Technically, this is someone else’s recipe from their Oma. But, I had an Oma, and I made some variations to the original recipe, so I am rolling with the “Oma’s Rhubarb Cake” name.

The original recipe that I found for this was very basic. It lacked spices, though it did seem to get a lot of great feedback online, so I decided to use it as my base and make some tweaks to my own personal preference. To be fair, I also didn’t try the original recipe as it was, which may have been delicious in it’s own right. I still found with the tweaks that I made, the flavour of the rhubarb still shines with this cake.

Ingredients

Cake:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup sour cream
• 3 cups diced rhubarb with skin on
• 1 teaspoon cardamom
• 1 teaspoon mace or nutmeg

Streusel Topping:

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, room temperature
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon all spice
• Raw cashews or other nuts

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare a 9″ x 13″ baking dish (grease & flour or line with parchment paper)
2. Beat 2 eggs in a bowl and set aside.
3. Dice the rhubarb with the skin on to 1/4″ – 1/2″ pieces.
4. Mix together the cake batter flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt & spices (cardamom & mace or nutmeg).
5. Add eggs & sour cream and mix until smooth. The batter will be moist but thick. Don’t add any milk or other liquid to thin it.
6. Fold in the rhubarb.
7. Pour into the prepared pan and spread it evenly. Set aside.
8. In a separate bowl, place streusel ingredients together. Using your hands, or a pastry cutter, mix the items until the butter has spread evenly and you can loosely clump the streusel in your hand.
9. Sprinkle small clumps of the streusel mixture evenly over the cake.
10. Bake in the pre-heated oven for approx. 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
11. Let cake cool for a bit before cutting into it. Can cut when warm, but letting it sit will ensure less crumbing of the cake and topping.
12. Enjoy!

NOTES:

1. You can use frozen rhubarb. Let it sit in a strainer to remove some of the excess liquid otherwise the cake ends up too moist.
2. If looking to add more fruit or berries, just reduce the amount of rhubarb to accommodate.
3. You can add seeds or nuts to the streusel as you like. I prefer cashews, but almonds, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, pecans, etc. all work well.
4. Drizzle a little icing for some pizzaz or serve warm with some ice cream.

Photos of the Process

Chit Chat Bit

I love a streusel topped cake! This cake is super easy to whip together if you have company coming. I like the rhubarb because it adds a bit of tartness to the cake, which I found made it a pleasantly sweet, without being super sweet, cake.

It can be dressed up for a dessert after a nice dinner, or it can be cut into smaller squares for easy eating in a lunch or on a picnic. Its a very versatile cake for the occasions it works for.

It is a moist cake, so it is best to enjoy it within a couple days. Any more than 2 and I find the rhubarb makes the cake a little too juiced. It can easily be cut in half and made in a smaller pan. I have not tried freezing it, so I don’t know if it would keep well. I imagine it would be similar to freezing zucchini bread, which is doable, but definitely has a slightly different texture once thawed.

I may also try making it without the streusel (GASP!) for a lighter cake. The main cake doesn’t have a lot of sugar, so it may need a touch more to counteract the lack of the streusel topping. I would also like to play with making it in a round cake pan for a bit of a “fancier” look for when guests come over.

Actually, now that I think about it, the cake without the streusel (GASP again), no extra sugar added, but drizzled with a bit of the “Gran’s Earl Grey Rhubarb Topper” and served with whipping cream or ice cream would be right delectable. I think I will definitely be experimenting with this soon!