Rhubarb Buttermilk Coffee Cake is a nice breakfast snack or dessert–a light buttermilk coffee cake, delicious served with fruit and coffee!

cake with whipped cream

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Do you have an abundance of fresh rhubarb sitting on the counter or in your garden?

Just in time for summer guests, this Rhubarb Buttermilk Coffee Cake is made with rhubarb, which is dangerously good! So good, you may just want to “test” the center piece and make sure that you like it :)

a piece of rhubarb cake

Rhubarb Buttermilk Coffee Cake

A rhubarb growing season is short, so make all your favorite rhubarb recipes while you can. There’s a nice balance of tart and sweet in each bite in this coffee cake. It reminds me of my mom, who would cross our little creek and walk into the orchard to gather fresh rhubarb.

cake with dab of whipped cream

Why we love this recipe

  • It’s a simple homemade cake that uses summer rhubarb.
  • Delicious for breakfast brunch, snack, or dessert.
  • It tastes great the first day it is made, and it tastes better on the second.

This cake recipe should be in everyone’s repertoire, but if you love peach or cherry or blueberry, then these are great breakfast cakes as well.

a serving of Rhubarb Buttermilk Coffee Cake

Buttermilk Coffee Cake

This recipe is essentially a Buttermilk Coffee Cake, but with the added tartness of rhubarb! And if you love buttermilk, try my old-fashioned Buttermilk Raisin Bran Muffins and Buttermilk Cake with Bacon Maple Glazewoot woot!

taking a bit of Rhubarb Buttermilk Coffee Cake

What is rhubarb?

What is rhubarb, anyway? I’ve always thought it was a fruit, but evidently there’s been quite the discussion about whether it’s a fruit or vegetable.

Rhubarb is the thick leaf stalks (reddish-green) of a cultivated plant of the dock family.

The stalks are long and quite pretty!

Rhubarb

Gather these ingredients

  • Fresh rhubarb
  • Butter
  • Dark brown sugar
  • Buttermilk
  • Eggs
  • Vanilla
  • All purpose flour
  • Baking soda
  • Salt

Topping:

  • Butter
    Cinnamon
    Nuts: we use pecans

how to make buttermilk coffee cake with rhubarb

How do you make Buttermilk Coffee Cake?

  1. Spray a 9×13 inch baking dish and set aside.
  2. In bowl (using electric mixer), add the butter, dark brown sugar, buttermilk, and eggs. Mix until light and fluffy. Add in rhubarb and vanilla.
  3. Add flour, baking soda and salt and mix until just combined. Spread into prepared pan.
  4. In a small bowl, mix together the remaining dark brown sugar, butter, cinnamon, and chopped nuts.
  5. Sprinkle top with the topping mixture.
  6. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

rhubarb cake

It’s tart (doesn’t the rhubarb look like apples?) and sweet at the same time. So good made with dark brown sugar.

One of my favorite rhubarb recipes. It’s delicious for breakfast as well as for dessert.

Happy summer!

buttermilk coffee cake

More rhubarb recipes to try:

More rhubarb recipes: Strawberry Rhubarb Crunch [Barefeet in the Kitchen] and Rhubarb Sherbet [Pint Sized Baker].

cake with whipped cream
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Rhubarb Buttermilk Coffee Cake

Rhubarb Buttermilk Coffee Cake is a nice breakfast snack or dessert--a light buttermilk coffee cake, delicious served with fruit and coffee!
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 55 minutes
Yield: 12
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Ingredients
 

  • 1 ½ cups fresh rhubarb, cut in small pieces
  • ½ cup 1 stick of butter, softened
  • 1 cup dark brown sugar, divided
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • TOPPING: 1 Tbsp. butter
  • ½ tsp. cinnamon
  • ½ cup chopped nuts, I used Trader Joe's candied pecans

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9×13 inch baking dish and set aside.
  • In bowl (using electric mixer), add the butter, ½ cup dark brown sugar, buttermilk, and eggs. Mix until light and fluffy. Add in rhubarb and vanilla.
  • Add flour, baking soda and salt and mix until just combined. Spread into prepared pan.
  • In a small bowl, mix together the remaining ½ cup dark brown sugar, 1 Tbsp. butter, cinnamon, and chopped nuts.
  • Sprinkle top with the topping mixture.
  • Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Notes

Reposted from July 2018.
Cuisine: American
Course: Breakfast
Did you make this recipe?Tag @reluctantentertainer on Instagram and hashtag it #reluctantentertainer!

Rhubarb Buttermilk Coffee Cake