strawberries

I love coffee cake.  It’s a guilty pleasure – a little slice of foodie heaven next to a cup of coffee first thing in the morning.  I am so decidedly not a morning person.  It takes a strong Americano in the morning and at least a half hour or so of reading email updates and listserv posts before I’m able to really and truly be functional.  All of this can be made so much better if the coffee is accompanied by breakfast food.  Two weeks ago, I decided I was tired of the temptation to wander down to the nearby coffee shop and buy something (a bagel, a croissant, and so on), and the strawberries and rhubarb were looking so good at the farmer’s market, and I’m a recipe creator now, after all – a food blog writer, I should be able to design my own coffee cake.

Please take note that that was two weeks ago and this recipe is just showing up now.  That’s because I learned a little secret about being a recipe writer: sometimes, you are bound to have an epic fail.  The first coffee cake I made that incorporated strawberries and rhubarb developed a buttery life of its own in the oven.  It gurgled, it oozed and eventually, after much whining on my part, it ended up in the trash, as it was totally and completely inedible.  There was much too much moisture in the fruit.  I’d tried to treat the butter in the crumb like you would in a pie dough (not melted, just made into butter pellets that then melted with great drama in the oven).

That’s the great thing about being a home cook.  If at first you don’t succeed, go back to the drawing board and try again.  This week, I managed to make this picture perfect beauty.  I started by doing some research about the coffee cake crumb – that delectable, sugary, buttery, crunchy topping.  No matter what anyone tells you, be sure to melt your butter first and use an adequate amount of flour in the crumb.  This will actually create a crumb, rather than a butter lake in your oven.  Second, I decided it was time to get on the roasted fruit train and decided to roast my strawberries and rhubarb to reduce the moisture content a little.  Yes – I can now see why roasted strawberries are a thing.  They are soft and melty and lovely.  The rhubarb also takes on a buttery softness and, as I didn’t use much sugar, stays a little tart.  My advice is to either make more of the roasted strawberries and rhubarb than my recipe here calls for or save just a few tablespoons from what you make here and use it in the roasted strawberry rhubarb martini that will be showing up on the blog tomorrow.

Until then, happy mornings.

Roasted Strawberry Rhubarb Coffee Cake
Serves 8-10

Roasted Strawberries and Rhubarb
6 strawberries, hulled and cut in half
1 stalk rhubarb, sliced into ½ inch pieces
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Coffee Cake Crumb
¼ cup butter, melted
¾ cup flour
½ cup packed brown sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon cinnamon

Coffee Cake
¾ cup butter
½ cup sugar
2 eggs
¾ cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 ½ cups flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt

Roasted Strawberries and Rhubarb
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the cut strawberries and rhubarb in a single layer.  Sprinkle with sugar and vanilla.  Roast for 30 minutes, scoop the fruit into a bowl and then set aside to cool.  Once cool, mash gently.

Coffee Cake Crumb

Add all ingredients in a small bowl and mix thoroughly.  The flour should be completed blended.  Set aside.

Coffee Cake

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Cream the butter and the sugar until it is fluffy.  Add the eggs and mix.  Add the sour cream and vanilla and mix again.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  Add the dry ingredient mixture to the wet, about ¼ cup at a time until all is incorporated.

Butter a 9 inch cake pan.  Spoon the coffee cake mixture into the pan.   Spoon the roasted strawberry and rhubarb mix over the top.  Spoon the coffee cake crumb mixture over the fruit.

Bake for 40 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle of the coffee cake comes out clean.

I’m happy to have linked this recipe with Lavender and Lovage and The Hedge Combers for June’s Tea Time Treats challenge.