Rhubarb Crumble Cake
Ribbons of tart jammy rhubarb and buttery orange streusel with warm spices and soft magnolia whipped cream. Simple, beautiful, and so delicious.
Servings: 1 loaf cake
Equipment
- 9x5 inch loaf pan
- Stand mixer + paddle or electric beaters
Ingredients
Rhubarb compote:
- 10 ounces (~3 cups) fresh rhubarb chopped
- ½ cup brown sugar
- juice of 1/2 orange about ¼ cup
Streusel:
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup all purpose flour
- zest of 1 orange
- 2 ounces (¼ cup) unsalted butter cold, diced
Cake:
- 8 ounces (1 cup) unsalted butter soft, room temperature
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- ¼ cup almond flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon grounder ginger powder or magnolia powder
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 cup sour cream or full fat plain Greek yogurt
- juice of 1/2 orange about ¼ cup
Magnolia whipped cream (optional):
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon magnolia syrup or sub 2 Tbsp sugar
- ½ teaspoon powdered magnolia petals or sub ground ginger
Instructions
For the compote:
- Prep: First, zest the orange and put the zest aside for use in the streusel. Wash the 10 oz of rhubarb and chop into rough pieces. Juice the orange.
- Make the compote: Cook chopped rhubarb, ½ cup brown sugar, and half of the fresh orange juice in a large saucepan over medium heat. Simmer mixture, stirring frequently, until rhubarb completely breaks down, about 10 minutes.Pour into a bowl and set aside to cool completely.
For the streusel:
- Mix: In a medium bowl, stir together ½ cup sugar, ¼ tsp salt, ¾ cup flour, and the orange zest you set aside. Add 2 oz cold diced butter and blend it in using your fingers or a pastry blender until the mixture is moistened and crumbly with small pieces of butter remaining.
For the cake:
- Prep: Generously butter a 9x5 inch loaf pan and line the bottom and 2 sides with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350° F.
- Cream the butter & sugar: In a large mixing bowl, cream together the 8 oz softened butter, ¾ cup sugar, and 1 tsp salt until light, pale, and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition, then mix in the 1 tsp vanilla extract.
- Mix dry ingredients: In a separate bowl, whisk together the 2 cups flour, ¼ cup almond flour, 2 tsp baking powder, ½ tsp baking soda, 1 tsp ginger and ½ tsp cardamom.
- Alternate wet & dry: Add ½ of the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and blend in lightly. Then, mix in 1 cup sour cream + the remaining orange juice, blending until almost combined. Add the rest of the dry ingredients, mixing just until combined. Be careful not to overmix.
- Layer: Spread about ⅓ of the cake batter into the prepared loaf pan. Spoon about ⅓ cup of the rhubarb compote over the batter in small dollops, avoiding touching the sides of the pan (exposed rhubarb can burn if touching the pan). Then lightly sprinkle a few tablespoons of the streusel mixture over top.Add another ⅓ of the batter and gently spread it out as best you can (it's thick!), followed by another layer of rhubarb compote and another light sprinkling of streusel. Finish with the remaining batter, smoothing the top gently, then sprinkle all remaining streusel evenly over the top of the loaf.Note: There will be extra rhubarb compote - save this for serving!
- Bake: Bake the cake until the streusel is golden and a digital thermometer inserted into the center reads 180° F. Move to a cooling rack and allow the cake to cool completely.
For the magnolia cream:
- Whip: Use electric beaters or a stand mixer with the whisk attachment to whip ¾ cup heavy cream with 1 Tbsp magnolia syrup and ½ tsp magnolia powder until soft peaks form.Serve slices of cake with a dollop of whipped cream and extra rhubarb compote.
Notes
Find recipe for magnolia syrup here, and instructions for making magnolia powder here. There are plenty of tips and substitution ideas in the blog post above!