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-Lemonade Layer Cake

Strawberry season is almost here and I know some of you in warmer climates are already buying freshly picked strawberries. Here is a perfect cake for a springtime celebration. I made it for our birthday dinner with family recently and it was delicious! It reminded of the Danish layer cakes that my mother used to buy for a special occasion when I was growing up.  There was no need to make one from scratch as we had such amazing Danish bakeries in my home town. 

The filling for the cake layers is a delicious, fresh strawberry jam that you can make several days ahead and the cake itself is best assembled a day ahead so the frosting and filling have time to firm up in the refrigerator. The frosting is a blend of whipped cream, cream cheese and more freshly chopped strawberries. 

The cake can be baked in either two or four round cake pans.  I used 2 cake pans and cut the cakes in half horizontally.  It helps if you have a very large spatula for this step for separating the layers.  We have this one that we bought for the grill but it does double-duty in the kitchen quite often. It really works well for moving delicate layers of cake!

One important  tip I can offer when making this cake is to read the directions more thoroughly than I did!  I had all of the layers frosted and assembled, up to the point of frosting the sides, when I realized that the strawberry jam was still in the refrigerator. Palm on forehead! I had to separate each frosted layer (again the extra wide spatula to the rescue) and then I spread the jam.  The frosting wasn't even supposed to go in between the layers, just the jam, but I liked it so much with both fillings that I wouldn't make it any other way!

I also wanted to share a cute spring Do-It-Yourself idea I found on Pinterest recently which is succulents planted in a salvaged bird's nest.  I used a robin's nest found in our yard years ago, lined the nest with moss, then added tiny succulents.  I borrowed some moss from a shady rock in our yard and have "Hens and Chicks" succulents growing in the garden so total cost to make this was $0.  I put the planted nest in a small urn to help stabilize it and hold any water leaks.  I've had it growing in the house for almost a month already and it's still doing really well.

Strawberry-Lemonade Layer Cake

Adapted from Southern Living

Printable Recipe

The strawberry jam can be made several days ahead and the entire cake can be assembled a day or two day ahead and keep refrigerated. Refrigerating after frosting the cake also helps the frosting to firm up better for easier slicing. You can also bake and freeze the unfrosted cake layers up to a month in plastic wrap and aluminum foil.

Note:  I used only 2 9" cake pans rather than 4 and then cut those cake layers in half horizontally to make 4 layers

Makes 12 servings

1 cup butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs, separated
3 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon table salt
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Bakers Joy baking spray or shortening for greasing cake pans (I lined the bottom of the cake pans with rounds of parchment paper that I had traced and cut into circles using the bottom of the cake pans as a guide and sprayed with Bakers Joy)

Strawberry-Lemonade Jam (See Below)

Strawberry Frosting (See Below)

Preheat oven to 350°. Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy.  Slowly add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks, 1 at a time, beating after each addition until blended.

Stir together flour and baking powder and salt.  Add to butter mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended. Stir in the lemon zest and juice.

Beat the egg whites in a large bowl at high speed until stiff peaks form. Gently stir one-third of beaten egg whites into the cake batter, then fold in remaining the egg whites. Spoon batter into 4 prepared pans (Bakers Joy or shortening-floured 9-inch round cake pans).

Bake at 350° for 16 to 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. (If you only use 2 cake pans, as I did, you will need need to bake them about 25-30 minutes until the wooden pick comes out clean). Do not over bake.

Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes and then invert on the wire racks to cool completely.

If you used only 2 cake pans, then slice each cake in half horizontally using a long, serrated knife. 

Place the first cake layer on a serving platter, and spread with about 1/2 cup Strawberry-Lemonade Jam, leaving a 1/2-inch border around edges. Spoon  about 1/2 cup of Strawberry Frosting over the jam layer.  Top with second and third cake layers, repeating procedure with filling and frosting between each layer. Top with last cake layer, and spread remaining Strawberry Frosting on top and sides of cake.

Strawberry-Lemonade Jam (can be made several days ahead and refrigerated)

Makes about 1 2/3 cups

2 1/2 cups coarsely chopped fresh strawberries
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons cornstarch

Process strawberries in a blender until smooth.  Press through a wire-mesh strainer into a 3-qt. saucepan, using the back of a spoon to squeeze out juice, discarding pulp. Stir in the sugar.

Whisk together the lemon juice and cornstarch and then gradually whisk that into the strawberry mixture. Bring mixture to a boil over medium heat and cook, whisking constantly, about 1 minute or longer, until thickened. Remove from heat. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes and place plastic wrap directly on warm jam. Chill at least 2 hours or until cold. May be made up to one week ahead and kept refrigerated in an airtight container.

Strawberry Frosting

Makes about 5 cups

1 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, softened
2/3 cup confectioners (powdered) sugar, divided
2/3 cup chopped fresh strawberries
1 drop pink food coloring gel (optional)
2 cups heavy cream
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Beat cream cheese and 1/3 cup confectioners sugar with an electric mixer until smooth.  Add the strawberries and food coloring (if desired) and beat until blended.

Beat the whipping cream and lemon juice at medium speed until foamy, then increase speed to medium-high and slowly add remaining 1/3 cup sugar, beating until stiff peaks form. Fold half of whipped cream mixture into cheese mixture, then fold in remaining whipped cream mixture. Frost cake soon after making.

Lemon Brunch Cake

I first posted this recipe about three years ago but I felt it was time to do a redux as this lemony cake would be a perfect addition to an Easter brunch.  Perfect for any occasion -  any time of year, actually!  The reason I say brunch cake is this cake has the dense texture of a 'muffin' - very moist and crumbly.

It also has the most luxurious lemon flavor as it is soaked in fresh lemon juice hot from the oven.  It stays amazingly moist 3-4 days after baking.  My husband keeps asking me when I'm going to make it again. He loves a slice after breakfast.

A shower of powdered sugar and some fresh berries is all it needs, and, perhaps a cup of tea or mimosa. I used my new Bavaria bundt pan from Nordic Ware.  I love their bake ware and that is a completely unsolicited comment! Given a good spritz of baking spray with flour, cakes always come out beautifully.

It's been a busy time here with more to come! We celebrated the 3rd birthday of our youngest grandson two weeks ago followed by my birthday this past week.  Next week, it will be my hubby's birthday, then Easter, followed by our oldest daughter's birthday a little over a week later.  Fun times!

My sweetheart took me to my favorite French restaurants for my birthday where I enjoy quail for the first time "Cailles Farcies avec Truffe Noire".  I felt like I was in my favorite foodie movie "Babette's Feast" :-)

Soon it will be April and even more reason to celebrate :)

Lemon Brunch Cake

Adapted from lke's Kitchen Printable Recipe Note:  If you use a bundt pan for this recipe, you will find that the batter only fills up the pan by about 1/2 way or so.  That's okay. This is a smaller (shorter) cake.  3 eggs Zest of 2 lemons 14 tablespoons (200 gr) unsalted butter (softened at room temperature) 1-1/4 cups (250 gr) granulated sugar 1 cup (125 gr) unbleached all-purpose flour 1 cup (125 gr) Bob's Red Mill Brown Rice Flour - or substitute corn starch 2 teaspoons baking powder Lemon juice from 2 lemons (about 1/2 cup). 4-5 tablespoons powdered sugar Grease and flour a 9-inch round cake pan or spray with baking spray with flour such as Baker's Joy brand. In a mixing bowl, beat the softened butter with lemon zest for about 30 seconds on medium speed. Add sugar, continue beating until combined. Add the eggs, one at a time and beat until combined. In a small bowl, combine the flour, rice flour and baking powder. Add the flour mixture and mix until it is incorporated and you have a smooth batter. Put the cake in a cold oven, then turn the oven on to 325 degrees. Bake for about one hour or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean (this will depend on the size of the pan you use to be sure to do a toothpick check at least 15 minutes earlier). When done, place a cooling rack upside down over the top of the cake pan and carefully flip over using oven mitts. Place the cooling rack over a large, rimmed baking sheet. Add the lemon juice to the powdered sugar a little at a time so no lumps form and whisk together. Drizzle over the hot cake. Once the cake is cool, you can sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve with fresh berries and enjoy! This cake keeps well, covered with plastic wrap for at least three days.

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.

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Peep Nests!

I get so many recipes by email  - blogs,  news feeds, news feeds linked to other bloggers, Pinterest, etc..  This recipe was one of those news feeds which linked to this lovely blog. I thought the idea was  adorable. Peeps nestled in chocolate nests and surrounded by candy eggs. 

The recipe called for the usual chow mein noodles mixed with chocolate chips and butterscotch or peanut butter chips.  Mmmm, peanut butter chips - that caught my attention. I thought sweet and salty would be a great combination and, since I've done the chow mein noodle nests before, pretzels might be a good nesting choice!  Or wait, remember shoestring potatoes in a big can?  I had to give both a try.

The marshmallow peeps in the first photo were made with shoestring potatoes and the marzipan bird nests were made with thin pretzels? I found both the marzipan birds and super thin pretzels at World Market. The cashier who waited on me said the super thin pretzels always sell out as soon as they get them in. They are good :)

   

Which would taste best? For me, the pretzels won by a very narrow margin. So, if you can't find super thin pretzels, try shoestring potatoes if you also like the idea of sweet and salty together.

To keep chocolate from melting on little fingers, I'll be packing these in cellophane wrapping for Easter gifting to my favorite peeps :)

Happy Easter and Passover, everyone!!

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Nests for Easter

Adapted from Chef in Training Printable Recipe Makes 6 nests 1 cup dark chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli dark chocolate chips) 1 cup peanut butter chips 1 cup thin pretzels crushed or shoestring potatoes crushed Small candy eggs (I used M&M Easter peanut butter eggs) Peeps or Marzipan Chicks Melt chocolate and peanut butter chips together in a microwave, stirring every 30 seconds, until completed melted. Stir in crushed thin pretzel sticks or shoestring potatoes. Spray muffin tins with non-stick spray. (I used non-stick muffin tins and also sprayed them with Baker's Joy) Drop by spoonfuls into a greased muffin tin and mold into nest shapes with a spoon. Place Peeps or marzipan figures and candy eggs in nests while still warm. Refrigerate for at least one hour or more until completely set. Run a very thin knife around the edge of the nests to lift and remove from the tin.  If a piece breaks, you can always melt a little more chocolate to glue it back on.

Lemon Cream Cake

Today is my daughter's birthday and we celebrated with a dinner party for her last night. Her menu requests haven't changed much in the last few years and she always asks for the same birthday cake. Tradition is a good thing :) I hope you are not adverse to using a boxed cake mix because that is what is called for here. I try to look for a brand that contains as many 'natural' ingredients as possible.

This recipe is baked in a tube or fluted bundt pan and I like to stick a tiny vase in the center and add some spring color. It would be pretty with daisies too!

The lemon zest and lemon juice give it light and refreshing taste.

It's a perfect cake for a spring celebration :)




Lemon-Cream Dessert Cake
Printable Recipe

Makes 12 servings

Cake Ingredients

• 1 package (2-layer-size) regular lemon cake mix
• 1 cup water
• 1/3 cup cooking oil
• 3 egg whites
• 2 tablespoons finely shredded lemon peel
• 3 egg yolks
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice

Creamy Lemon Frosting Ingredients (see recipe below)

• 1 cup sifted powdered sugar
• 8-oz package cream cheese (I use "light"), softened
• 8-oz package frozen, whipped dessert topping (I use "light"), thawed. I would think real whipping cream whipped into stiff peaks would also work fine.
• 3.4 oz package instant lemon pudding
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon finely shredded lemon zest

Directions:

1. Grease and flour a 10-inch fluted tube pan; set aside. In a large bowl, beat cake mix, water, cooking oil, and egg whites with an electric mixer on low speed until moistened. Beat the mixture for 2 minutes on high speed. Stir in the lemon peel. Reserve 2 cups of the batter.

2. In a small bowl, beat egg yolks on high speed for 2 minutes. Add reserved batter and lemon juice; beat until mixture is combined.

3. Layer batters alternately in prepared pan, beginning and ending with yolkless batter. Swirl lightly to marble. Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 45 minutes or until wooden pick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely.

4. To assemble cake, cut cake horizontally into three layers. Spread Creamy Lemon Frosting between layers. Frost entire cake with remaining frosting.

Creamy Lemon Frosting:

In a large bowl, beat 1 cup sifted powdered sugar and 1 softened 8-ounce package cream cheese until smooth. Fold in 1 thawed 8-ounce container of frozen whipped dessert topping. In a small bowl, beat 1 package (4-serving -size) instant lemon pudding mix and 1 cup milk for 2 minutes with an electric mixer on low speed; stir in 1 tablespoon finely shredded lemon peel. Fold the pudding into the cream cheese mixture.