rhubarb-Strawberry Hand Pies

Strawberry-Rhubarb Hand Pies

Adapted from Bay Area Bites and King Arthur Flour

Printable Recipe

Yield – 8 hand pies

Pastry 

2 cups unbleached flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup cold unsalted butter
1/2 cup cold sour cream

To make the dough: Whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Add the butter, working it in to make a coarse/crumbly mixture. Leave most of the butter in large, pea-sized pieces.

Stir in the sour cream; the dough won't be cohesive. Turn it out onto a floured work surface, and bring it together with a few quick kneads.

Pat the dough into a rough log, and roll it into an 8" x 10" rectangle. Dust both sides of the dough with flour, and starting with a shorter end, fold it in three like a business letter. Flip the dough over, give it a 90° turn on your work surface, and roll it again into an 8" x 10" rectangle. Fold it in three again.

Wrap the dough, and chill for at least 30 minutes before using.

Filling:

2 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered
2 cups rhubarb, washed, trimmed and cut into ½ inch pieces (about 3-4 stalks of rhubarb)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon cornstarch

For Finishing:

1 large egg (whisked with 1 Tablespoon of cold water)
3 tablespoons coarse sugar

In a large, heavy saucepan, combine the strawberries, rhubarb, sugar, honey and cornstarch and stir to mix well. Place over medium heat and cook until thickened and bubbly, stirring frequently, about 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat, cover and chill along with dough until ready to use.

To assemble and bake:

Preheat the oven to 425 F.

Roll the chilled dough into a 14″ x 14″ square, and cut it into 16 squares, about 3 1/2″ each. Cut the centers out of eight of the pieces (I used the tip of a small funnel).

Place generous tablespoons of filling on the remaining 8 squares. Spread the filling out a bit, but leave a good 1/2″ border for sealing the pies. Brush the border with some of the egg wash – or use your finger to spread it around the edge. Place the cut out square over the top and press around the border. Use a fork to crimp and seal.

Brush the top of each pie with egg wash and sprinkle with coarse sanding sugar.

Bake for about 12-15 minutes – depending on your oven – start checking after 10 minutes. Remove with the pies are golden brown on top.