Emily and My Mom's Rhubarb Coffee Cake

When it's spring and somebody has been through a stressful medical encounter be sure to deliver this rhubarb coffee cake to their home.  It goes well with tea while they are reclining on the couch recovering. Or if you have more rhubarb than you know what to do with and you’ve eaten enough Rhubarb pie, here is a great alternative.

My mom made the best Rhubarb coffee cake when I was a kid. She never could find the recipe. I’ve finally perfected it after many tries. My kids fight over the last piece. I was smarter than my children. I just snuck the last piece as a kid!

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
  
• ½ cup sugar
  
• ½ cup brown sugar
  
• ½ cup canola oil
  
• 2 cups white flour
  
• ½ cup whole wheat flour
  
• 2 tsp cinnamon
  
• 1 tsp baking powder
  
• 1 tsp baking soda
  
• 1 cup buttermilk
  
• 3 to 4 cups on rhubarb
  

Crumble Topping

• ½ stick of butter
  
• ⅔ cup brown sugar
  
• ⅓ cup flour
  
• 1 tsp cinnamon
  

1. In your trusty KitchenAid mixer beat two eggs for 5 minutes. I have learned this trick from the owner of the Flour Bakery in Boston. Beating your eggs for 5 minutes when baking anything is essential. Next put in a ½ cup of sugar and ½ cup of brown sugar slowly while the eggs are still beating. Continue to beat the eggs and sugar on high.
   
2. Mix together two cups of white flour and a half a cup of whole wheat flour, two heaping teaspoons of cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of baking soda, and 1 teaspoon of baking powder. Mix together
   
3. While your KitchenAid mixer is still beating slowly pour in a half a cup of canola oil. This should take a minute. Give the mixture plenty of time to incorporate the oil.
   
4. Change the beater on your kitchenaid mixer from the whip to the other bigger mixer attachment. I have no idea what the name is! But it’s not the wire whisk!!!
   
5. Next on low speed, alternate working in the flour mixture and a cup of buttermilk. After the batter is just mixed fold in 3 to 4 cups of rhubarb depending on how much rhubarb you like.
   
6. Pour batter into greased square pan. If you don't have a pan put it in a pie plate.
   
7. In the same KitchenAid bowl--do not clean! Just scrape clean-- beat a half a stick of butter, a third a cup of flour, 2/3 cup of brown sugar, and another heaping teaspoon of cinnamon. Use a paddle not a whisk. Sprinkle this crummy mixture all over the batter in the pan.
   
8. Bake at 375 for about 35 minutes.