Rhubarb Streusel Cake

Okay. So it has been awhile. I've found myself content with my existing supply of recipes (my own and others'). Rhubarb cake awoke a wish for an old family stand-by, which we called "rhubarb cake" (imaginative, non?) but which is a rhubarb streusel cake and could, in some parts of the world, be better described as a "pudding." This was my aunt Catherine's staple spring cake. It is alternately too tart, too gooey, too sweet, and too cakey in a way that comes together deliciously.

1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup rice flour
1/2 cup potato starch
1/4 cup tapioca starch
1/4 cup amaranth flour
1/4 cup soy flour
3/4 tsp xanthan gum
1 slightly rounded tsp soda
1/2 tsp salt

1 cup buttermilk
2 cups chopped rhubarb

Topping:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup melted butter

Grease a 9x13" pan and preheat the oven to 350F.

Cream butter and sugar for one minute. Add eggs and vanilla and beat for one minute more at medium speed on an electric mixer.

Pour in well-whisked-to-combine dry ingredients. Also pour in buttermilk. Beat well for at least one full minute, until the batter is silky smooth and sticky in the annoying way that gluten-free batter gets sticky and rides up the beaters. Fold in rhubarb.

Spread batter evenly in the prepared pan. Mix topping ingredients and sprinkle them over the top in small streuselly dollops. Bake for about 45 minutes, until the centre tests done with a toothpick.

Apple or Rhubarb Crisp II

Here is my favourite gluten-free apple/rhubarb crisp topping with oatmeal, based on my Scottish grandmother's recipe. If you don't have access to pure, uncontaminated oatmeal, use the oatmeal-based version of the recipe in the last post, Apple or Rhubarb Crisp I.

4 cups fruit, peeled and sliced
1/4 cup arrowroot flour or tapioca starch
1/2 to 1 cup sugar (1/2 for apple, 1 for rhubarb)
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Gluten-Free Topping:
1/4 cup fine dry gluten-free bread crumbs
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup tapioca starch
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup melted butter

Combine sliced fruit, white sugar, 1/4 cup arrowroot flour, cinnamon, and water. Pour into a 9” square pan. Combine bread crumbs, brown rice, tapioca starch, brown sugar, oatmeal, and melted butter in a small bowl. Mix well and crumble over the fruit in the pan. Pat down lightly. Bake at 375 F for 40 minutes. Serve hot with vanilla ice cream.

Apple or Rhubarb Crisp I

My grandmother's spring rhubarb crisp and autumn apple crisp were notable for their crispy topping with almost as much butter as oatmeal! Her crisp also contained more flour than oats, and so is slightly harder to replicate as a gluten-free concoction. The following recipe captures some of the buttery, sugary crunch, but if you have access to pure, uncontaminated oatmeal, use the oatmeal-based version of the recipe in the next post, Apple or Rhubarb Crisp II.

4 cups fruit, peeled and sliced
1/4 cup arrowroot flour or tapioca starch
1/2 to 1 cup sugar (1/2 for apple, 1 for rhubarb)
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Gluten-Free Topping:
1 cup fine dry gluten-free bread crumbs
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut
1/4 cup finely chopped pecans
1/4 cup sliced or slivered almonds
a few drops almond extract
1/2 cup melted butter

Combine sliced fruit, white sugar, 1/4 cup arrowroot flour, cinnamon, and water. Pour into a 9” square pan. Combine bread crumbs, brown sugar, coconut, pecans, almonds, almond extract, and melted butter in a small bowl. Mix well and crumble over the fruit in the pan. Pat down lightly. Bake at 375 F for 40 minutes. Serve hot with vanilla ice cream.

Variations:
* Add 1/2 cup blueberries or cranberries to either rhubarb or apple mixture.
* Sprinkle apples with 1/2 tsp lemon zest and 1 to 2 tbsp lemon juice for a tangy apple crisp.