My mom’s rhubarb cake is an old-fashioned dessert that is an easy and delicious spring treat!
Rhubarb does not get the attention that it deserves. Rhubarb is not as common as it once was. It used to be a fairly common ingredient for people to have in their home gardens.
My parents have had a huge rhubarb patch for years. If you see my mom in the spring, she is probably going to offer you some rhubarb.
What is rhubarb?
Rhubarb is technically a vegetable, although most people probably call it a fruit.
It is a long stalky vegetable. It can be eaten raw, but most people don’t. It is much better cooked.
Rhubarb is crunchy and tart. When cooked it softens, but maintains it’s tartness. Rhubarb is often paired with strawberries, like in strawberry rhubarb pie, to help the tartness and enhance the flavor.
The leaves of rhubarb are poisonous.
Rhubarb freezes well. My mom almost always has some in her freezer so that she can make rhubarb pie and cake all year long. You just slice it up and freeze it.
Rhubarb was always one of the first signs of spring when I was growing up. When the rhubarb started growing we knew spring, gardening season, and better weather was on the way.
These pictures of rhubarb were taken years ago by my dad. My parents have had their rhubarb patch for over forty years.
Pretty Amazing and beautiful, isn’t it?!
I have tried to grow rhubarb in Oklahoma and it has not survived. It didn’t like the heat. It grows well in Oregon and in other northern U.S. climates.
Rhubarb In Recipes
Over the years, Mom has made more rhubarb desserts than I can count, but the cake I am sharing today has always been my favorite.
It is the only way I will eat rhubarb. I am not a fan of rhubarb, but give me a piece of this cake, and I am happy. Well, I do like these rhubarb muffins too.
My husband loves rhubarb, and if it is anywhere near rhubarb season when we visit my family, my mom always tries to make rhubarb cake for my husband.
I am guessing rhubarb cake is probably not on the top of your list of recipes to try right now. In fact, I would guess many of you have never even had rhubarb, but this cake really is worth trying. If you have a rhubarb patch in your garden or come across some at your local store, please give this a try.
This recipe was passed to my mom from a family friend and it needs to be passed on to others.
This is one of those old fashioned simple desserts that should not be lost. You know this is an old recipe when it calls for sour milk and stirring by hand. (I give other options below in case none of you have sour milk sitting around.)
And this must be made by hand. It really does turn out better mixed by hand with a wooden spoon instead of a mixer. The old fashioned way just like our grandmas and great grandmas used to do.
Now I am curious how many of you have tried rhubarb before? If you have eaten it, do you have a favorite rhubarb dessert?
Mom's Rhubarb Cake
My mom's rhubarb cake is a simple and delicious old fashioned dessert!
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 2/3 cup oil
- 1 cup buttermilk (or sour milk by using 1 cup milk and add 1 teaspoon of vinegar and let sit for a few minutes to sour)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups finely diced rhubarb
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts ( optional, but really good)
Topping
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoon butter, melted
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325.
- In a large bowl combine flour, baking soda, salt, brown sugar, egg, oil, sour milk, and vanilla. Mix by hand until well combined.
- Stir in diced rhubarb and walnuts.
- Spread into a greased 9x13 pan.
- In a small bowl combine topping ingredients and sprinkle over cake batter.
- Bake for 35 minutes.
- Serve warm or room temperature.
Notes
Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 Gluten Free Flour Blend can be used for a gluten free version.
If you do not have buttermilk you can sour milk by using 1 cup milk and add 1 teaspoon of vinegar and let sit for a few minutes to sour.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
15Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 274Total Fat: 13gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 13mgSodium: 267mgCarbohydrates: 36gFiber: 1gSugar: 19gProtein: 4g
Originally posted in April 2013. Updated 2024.
Hi Lynn,
I have followed your blog for about 2 years now and make quite a few of your wonderful recipes. I love your blog but have never taken the time to email you and tell you that. Well today I saw your recipe for Rhubarb Cake and I knew I had to stop and take the time to tell you I LOVE rhubarb. My dad always had it in our garden when I was a kid and my mom would make rhubarb pie, rhubarb crisp, and rhubarb sauce. To this day I still enjoy rhubarb so much and my family does too, so I am going to make your Rhubarb Cake recipe as soon as I can find rhubarb at a local produce stand. I live in the country so that will not be difficult to do! Thank you for sharing all the fabulous recipes and keep it coming! I receive many many posts in my inbox daily and I can’t read them all, but I almost always make time to read yours—I enjoy your creativity and the way you take ordinary ingredients and come up with something so yummy and unique.
Thank you so much for your kind comment. I am so glad you enjoy my site and recipes. Thank you for reading! I am so glad I shared this recipe. I hope you enjoy it!
What is the ingredients for the topping mix? I am sorry I don’t see it listed anywhere
We love rhubarb! My grandparents had a patch in their yard that we enjoyed every spring.
Oh that cake sounds delicious!! This is the time of year I love using rhubarb in recipes, but my rhubarb is still buried under snow! 🙁 I think I still have some of the freezer though, might have to give this recipe a try! My favorite thing to make with rhubarb is cinnamon-streusel topped rhubarb muffins.
We had rhubarb in our yard when I was growing up in Portland, OR. My mom used to make Rhubarb-Strawberry pie. She used it for other things too, but I’ve now forgotten. I can’t rememember actually liking any of it, including the pie. But I don’t like cooked fruit so I susupect that was more the reason than the rhubarb. Your cake does sound yummy – I may have to see if the TX grocery stores have any rhubarb!
I LOVE rhubarb & in fact just picked some today! I’m trying to decide what to do with it for the first recipe of the season. Rhubarb freezes really well. So I clean it, chop it up, and then freeze in the portion size that I need for my favorite rhubarb recipes! Nothing so lovely as having rhubarb cake in the middle of the winter! LOVE!
I have eaten and LOVED rhubarb since I was too young to remember! This cake sounds deliciously close to the recipe my mom uses for her version! I just moved to a new home in Oregon that doesn’t have a garden and the first thing I’m going to get is some of my mom’s rhubarb plants! Then I’m going to try to locate some wild plum bushes and get a few of those going as well! Living in Oregon, you MUST have tried wild plum jam…?
I love and miss plum jam and jelly. It is so good!
I was so excited to see that you posted a rhubarb recipe, thank you! We really enjoy rhubarb, pie and crisp is what we usually make with it but I’m always on the look out for new ways to use it.
i love rhubarb cake!! i haven’t had any this year, but hope to soon.
We love rhubarb too — and your mom’s recipe is very similar to my mom and grandma’s recipe. Love it! Our rhubarb is just starting to poke out of the ground… can’t wait for it to grow. If you haven’t tried blueberry & rhubarb together, you should do so, you’ll enjoy it.
I agree, rhubarb and blueberry is an excellent combination. My family really enjoys rhubarb blueberry crisp. I don’t know why rhubarb is always paired with strawberries, I like it with blueberries better.
My families favorite is strawberry rhubarb jam. We love rhubarb, but do not have any plants. We usually get it from a neighbor, but I’m sure your mom will share with us if I ask. Thanks for the great recipes.
Thank you for posting the beautiful pictures of rhubarb growing in the early spring. I remember as a kid, my favourite way to eat it was directly pulled from the garden, slightly peeled and salted. Thank you again for posting.
From Mississauga Ontario
I had to come back and tell you that we loved this cake! I made this dessert for my parents and after the first bite my mom asked for the recipe 🙂 Thank you!
I am so glad you enjoyed it. I will be sure to let my mom know.
Wow! A trip down memory lane. I grew up with rhubarb always in the garden and never really cared for it – not a fan of rhubarb pie at all. But I forgot all about this recipe. I remember too that it was the only rendition of rhubarb dessert I did enjoy. Now I’ll check this summer if there is any rhubarb still growing behind our house! Thanks for the reminder …….
I cannot see the topping ingredients anywhere.Am I missing something?
I am so sorry that the topping was missing. I am updating all my recipes to a new format and I recently updated my rhubarb cake. When I did I left out the toppings and didn’t realize it. I just fixed it so that the topping recipe is there. Again I am so sorry! I hope that you enjoy the cake.