Comments on: big crumb coffee cake

By: Barb Chamberlain

Barb Chamberlain — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 22:18:53 +0000

Found this looking for the recipe I made from Molly Katzen’s “Sunshine Cafe” recipe book I used to own. I freeze rhubarb like crazy when it’s in season so I can make crisps and coffee cake in the winter.

Like some of the other commenters, I did a little substitution in the crumb topping. I love oatmeal and chopped walnuts walnuts in my crumb topping so I swapped some of that in place of the flour. I also used rice flour instead of wheat flour in the crumb topping because I accidentally ended up with a big bunch of it and need to use it up, and I figured it would be less “floury” in flavor, per some of the comments about that being a bit much. In future I might use one of my other favorite crumb topping ingredients, ground flaxseed; it provides some nutrients I need as a vegetarian and adds a nice nuttiness.

I used whole wheat pastry flour for the cake; I routinely make that substitution.

I doubled the recipe and baked it in a 9×12 pan but ended up with more than enough crumb topping; next time I would increase that only to 1-1/2 times the quantities provided.

I also had to bake it far longer than specified–I think I ended up at 1 hr. 10 min. I got impatient and goosed the temp. to 350 degrees for the last 10, then turned the oven off and let it sit another 10 minutes on top of that. I frequently have this problem with coffee cakes that have a wet fruit element.

I just ate a piece and it was great! Thumbs-up from my husband, too.

By: Jeffery

Jeffery — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 09:48:00 +0000

I wanted to know if you can use persimmon in this recipe? Well I’m going to try it and I’ll let you know how it came out.

By: Rilla

Rilla — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 00:28:16 +0000

This is my first time commenting on your lovely blog (which is crazy considering you are my go to food blog and I have made countless of your recipes, never to be disappointed)…but I had to chime in on this because I made a seasonally appropriate variation on this today that is divine. I am pregnant and craving anything with pumpkin, so I substituted the sour cream and two TB of the butter with pureed pumpkin. And then I added a bit of 1/2 tea of cinnamon and 1/4 of ginger to the batter. It is moist and so delicious. I plan to make this again Thanksgiving weekend with the leftover cranberry sauce as someone suggested. YUM!

By: Carla

Carla — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 20:37:34 +0000

I was very excited to find this recipe as I love rhubarb and my boys love a thick crumb topping. I doubled the recipe and after, eating my first piece, I had to go back to see if I had put in the right amount of rhubarb. I had. I can barely taste the rhubarb! Next time I’ll quadruple instead of double the rhubarb filling. It needs more liquid in my opinion. I substituted Greek yoghurt for the sour cream but that shouldn’t have made a difference. Too floury for our tastes. Otherwise, the cake flavor was good and the crumble was great. I love the gingery flavor, not too strong, just right. I’m thinking of an apple/rhubarb filling or a strawberry/rhubarb filling for the future. Thanks for posting this recipe.

By: Daisy

Daisy — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 08:37:19 +0000

Just made this with blueberries, instead of rhubarb, and some flaked almonds in the crumb topping. It is delicious!

By: sally

sally — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 21:37:29 +0000

I was very excited to try this recipe as I’ve been looking for just such a cake. It was a failure!! Where did I go wrong? I followed the recipe exactly (maybe used a tad less rhubarb because I ran out). The cake portion was ok, but the rhubarb did not take on much of the sugar and was bitter and the crumb topping – while nice and big – felt too oily and flavourless in the mouth. Overall it was sort of boring.

By: Kelley

Kelley — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 01:07:39 +0000

This is the most SPECTACULAR coffee cake we’ve ever enjoyed! WOW! (And I do not say that lightly!) Our daughter was looking for a sweet treat to make for her Dad’s birthday this weekend. (Being he is working 5pm-5am for the next month, she wanted a treat he can enjoy with his coffee before work…as it IS breakfast time for him!) So with a little supervising from me, Brianna worked her way through the recipe, sans rhubarb…we had none on hand.

This was an easy recipe for a 13 yr old to make and it is not too sweet. The crumb topping was absolutely perfect! Our only complaint was the need to double the whole recipe next time! :) Dad enjoyed his coffee cake when he woke up this evening and just loves his new birthday treat! This recipe has already been added to our recipe box and I promised the family I’d bake another batch tomorrow. If you are reading this note and haven’t baked it yet, put the computer down and get baking! The only regret you’ll have is not baking this sooner! Thanks Deb!!

By: Shelly

Shelly — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 18:17:26 +0000

I keep getting rhubarb in my CSA bag so I’m always looking for new ways to use it. This looks amazing! I don’t have any ginger and I don’t have a mixer but I have everything else I need to make this cake TODAY! Woot!

Love your recipes SK. And the photos that go along with them are gorgeous. I find myself hitting your blog first to search for recipes when I have an ingredient that needs using. You always amaze me with the delicious stuff you come up with. :)

By: Danielle

Danielle — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 03:43:38 +0000

I lust after this cake a couple times a month. I will click on your search box and type in rhubarb cake. I want it, I need it, and I’m not sure why I haven’t made it yet. Maybe the ridiculousness of my obsession with said cake has made me nervous to screw it up. Who knows but I think this is the very last time I will look it up. I will make it. So excited! Wish me luck.

By: deb

deb — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 02:14:28 +0000

Coffee cake is a type of cake.