Rhubarb Almond Crumb Cake

By • May 8, 2012 • 30 Comments


Author Notes: Pretty pink slices of rhubarb suspended in a dense, moist, golden cake. Have a little slice for breakfast with a spoonful of crème fraîche. Or serve it up for dessert, alone or next to a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. The batter is versatile enough to work with most any fruit. If you make it with a sweeter fruit, consider reducing the amount of granulated sugar in the batter.Bob Vivant

Food52 Review: WHO: Bob Vivant is a writer from Chicago.
WHAT: A crumb cake that celebrates the season.
HOW: Mix together your wet ingredients, add the dry, top with almond-y crumbs, and bake.
WHY WE LOVE IT: This is an any-time-of-day cake -- it's perfect for breakfast, brunch, snack, dessert, and anything in between. We can see ourselves adapting it to whatever fruit's in season -- and keeping this recipe in our back pocket for when guests drop by.
A&M

Serves 8 to 10

THE CRUMB

  • 2 tablespoons white whole wheat flour (or all purpose)
  • 2 tablespoons slivered almonds
  • 2 tablespoons rolled oats
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

THE CAKE

  • Butter for greasing the pan
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 1/4 cup white whole wheat flour (or all-purpose)
  • 1 1/2 cup rhubarb, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
  1. Heat the oven to 350°F. Butter the bottom and sides of an 8-inch, deep, fluted tart pan or an 8-inch round cake pan.
  2. For the crumb, combine the dry ingredients in a small bowl. Using a fork or your fingers, gently work in the butter until pea-sized lumps are formed.
  3. Combine the eggs, sugar, salt, and almond extract in a large bowl. Beat on high until the mixture 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.
  4. Bake for 60 to 75 minutes, until the topping is deeply golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove the cake from the pan when it’s completely cool.
  • This recipe is a Wildcard Contest Winner!
  • This recipe is a Community Pick!

Comments (30) Questions (2)

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about 18 hours ago DebJ

Just made this cake with blueberries and strawberries (what I had in the house) and it's delicious. This is a wonderful recipe I will use over and over again.

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2 days ago Debra Rohrbacher Ledsham

It was delicious, but as I was checking to see if I added everything I realized there was no baking powder or soda. I added some baking powder. I don't know if it would have turned out ok without it or not (maybe it would have since there were no comments to the contrary) I did halve the sugar and added more rhubarb. Lovely with Bird's custard.

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3 days ago skooj

I made this morning and must confess that when it comes to crumb or streusel toppings...I always double it! I can't help it. Really, I can't. Anyway, this cake is wonderful...even with the extra crumb weighing it down and perhaps keeping it from rising as it should. A keeper recipe.

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5 days ago Michelle de Lima

Delicious cake. The brown sugar crumb makes a nice crisp topping. This recipe works well gluten-free, with a combination of almond, rice and tapioca flours. Our rhubarb is so fresh and abundant right now that I couldn't resist adding an extra 1/2 cup. Even with the added rhubarb and reducing the sugar by 1/4 cup, the cake was a bit too sweet for my taste, so I'll probably reduce it more next time. There will definitely be a next time.

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6 days ago Emily_JK

Any-time cake indeed! It's so delicious and very hard to stop eating...

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8 days ago PaigeP

I made this yesterday for a pot luck - EVERYBODY loved it! I am going to make 2 more this week to take to friends - and will add a bit more rhubarb. I didn't have almond extract so I used vanilla instead. I can't wait to try the cake with the almond to see which way I like best - I have a feeling I'm going to like both ways!

Stringio

8 days ago Natalie J. Vandenberghe

I'm sure you're right. I actually did use almond extract, but I know it would be great with vanilla, also. What a find!

Stringio

8 days ago Natalie J. Vandenberghe

I made this delicious cake today with rhubarb fresh from our garden. The cake was perfect! It tasted so good that I ate two pieces!

Stringio

9 days ago Barbara MacEachern

I grow my own rhubarb so this looks like a good recipe to try.

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10 days ago Lisakb

I would say you could substitute another type of berry for the rhubarb. Just be sure to start with less sugar because berries are sweeter.
All purpose flour is white, but you can choose an unbleached, and/ or organic white flour. It's also okay to sub part white whole wheat or whole wheat pastry flour in most recipes. The King Arthur Flour site has directions for doing that.

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10 days ago catnip

What could you substitute for the rhubarb? The cake part sounds wonderful but I am not a fan of rhubarb.

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10 days ago nonniedb

Does all purpose refer to white or whole wheat flour?

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10 days ago smosann

Delicious, pretty, and easy to prepare (followed the recipe as written). A winner. Glad to have a new recipe to celebrate rhubarb season.

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10 days ago loubaby

My husband loves Rhubarb....going to make this and take the suggestion below with adding more to the batter...looks fabulous. Thanks

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10 days ago Lisakb

You had me at rhubarb!

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12 days ago bottomupfood

P.S. Adding creme fraiche to a dessert does not make it a breakfast food!

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12 days ago bottomupfood

This is a good recipe. It's easy to follow, and the texture of the cake is great - quite chewy. But it is much too sweet, and I couldn't taste the rhubarb much at all. If you like rhubarb, try reducing the sugar to 3/4 of a cup and increasing the rhubarb to 2 1/2 cups.

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13 days ago scott_nickerson

I made this cake this morning and it turned out great. Couldn't help doing a very New Zealand thing though and added some desiccated coconut to the crumble topping sort of ANZAC biscuit style.

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13 days ago Sarah Fioritto

This looks great. I just made a strawberry almond crumb cake last weekend. Maybe this weekend I'll try combining aspects of both recipes.
http://www.strawberryplum...

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14 days ago musicwoman77

Can't wait to try this! Looks yummy

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14 days ago fiveandspice

Emily is a trusted source on Scandinavian Cuisine.

I've been looking for rhubarb crumb cakes! This one looks wonderful. Congratulations!