It took me almost eight months to make this recipe. It took less than two seconds to regret waiting that long. Let this serve as a warning–it doesn’t have to happen to you.
This is the Big Crumb Coffee Cake of my dreams, and oh, I have dreamed about this for a very long time–like, 15 years, I’m afraid to say. It dates back to the bakery where I worked in high school that used to fill a sheet tray with gorgeous, cinnamon and brown-sugar clustered buttery crumbs, spread a thin layer of cake doughnut batter over it and, once baked, flip it out onto a tray where it was showered with an avalanche of powdered sugar. The proportions were perfect every time: one-third cake to two-thirds of the kind of rubble that were impossible to walk by without pulling off a piece of crater-leaving telltale sign. Not that I would do a thing like that. Of course not. But I sure did think about it. Honestly, I still do.
I haven’t found an acceptable substitution since, and please do not even waste my time with these so-called excuses for crumb coffee cakes from the Seinfeld-hoarding Drakes to Entenmann’s. I don’t even want their thin, small and barely-adhered crumbs near my Big Crumb Coffee Cake, lest their mediocrity smudge its splendor: a tangy, impossibly moist, vanilla-flavored cake base ceilinged with hefty crumbs that will make all streusels that came before pale in contrast.
Oh, and rhubarb–or the reason it took me eight months to make this. Before I knew it, the rhubarb were gone from the store last summer and I was stuck waiting until this year’s rhubarb season, which is still months away. I tapped my feet. I marked my calendar. I pondered alternative fillings, ones I think you will enjoy as well, but I really wanted rhubarb. Then last week I saw some at the store–not even great-looking ones, mind you–and I snapped. I had Melissa Clark’s Rhubarb Big Crumb Coffee Cake in front of me in a matter of hours, and even though it is gone–foisted on coworkers and friends and anyone who promised to get it out of my arms reach–I can still smell it. I can still taste it.
I miss it so.
Rhubarb Big Crumb Coffee Cake
Not rhubarb season? This cake would be amazing with a blueberry, raspberry, sour cherry or any other tangy fruit filling you can think of. Simply adjust the sugar level accordingly. No cake flour? All-purpose flour worked just fine for me here. Something new! My Big Apple Crumb Cake, a fuss-free (no cake flour, no half eggs) one-bowl you might find even more delightful.- 1/2 pound (225 grams) rhubarb, trimmed and sliced 1/2-inch thick
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) sugar
- 2 teaspoons (15 grams) cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/3 cup (65 grams) dark brown sugar
- 1/3 cup (65 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup (4 ounces or 115 grams) butter, melted
- 1 3/4 cups (225 grams) cake flour
- 1/3 cup (80 grams) sour cream
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 teaspoons (10 ml) vanilla extract
- 1 cup (130 grams) cake flour
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 6 tablespoons (85 grams) softened butter, cut into 8 pieces.
Filling
Crumbs
Cake
Make the filling: Toss rhubarb with sugar, cornstarch and ginger, and set aside.
Make the crumbs: In a large bowl, whisk sugars, spices and salt into melted butter until smooth. Then, add flour with a spatula or wooden spoon. The mixture will be very stiff, like a dough. Press it into the bottom of the bowl and set is aside.
Make the cake: In a small bowl, stir together the sour cream, egg, egg yolk and vanilla. With an electric mixer on low speed, combine together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. 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 and beat in thoroughly, then scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Scoop out about 1/2 cup batter and set it aside.
Assemble cake: Scrape remaining batter into prepared pan. Spoon rhubarb over batter. Dollop set-aside batter over rhubarb; it does not have to be even.
Use your fingers to break the 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), 45 to 55 minutes. Cool completely before serving.
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