Rhubarb Raspberry Crumb Cake

Soft sour cream cake topped with raspberries, rhubarb compote, and a buttery streusel, this Rhubarb Raspberry Crumb Cake is the perfect spring brunch cake.

Prep Time45

Cook Time1

Cooling20

Total Time2 5

Course: Afternoon Kaffee, Breakfast

Cuisine: American, German

Keyword: crumb cake, Raspberry, rhubarb, Streusel

Servings:

Calories: 351kcal

Equipment

9" x 9" square metal pan

Ingredients

Rhubarb Compote

500 grams rhubarb forced pink rhubarb *see notes for alternatives
50 grams granulated sugar
100 grams water

Streusel

60 grams salted butter soft
60 grams granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
90 grams all purpose flour

Vanilla Cake

150 grams granulated sugar
1 lemon zested
200 grams all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
150 grams salted butter soft
100 grams sour cream
3 eggs large, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
250 grams raspberries fresh or frozen

Instructions

Rhubarb Compote

Rinse and chop the ends off of the rhubarb stalks. Chop the rhubarb into 1″ chunks and add them into a medium pot.
Pour in the sugar and then add in the water.
Place over medium low heat and cover with a lid. Cook covered for about 5 minutes or until the mixture starts to bubble. The lid on will keep the rhubarb from burning.
Once it starts to bubble, remove the lid and continue to cook, for about 10 minutes until you are left with a thick syrupy type of sauce.
Pour the compote into a large shallow bowl and leave to cool to room temperature. Use same day or store covered in the fridge until you’re ready to use it.

Streusel

In a medium bowl add in the soft butter, sugar, salt and vanilla. Use a fork to stir together until smooth.
Pour in the flour and use the fork to rub the flour into the butter mixture until fully combined.

Cake Batter

Preheat the oven to 350 F and place a rack in the center.
In a medium bowl add in the sugar and lemon zest, rub the zest into sugar until fragrant. Then add in the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and whisk to combine.
Add in the butter, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla.
Use a mixer to mix the ingredients first on medium low until 90% combined.
Use a flat rubber spatula scrape the bottom and edges of the bowl and finish mixing the wet and dry ingredients together.
If not using a non-stick pan, spray the cake pan with your baking spray and line with a rectangle of parchment that is 15" x 8" from one side to another. Pour in the cake batter.
Smooth out the cake with a rubber spatula.

Assemble and Bake

Pour the fresh or frozen raspberries over the surface of the cake in an even layer. Feel free to press them in slightly to the cake.
Then spoon the cooled rhubarb compote over the raspberries and spread it into an even layer.
Clump the streusel and sprinkle it over the fruit layer.
Place the cake into the preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes. Rotate the cake 180 degrees and bake for 30 more minutes.
The cake will be done when the streusel is golden brown and the cake only has a very slight or no wobble.
Once baked, remove from the oven and leave to cool for at least 15-20 minutes on a wire rack. Run a knife along the edge between the cake and the pan. Then either lift the cake out with the parchment or slice the cake while it's still in the pan.

Notes

Tips for making Rhubarb Raspberry Crumb Cake

If you don’t have access to rhubarb I recommend cooking down a mixture of peaches and raspberries. White peaches are ideal and start with about half the sugar. Alternatively using just raspberries will work too!
If you don’t have forced rhubarb aka the super pink one, I would make this compote. It includes raspberries to create that beautiful pink color!
Make sure all the ingredients are at room temperature - this will help get a smooth and fluffy cake batter.
I recommend using this 9"x9" square pan from USA pan because it's non-stick, and the sides are nice and tall. If you want to be able to lift the whole cake out, I recommend adding in a rectangle of brown parchment paper that reaches from one side to the other to use as a sort of sling.
This cake can be difficult to tell when it is finished baking, but you'll know it's done when the streusel on the edges is golden brown and there isn't MUCH of a wobble left on the cake. It's ok if it still wobbles a little bit though.
Let the cake cool for at least 15-20 minutes before slicing and serving.

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