Coffee cake is a simple cake characterized by its streusel topping. While it is typically served alongside a cup of coffee, a fine cup of tea is lovely to enjoy with this type of cake, too. Today, I am sharing my recipe for Rhubarb Sour Cream Coffee Cake.
This cake, apart from the rhubarb, is made with, what I consider to be, standard pantry baking supplies. I recommend using fresh rhubarb versus frozen in this cake because frozen rhubarb typically contains a lot of excess moisture that can result in a dense, wet cake.
While all of my recipes undergo a rigorous regime of multiple testings before being published, this Rhubarb Sour Cream Coffee Cake has (pun intended) taken the cake on that front! Suffice it to say, we’ve eaten many iterations of this recipe getting to the point of publication.
I started out using, what I discovered was, far too much rhubarb. Rhubarb, as I am sure you know, has a lot of water content and, when it is used in baked products, it releases that water and as it bakes and softens, creates wet spots in the cake. We can simply say the cake from that testing was, well, overly moist! So, through testings (plural) I landed at 6 ounces of rhubarb as a suitable amount for this cake.
I also tried folding the rhubarb into the batter but found that the weight of the rhubarb against the light cake batter was too heavy for the batter to support it and the rhubarb sunk to the bottom. By this time, you’re probably wondering why I just didn’t give up! But, I wasn’t going to let rhubarb get the best of me and I knew the cake had good flavor and overall texture so I soldiered on with more testing.
I found the best method was to spread half the cake batter in the pan then sprinkle a modest amount (i.e., 6 oz) of rhubarb on top followed by the remaining batter. Success! The rhubarb stayed where I wanted it to, in the middle of the cake.
For those of you who are on a gluten-free diet, I experimented with gluten free flour for the cake and, using Gluten-free 1-to-1 Baking Flour, the cake turned out just lovely. So, if you wish to make this Rhubarb Sour Cream Coffee Cake gluten free, substitute an equal amount of a Gluten-free 1-to-1 or Cup-for-Cup Baking Flour for the all-purpose flour called for in the recipe. And, of course, ensure that all other ingredients are indeed gluten-free.
In order for the ingredients to blend well together, it’s really important that the ingredients all be at room temperature so, before beginning to make the cake, take the butter, eggs, sour cream, and milk out of the fridge and have them at room temperature for about 30 minutes (the butter could benefit from being at room temperature longer to help it cream better)
I recommend making the streusel topping first so it is ready when called for in the recipe. Pop it into the refrigerator to keep the butter in it cold until the cake is ready to go into the oven.
This cake is moderately spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice but it is not what I would consider a spice cake. Rhubarb and citrus are great companions so I add a tablespoon of finely grated orange zest. A microplane is ideal for this or the really fine grater side of a box grater will work, too.
The addition of sour cream to the batter is what gives this cake its lovely moist and tender crumb. As such I recommend full fat sour cream be used. While full fat plain Greek yogurt could be substituted, I offer no other substitutes for the sour cream in this cake. Do not sour milk with lemon juice or vinegar for this recipe. That will not make sour cream which is very thick so this would not be a suitable substitution as it will thin the batter too much and make it difficult to support the heavy rhubarb. My advice is, if the cake is worth making, use the ingredients called for in the recipe for success as those are the ones the cake has been tested with and are known to produce good results.
Apart from contributing to a beautiful textured cake, sour cream performs several other functions in this recipe. First, it is the acidic product that will activate the sour cream and help the cake to rise. Second, because sour cream has a thick consistency that somewhat replicates the cake batter, it doesn’t thin the batter (like using all milk, or milk soured with vinegar or lemon juice, for example, would), leaving it too weak and runny to rise properly and to support the heavy rhubarb. Third, sour cream, because of its high fat content, adds richness to the cake.
Do not over mix or over beat the batter as that will stir up the gluten in the flour and can be the cause of a tough textured cake.
In my oven, this cake bakes well for 50-54 minutes; however, as I have stated before, use the baking times as a guideline only as every oven bakes somewhat differently. You may wish to start checking the cake for doneness around the 45-48 minute mark, especially if you know your oven runs a bit hot. The true test of doneness will be when a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean and the cake is no longer jiggly in the center when given a gentle jerk.
Rhubarb Sour Cream Coffee Cake
Cake Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1¾ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp allspice
½ cup butter, softened at room temperature
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
2 large eggs, room temperature
½ cup full fat sour cream, room temperature
1 tbsp finely grated orange rind
1½ tsp pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup whole milk, room temperature
6 oz chopped rhubarb (chopped into ¼” – 1/3“ pieces)
Streusel Topping Ingredients:
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup brown sugar
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
Pinch salt
¼ cup cold butter
¼ cup chopped pecans
Method for Streusel Topping:
In small bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, salt, and spices together. Using a small pastry cutter, cut in the butter until it is about the size of peas. Stir in chopped pecans. Refrigerate until topping is called for in recipe below.
Method for Cake:
Bring the butter, eggs, sour cream, and milk to room temperature.
Position oven rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 350°F.
Line 9”x9” square pan with parchment paper and spray lightly with cooking spray.
Whisk dry ingredients together in bowl and set aside.
Chop rhubarb into ¼” – 1/3” pieces.
In bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat softened butter at medium-high speed until creamy then gradually add the sugars and beat, at medium speed, until well blended, about 1 – 2 minutes, stopping to scrape sides of bowl with a silicone spatula as and if necessary. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the sour cream, vanilla, and orange rind until blended into batter. Scrape down sides of bowl if necessary.
On low speed, add the dry ingredients to the batter in three additions alternately with the milk, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Once the dry ingredients have been incorporated, beat batter on medium low for an additional 20 seconds, no more.
Transfer half the batter to the prepared pan and smooth with knife or offset spatula. Sprinkle rhubarb over batter then dollop remaining batter on top of rhubarb and gently smooth batter evenly with a knife or offset spatula.
Sprinkle streusel mixture evenly on top of batter and transfer cake to oven. Bake for approximately 50-54 minutes, or until cake tester inserted into center of cake comes out clean and center of cake is no longer jiggly when pan is gently moved.
Let cake cool in pan on wire rack for about 35-40 minutes before cutting and serving. Cut into desired size serving pieces. Cake may be served warm or at room temperature.
Yield: 9 generous slices
Rhubarb Sour Cream Coffee Cake
Ingredients
Cake Ingredients:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1¾ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- ¼ tsp allspice
- ½ cup butter, softened at room temperature
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- ½ cup full fat sour cream, room temperature
- 1 tbsp finely grated orange rind
- 1½ tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup whole milk, room temperature
- 6 oz chopped rhubarb (chopped into ¼” – 1/3“ pieces)
Streusel Topping Ingredients:
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- Pinch salt
- ¼ cup cold butter
- ¼ cup chopped pecans
Instructions
Method for Streusel Topping:
- In small bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, salt, and spices together. Using a small pastry cutter, cut in the butter until it is about the size of peas. Stir in chopped pecans. Refrigerate until topping is called for in recipe below.
Method for Cake:
- Bring the butter, eggs, sour cream, and milk to room temperature.
- Position oven rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 350°F.
- Line 9”x9” square pan with parchment paper and spray lightly with cooking spray.
- Whisk dry ingredients together in bowl and set aside.
- Chop rhubarb into ¼” - 1/3” pieces.
- In bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat softened butter at medium-high speed until creamy then gradually add the sugars and beat, at medium speed, until well blended, about 1 – 2 minutes, stopping to scrape sides of bowl with a silicone spatula as and if necessary. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the sour cream, vanilla, and orange rind until blended into batter. Scrape down sides of bowl if necessary.
- On low speed, add the dry ingredients to the batter in three additions alternately with the milk, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Once the dry ingredients have been incorporated, beat batter on medium low for an additional 20 seconds, no more.
- Transfer half the batter to the prepared pan and smooth with knife or offset spatula. Sprinkle rhubarb over batter then dollop remaining batter on top of rhubarb and gently smooth batter evenly with a knife or offset spatula.
- Sprinkle streusel mixture evenly on top of batter and transfer cake to oven. Bake for approximately 50-54 minutes, or until cake tester inserted into center of cake comes out clean and center of cake is no longer jiggly when pan is gently moved.
- Let cake cool in pan on wire rack for about 35-40 minutes before cutting and serving. Cut into desired size serving pieces. Cake may be served warm or at room temperature.
Recipe Notes
Yield: 9 generous slices
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Note1: In the recipe developer's oven, this cake bakes well for 50-54 minutes; however, use the baking times given as a guideline only as every oven bakes somewhat differently. You may wish to start checking the cake for doneness around the 45-48 minute mark, especially if you know your oven runs a bit hot. The true test of doneness will be when a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean and the cake is no longer jiggly in the center when given a gentle jerk.
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