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This rhubarb cake is truly one of our favorites.
It’s incredibly easy to make with a handful of ingredients that you likely have on hand. It comes out moist and full of tart rhubarb flavor.
It’s rhubarb season and this fruit (yes, it’s a fruit!) is making appearances in everything from pies to muffins! This recipe for rhubarb cake showcases its unique color and flavor in a lightly sweetened, fluffy cake that’s perfect as a quick snack or dessert.
You’ll LOVE This Cake Because…
- It’s so moist and delicious that it requires no frosting.
- This rhubarb cake recipe is super easy to make.
- It’s made with ingredients you likely have on hand, along with some rhubarb stalks.
- It freezes well, so it can be made ahead of time.
Ingredients for Rhubarb Cake
- Rhubarb – Choose ripe and firm red stalks. Rinse the stalks thoroughly and chop them into even pieces. If you don’t have enough rhubarb to equal 3 cups, add sliced strawberries or chopped apples. You can use frozen rhubarb in this recipe too.
- Flour – All-purpose flour is the base of this cake, it hasn’t been tested with other varities.
- Butter – Use unsalted butter. If using salted butter, skip the salt in the recipe.
- Lemon – Fresh lemon adds flavor and also reacts with the soda to make the cake light and fluffy (so it cannot be left out). If you’d like zest the lemon and add 1 teaspoon of lemon zest to the cake.
- Other – Use large eggs and granulated sugar.
How to Make Rhubarb Cake
This is a delicious and sweet way to enjoy a harvest of rhubarb.
- Whisk dry ingredients together in a large bowl and wet ingredients in a medium bowl.
- Toss the rhubarb in the dry mixture.
- Combine the wet and dry ingredients (recipe below). Pour the cake batter into the prepared baking dish or cake pan.
- Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and bake.
If you’d like, this cake is great with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, a sprinkle of powdered sugar, or whipped cream.
Storing Rhubarb Cake
Keep rhubarb cake covered at room temperature for up to 3 days. Freeze leftover portions by wrapping them tightly in plastic wrap and storing them in zippered bags for up to 10 weeks.
More Rhubarb Recipes
Did you make this Rhubarb Cake? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!
Rhubarb Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup milk
- ½ cup unsalted butter melted
- 1 ½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 3 cups chopped fresh rhubarb chopped
Topping
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×13-inch baking pan and set aside.
- Whisk flour, salt, & baking soda in a large bowl. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine sugar, milk, melted butter, lemon juice, and vanilla. Stir in the egg.
- Add the rhubarb to the flour mixture and gently mix.
- Combine the wet and dry ingredients and stir with a spoon until well combined.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Combine the sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle on top of the batter.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool and serve with ice cream.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Cake, Dessert
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
This cake is amazing, did not know what to expect. So moist, delicious. again another super easy recipe
Excellent & moist, super easy to make – you won’t be disappointed!
The flavor was great, but I could barely find any rhubarb even though I used the full amount . Do you think I might have chopped it too small, so it melted into the cake? It tasted like a cinnamon coffee cake with subtle tartness
It could be that, or it could be the rhubarb you used. Some rhubarb is more mild than others.
excellent. we love rhubarb and this recipe was wonderful addition to our dessert menu
So good! I needed a recipe that didn’t have sour cream because I didn’t have any at the time and was trying to find something I could use up some rhubarb without running to the store. This is one of my new favorites and so simple!! Thank you!
Made the recipe exactly as written and it came out great. Thank you! It’s a keeper and can be whipped up quickly for a last minute dessert, or a coffee cake for a brunch.
Shelley, so glad you loved it! It really is the perfect quick dessert or sweet brunch treat. Thanks for the kind words
could this be baked in a bundt pan?
I have never tried baking this recipe in a bundt pan but I would love to hear how it turns out for you!