Strawberry Rhubarb Coffee Cake
First, I have to confess, this is not my recipe. I snapped a photo of the recipe from a cookbook and forgot to write down the book title. It’s from a chapter called, “Seasons.” That’s all I know. Oops. This is an easy, impressive coffee cake - pretty and with less sugar. (I have swapped out the flour with gluten-free flour mix and it works well.)
ingredients
3 cups unbleached flour, spooned & leveled
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup ripe strawberries, rough chopped
1 cup rhubarb, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
12 Tbsp unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks) softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup buttermilk
Edible flowers and powdered sugar for garnish (optional)
directions
Preheat oven to 350°. Butter a 12-cup bundt pan.
In large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients and set aside.
In a separate bowl, toss cut fruit with 1/4 cup of the flour mixture.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine butter and sugars and mix on medium speed using the paddle attachment until smooth and pale (about 5-8 minutes). Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing until fully incorporated after each. Then add vanilla and mix for 1 minute. Scrape down sides of bowl with a rubber spatula and mix for 30 more seconds.
Remove bowl from mixer and using a wooden spoon alternately add the flour mixture and the buttermilk to the batter. Mix until just combined after each. Make sure flour is fully combined. Gently fold in fruit and then spoon batter into the prepared bundt pan. (It should be about 2/3rd full.)
Bake on the center rack until the top is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean, for 1 1/2 hours. (May need to adjust cooking time according to oven. I ended up taking it out at about 55 minutes when I used the gluten-free flour mix.)
Let the cake cool in the pan for 45 minutes. Run a knife along the edges of the pan to loosen an invert onto a serving plate. Dust with powdered sugar and add a few edible flours.
yield
1 Bundt cake, or a dozen generous slices.
