Vegan Rhubarb Coffeecake Recipe


Moist and delicious!

My friend made this coffeecake at my bridal shower way back in my “fiance” days. It was amazing. A gift at my bridal shower was a recipe compilation from my friends and family (they each submitted a recipe and a photo of them and it was all combined into an album for me). Included in this lovely book that sits on my cookbook shelf is the same coffeecake recipe, which I veganized and added a crumb layer (adapted from VWAV) on top for more tastiness. This recipe uses a LOT of rhubarb, so if you have an abundance, rejoice, and if you do not, feel free to cut the recipe in half.

I adore rhubarb and spent my childhood eating rhubarb jam and rhubarb bread throughout many summers. My parents had a huge patch of rhubarb in their garden and to me, rhubarb has always been free. I had no idea how expensive it is until I moved west and didn’t have my mom nearby to make me jam and bread. One day I’ll grow it in my yard too, but first I need a yard. Rhubarb, relative of the humble buckwheat, doesn’t need much love to grow in the Pacific NW and it will survive year after year without complaint. Be warned that the leaves are toxic and consume only the stems. The roots have medicinal uses as a laxative. The stems are high in Vitamin C, fiber and calcium. It can also help in reducing risks of cancer, reduce high blood pressure and is an antioxidant. I love it for it’s tart flavor and the fact that it signifies to me that it is spring or summer. My all-time favorite use of rhubarb is in a pie with strawberries, but this recipe is a close second.


Cooling in the pan

Rhubarb Coffeecake
Yields: 12 servings depending on how greedy you are.

Ingredients

  • 1 Tbl flax seeds, ground
  • 3 Tbl water

Crumb topping

  • 1/4 cup ap flour
  • 3 Tbl evaporated cane juice/sugar
  • 1/4 tsp cardamom
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 Tbl canola oil

Cake ingredients, continued

  • 3 Tbl applesauce
  • 2 cups evaporated cane juice (or sugar of choice)
  • 2 Tbl molasses
  • 1 cup canola oil
  • 4 cups rhubarb stems, medium dice
  • 2.5 cups ap flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp cardamom (or not, I love it)

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F and get out your 9×13″ pan or 2 loaf pans.
  2. Whisk together flax meal and water and set aside.
  3. Make crumb topping: Mix flour, sugar and spices in a small bowl and mix together (whisk, fork, fingers) while drizzling oil in. Once it becomes crumb-y, set it aside. It’s possible you may need less or more oil depending on where you live, the age of your flour and the humidity in the air.
  4. In a medium bowl, mix together applesauce, sugar, molasses, oil and flax/water goo.
  5. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and cardamom.
  6. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones and mix until JUST combined.
  7. Fold in rhubarb and pour into pan(s). Top with crumbs.
  8. Bake for one hour or until a knife inserted comes out clean.
  9. Cool on a wire rack and eat.

This coffeecake freezes really well if you make a full batch and don’t want to o.d. on rhubarb. I wrap mine in aluminum foil and freeze and when I’m ready for more, I defrost it in the fridge overnight. It’s really satisfying for breakfast and just remind yourself that rhubarb is a vegetable, so you can start your day off right.

9 Responses to “Vegan Rhubarb Coffeecake Recipe”

  1. tofufreak Says:

    this coffee cake looks awesome!!!

  2. Josiane Says:

    Oh, thanks for sharing this recipe! I *love* rhubarb too, and now I can’t wait for it to be in season again so that I can try this cake!

  3. Elizabeth Says:

    This recipe does look delicious! I will be pointing my “vegan” readers to this one.
    Thankyou for sharing it.

  4. kimmykokonut Says:

    Thanks for the comments. Elizabeth, a lot of my non-vegan friends love this coffeecake as well, so feel free to share it with everyone. It’s really moist and you can use less rhubarb if you want less. But I love dense and moist coffeecakes!

  5. alex Says:

    O.K. …. total ignorance I guess, but I’m looking at this recipe and others and am enthused, ……. but have no idea what you mean when you say “AP flour”.
    Looking forward to making many new recipes but need someone to tell me what AP flour is.
    Do I come back to this particular recipe site, or will there be a reply to my email address.
    Thanks in advance

  6. kimmykokonut Says:

    AP Flour is all-purpose flour. It is a blend of flours and the protein level is somewhere in the middle in the range of flours. Do not use bread flour as the gluten content is too high and will make the cake too tough. Feel free to use pastry flour, I really like the whole wheat pastry flour that Bob’s Red Mill makes. You can use whole wheat flour if you want but the texture will change a little.

  7. Barbara Brenkworth Says:

    I’m wondering whether you peel the rhubarb? I have some other recipes which call for peeling – this recipe did not say. I am not familiar with cooking rhubarb and just got a batch as part of a CSA delivery I picked up today and am trying to figure out how to cook it! I don’t know enough to assume whether it needs to be peeled. Help!

  8. kimmykokonut Says:

    I never peel rhubarb. If it is quite stringy you can peel it like you would celery but since you are slicing the rhubarb I wouldn’t bother. Let me know how it comes out!

  9. Greta Says:

    Hi, I was reading your post and I just wanted to say thank you for putting out such excellent content. There is so much crap on the internet these days its difficult to find anything worthwhile. I actually have cooked this recipe before, I got this book last month on recommendation from a friend http://ninjahq.com/go/cookingrecipes and it turned out very nice! I’m extremely eager to try your variation of it though, it looks fantastic. I think you might enjoy those recipes, they’re very good. Thanks for the article and tips.

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