Strawberry Rhubarb Coffee Cake
This coffee cake filled with the classic strawberry-rhubarb combo and topped with a crispy crumb topping is a perfect springtime treat!
One of my favorite signs of spring is the shoots of rhubarb that pop out of the ground in my backyard every March. It means winter is over! And more importantly, that I can bake all the strawberry-rhubarb things again. The fruity sweet + tart flavors is one of my favorite combinations and I just can’t get enough this time of year.
This coffee cake has a simple vanilla cake base, a filling of strawberries, rhubarb and lemon zest, and a buttery crumble topping. I’m not ashamed to admit I enjoyed slices with breakfast, lunch, and dinner for a few days.
Told you I was obsessed!
baking tip:How to prevent cake from sticking to the pan
There are few baking failures as frustrating as a cake that sticks to the pan! Here’s how you make sure your cakes come out clean every time:
- Line the bottoms of cake pans with parchment paper. You can trace and cut circles from sheets of parchment, or use pre-cut rounds.
- Grease with a baking-specific nonstick spray that contains flour (such as Baker’s Joy) OR grease pan completely with butter, then dust with flour.
- While I don’t like non-stick pans for traditional cakes (they tend to over-brown the edges), non-stick pans are great for other recipes like bundt cakes, cupcakes, loaf cakes, etc.
Other strawberry rhubarb recipes
In case you’re obsessed like me…
- strawberry rhubarb crumb bars
- strawberry rhubarb pie
- strawberry rhubarb stuffed french toast
- strawberry rhubarb meringue tartlets
- strawberry, raspberry and rhubarb crisp
- mini strawberry, rhubarb and pecan hand pies
- strawberry rhubarb upside-down cake
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Strawberry Rhubarb Coffee Cake
Ingredients
Cake:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (240 grams)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick, 113 grams), softened to room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar (200 grams)
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup buttermilk (125 ml)
Strawberry-rhubarb filling:
- 2 cups sliced strawberries (334 grams)
- 2 cups sliced rhubarb (275 grams)
- Zest of 1 lemon
Crumb topping:
- ½ cup light or dark brown sugar (105 grams)
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour (30 grams)
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter (42 grams), melted
Instructions
Make the cake:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-inch springform pan with a non-stick baking spray that contains butter, or butter and dust with flour.
- Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and set aside.
- With an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and creamy.
- Add eggs one at a time, mixing after each.
- Add vanilla extract and butter milk and mix until smooth.
- Add flour mixture and mix just until incorporated. Do not overmix.
- Spread batter evenly into the prepared pan.
Make the filling:
- Toss the strawberries, rhubarb, and lemon zest together.
- Place in an even layer over the cake batter, leaving about a 1/2 inch border around the edges.
Make the crumb topping and bake cake:
- Combine the sugar, flour, and melted butter with a fork until combined.
- Drop in medium-sized chunks on top of the fruit filling.
- Bake cake until crumb topping is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out with only a few moist crumbs, about 35-40 minutes. The center of the cake should also bounce back when gently pressed.
- Let cool in the pan 15 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the cake and remove sides of springform pan. Let cool completely before serving.
Love this sharing!
Does this coffee cake freeze well
Yes it does!
Made this today with the fresh strawberries I picked. It was fantastic. Only question I have is how to store it.
It’s June of 2024, & I was hoping to make this recipe,
but there are no comments or corrections posted after 6/2 (& those are all over the place)! Can you please clarify the best pan size, ingredient amounts, & baking time? I usually go by the weight of the main ingredients, but I’ll use measuring cups if the conversions are a problem. I usually compare recipes with the King Arthur Flour weight charts, which are very reliable.
Just made this recipe and there are a few things off about it. First, there is way too much fruit called for (four cups.) I used about 1 1/2 cups total of chopped rhubarb and strawberries instead. Second, the baking time is wrong. It needed way more than 35 minutes. The topping is also not right, as others noted. Needed more flour to sugar/butter ratio. This recipe def needs updating. Disappointing.
Lots wrong with this recipe- The topping doesn’t have enough flour to soak up the butter, so you have a puddle of melted butter in the middle of your cake. Also, way way too much filling- which makes it impossible to check to see if it is done cooking. Even after 50 minutes in the oven the cake was raw in the middle, which made it “uneatable”- Pretty picture but not a good recipe-
I ended up using 2% milk instead of buttermilk. Not out of preference but because I was out. It still turned out amazing!
I made this recipe yesterday with fresh strawberries and rhubarb from my garden. I followed it verbatim, other than I baked it 10 minutes longer and used gluten free flour.
The middle does look soupy when pulled out of the oven, but it thickens up beautifully after 30 minutes of cooling down. I served this to seven of my friends and they ALL asked for the recipes. I read all the negative reviews on this, so wanted to share how well this recipe worked for me. I will make it again.
Hi Stephanie! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave this feedback. And I’m so happy to hear you had success with this recipe, and that using GF flour worked well!
Made this cake and it didn’t cook properly! I don’t understand I’m supposed to put 4 cups of strawberries and rhubarb on top of a cake and cook it for 35 min? On the picture it doesn’t seem like the same amount at all!! It took more than an hour to cook and the center is still very soggy! I won’t be able to serve this and I waisted 4 cups of good fruits 🙁 very disappointed.
SORRY. it was a disaster. maybe it was supposed to call for only one cup each of fruit?? the crumb topping stayed clumped. the middle was WET. had to cut it out and put it in the oven on its own so as not to waste it all. the cake around the edge was getting well done but had a nice flavor.
I bake alot. wondered about the amount of fruit but still went for it. my mistake