Rhubarb Crunch Cake
Last week we received one of the great Springtime gifts - a big bag of rhubarb.
Not lucky enough to have any growing in my yard, I was thrilled to receive it. I cleaned and diced up the rhubarb, placing most of it in bags in 2 c. portions to freeze for later use. I kept one bag out and started looking for a good recipe.
Martin wrote this word on his very own and is showing it to you, if you know what I mean.
Through most of my usual venues (see right sidebar for links) and found lots of sweet and tasty pies, tortes and sauces. I kept thinking about cake-like rhubarb desserts I've had in the past, and didn't find any recipes that seemed close. I remember receiving a fax from my mom probably about ten years ago with a few recipes from her stash, but couldn't find it in my mess of things anywhere. So, I went to my stack of old cookbooks - collections of old-style recipes from churches, nursing homes, and clubs. I don't think any of the cookbooks have dates on them, but if I had to guess, I'd say that most of the recipes are at least 40-50 years old.
In the old cookbooks, I found probably ten different recipes for different kinds of rhubarb cakes. I decided to start with one from the St. James Parish Cookbook from Jacob's Prairie, MN. The recipe was submitted by Mrs. Albert Karls and followed the format of many of the recipes of this kind - some ingredients are a mystery (is sour milk the same as buttermilk?), some are missing amounts (cinnamon? how much cinnamon?), and almost always contain ingredients listed in the directions instead of in the list of ingredients at the beginning.
I made some changes to the recipe to substitute soy milk for the dairy, changed the topping directions, adding cooking spray to the pan, and omitted the caramel-like sauce on the top. I haven't made the original recipe, but I'm sure it would be delicious. The result of the modified recipe was not exactly what I had imagined, but delicious anyway and good for those people who like some crunch to their desserts. Marty said it was the best dessert ever (cooking and baking for him is so easy), Martin said I am a Top Chef, and Sophie relayed the following:
Sophie: I like cherries in my cake.
Me: Well, there aren't any cherries in this one.
Sophie: Oh. Heh heh.
I'm assuming that's a positive review. Two cups of rhubarb down, eight to go.
Note: This cake is not this color, but it does look like that when sitting in a dimly lit area of my kitchen, which is what is actually represented here.
And Mrs. Albert Karls? In the very rare event that if you're still with us AND searching for your own name on Google AND you stumble upon this recipe... thanks. I greatly appreciate your recipe.
And Martin appreciates it too because rhubarb without sugar and other goodness tastes something like this.
Print it: Rhubarb Crunch Cake
Not lucky enough to have any growing in my yard, I was thrilled to receive it. I cleaned and diced up the rhubarb, placing most of it in bags in 2 c. portions to freeze for later use. I kept one bag out and started looking for a good recipe.
Martin wrote this word on his very own and is showing it to you, if you know what I mean.
Through most of my usual venues (see right sidebar for links) and found lots of sweet and tasty pies, tortes and sauces. I kept thinking about cake-like rhubarb desserts I've had in the past, and didn't find any recipes that seemed close. I remember receiving a fax from my mom probably about ten years ago with a few recipes from her stash, but couldn't find it in my mess of things anywhere. So, I went to my stack of old cookbooks - collections of old-style recipes from churches, nursing homes, and clubs. I don't think any of the cookbooks have dates on them, but if I had to guess, I'd say that most of the recipes are at least 40-50 years old.
In the old cookbooks, I found probably ten different recipes for different kinds of rhubarb cakes. I decided to start with one from the St. James Parish Cookbook from Jacob's Prairie, MN. The recipe was submitted by Mrs. Albert Karls and followed the format of many of the recipes of this kind - some ingredients are a mystery (is sour milk the same as buttermilk?), some are missing amounts (cinnamon? how much cinnamon?), and almost always contain ingredients listed in the directions instead of in the list of ingredients at the beginning.
I made some changes to the recipe to substitute soy milk for the dairy, changed the topping directions, adding cooking spray to the pan, and omitted the caramel-like sauce on the top. I haven't made the original recipe, but I'm sure it would be delicious. The result of the modified recipe was not exactly what I had imagined, but delicious anyway and good for those people who like some crunch to their desserts. Marty said it was the best dessert ever (cooking and baking for him is so easy), Martin said I am a Top Chef, and Sophie relayed the following:
Sophie: I like cherries in my cake.
Me: Well, there aren't any cherries in this one.
Sophie: Oh. Heh heh.
I'm assuming that's a positive review. Two cups of rhubarb down, eight to go.
Note: This cake is not this color, but it does look like that when sitting in a dimly lit area of my kitchen, which is what is actually represented here.
And Mrs. Albert Karls? In the very rare event that if you're still with us AND searching for your own name on Google AND you stumble upon this recipe... thanks. I greatly appreciate your recipe.
And Martin appreciates it too because rhubarb without sugar and other goodness tastes something like this.
Print it: Rhubarb Crunch Cake
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