Remember when my backyard rhubarb was barely poking its head up through the ground? I was happy to see the first signs of spring, sure, and new life unfurling is always inspiring, yada yada, but really? I was excited because I was already thinking about this cake.
It’s sweet and light, with barely-tart shards of rhubarb nestled in every bite. It’s topped with a crystallized ginger crumb that gives it a bit of a coffee cake appearance, which lets you get away with serving it for breakfast. (I’ve never understood why topping a sugary cake with MORE sugar makes it into breakfast fare, but I’m not complaining.) It’s a family favorite.
This recipe comes from Rustic Fruit Desserts, a book by Portland baker Julie Richardson and chef Cory Schreiber. If you don’t have it already, you might want to run out and get it right now. I know I’ll be using my copy all summer.
Rhubarb Cake with Crystalized Ginger Crumb: Make the crumb first by mixing 1/3 c. sugar, 1/4 c. all-purpose flour, 1/4 c. finely chopped candied ginger, and 2 Tb. melted butter. Place in the freezer while you make the rest of the cake. Thinly slice 1 lb. rhubarb and set aside. Cream 3/4 c. room-temperature butter with 1 c. sugar on medium-high speed for 3-5 minutes, until light and creamy, then add 2 room-temperature eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each. Meanwhile, whisk 1 3/4 c. flour with 1 tsp. baking powder, 1 tsp. dried ginger, 1/2 tsp. baking soda, and 1/2 tsp. salt. Add these dry ingredients and 3/4 c. room-temperature buttermilk to the butter/sugar/eggs as follows: mix on low speed while alternating additions of the dry ingredients in three parts and the buttermilk in two parts (so you start and end with the dry ingredients). Fold in the sliced rhubarb. Scoop into a buttered pan (I usually use a 7×11″ rectangular pan, but this photo shows a cake made in a 9″ springform pan), top with ginger crumb, and bake at 350 until the cake is lightly golden and firm on top. This takes 45-50 minutes in my 7×11 pan, but nearly an hour in the 9″ round pan (and in the round pan I had to cover the edges with tinfoil to keep them from darkening too much for the last 10 minutes).
Emmy Cooks 
I might be able to manage just eating the crumb topping.
Or just the crystallized ginger! :)
Mercy but you’ve been busy. And it all looks SO beautiful.
I have been busy! This was a cake I volunteered to make for a fundraiser for my daughter’s school–so of course I had to make one for us as well, and then the next day I had to visit the neighbors to hand out the remains of it so I would stop eating cake. Busy! :)
Your neighbors must love you. :-)
That looks so good! I’m worried, though, because I haven’t seen any rhubarb at our markets this year. Wonder what’s up with that?
Good question! It’s worth tracking it down for this cake. It grows like a weed in Seattle, which doesn’t quite make up for the fact that I will never be able to ripen a full-sized tomato in my garden. :)
Looks awesome! Funny I was baking with rhubarb today too! :)
‘Tis the season!
Oh yummy! Can’t wait to try this! I think we have rhubarb now? Need to run out to the market and see . . .
I hope you found some! But even if you didn’t, I always like an excuse to go shopping for produce, so hopefully you had a good time. :)
Wow, looks amazing. I have some rhubarb in the freezer to use up before my new stuff pops up in the garden, too.
I did too! That’s how I ended up making this rhubarb jam: https://emmycooks.com/2012/03/26/rhubarb-and-brown-sugar-jam/ I’m not sure how frozen rhubarb would hold up in this cake (it might be too wet), but let me know if you try it! I would love to be able to make this cake year-round.
I usually let it strain for a bit, but I’ve only used it in a crumble, not a cake.
I’ll be making this soon. I started Rhubarb Season 2012 with the NYT’s rhubarb caramel sauce. This seems like a good second act. By the way, I tried the kale salad rubbed with salt. Revelatory! I had tried the raw kale salad at Skillet, and felt like I was being held prisoner at a raw foodist restaurant. Interesting, but wouldn’t it be a nicer salad if the kale weren’t raw? The salt rub gets me over that hurdle. Thanks
Dear Mercer Mom, You are so daring! I am too scared to make anything with “caramel” in the name. But maybe we could arrange an exchange (or potluck!) of rhubarb treats? Because that SOUNDS pretty darn good. I’m glad you liked the salty kale salad but sorry that you didn’t like the one at Skillet, I LOVE IT. I guess you’ll have to make do with the bacon jam burger (?!) instead. xo, emmycooks
Lovely, I’m always looking for new rhubarb recipes that don’t get mixed up with either strawberries or raspberries. And as luck would have it I have some crystallized ginger to use up! I’m bookmarking this one, thanks for it!
I do like rhubarb with berries, but I also love it by itself, and this cake is probably my favorite thing to bake with it. Enjoy!
You had me at crystallized ginger. And rhubarb. :) Lovely post!
Next spring I’ll be watching for YOUR amazing pastry-chef-created rhubarb recipes! :)
You’re leaving large shoes to fill, ec :) but it’ll be fun trying!
Love the crystallized ginger in this recipe! Emmy this looks completely delicious, and a great use of all our Northwest spring rhubarb. :)
I looove rhubarb! This is beautiful :D
Rhubarb! It really is the best, and I love the look of this cake. I can see it in my future.