Dorie Greenspan's Perfection Pound Cake

I will admit it, my bedtime reading of choice as of late is cookbooks.  Good cookbooks.  Cookbooks that drag you in and you come out five pounds heavier and dreamy-eyed.  Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan is one of those cookbooks.   While I didn't get on board quick enough to join the TWD craze, I'm sure that I could easily make something different from this book every week on my own without hesitation (oh dear, I may have created a monster!).  I've been reading this beautifully written and photographed cookbook over and over for months now and have finally decided to stop reading and start baking!  With fresh Valley strawberries now available, what better to start with than a pound cake.  Dorie's Perfection Pound Cake is just that, perfection.

Perfection Pound Cake

Adapted from Baking:  From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

2 1/4 cup cake/pastry flour (or 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour)

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature

1 cup white sugar

4 large eggs at room temperature

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

In KitchenAid (or with large bowl and hand mixer) beat butter and sugar together for at least 5 minutes using paddle attachment on med-high speed, it should get quite light and fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating 2 minutes between each egg addition on medium speed.  Remove bowl from mixer, add in vanilla and go grab your rubber spatula.  In another bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt and give it a quick whisk to combine.  Add the dry ingredients all at once to the butter/sugar/egg/vanilla mixture and fold in until no dry flour remains, but not much more.  Scrape the batter into a buttered loaf pan (I use a large 9 x 5") and bake it sitting on another baking sheet on the middle rack of an oven preheated to 325 degrees for 75 minutes (putting it on the other baking sheets helps protect the bottom from browning too much).  After 45 minutes loosely tent the cake with foil so that it doesn't brown too much on top.  Let cool in pan for 20 to 30 minutes and then run knife gently around it and remove from pan, and let cool completely on wire rack before wrapping in plastic wrap.

I've heard that this cake stays fresh at least 4 days and up to week (left on counter), we haven't been able to test that though :) It was hard enough saving some for the next day when it indeed had an even better texture and flavour.

If you love to bake, you need to own this cookbook!

Wordless Wednesday - Cheers to Summer!

Bacon Jam & Havarti Puffs for Food Network Canada's June Cooking Club Challenge

This month's Food Network Canada's Cooking Club Challenge was inspired by Top Chef Canada and President's Choice.  There was an online vote and 5 President's Choice products were chosen and our entry had to include at least one of the selected ingredients.  I've incorporated two of the picks into my original recipe (PC Butter Puff Pastry & PC 100% Pure Maple Syrup) and also used another great new PC product, their PC Naturally Smoked Bacon - Double Smoked Dry Cured Thick Cut.

Bacon Jam has been haunting my dreams for months now.  I came upon a recipe online which inspired me to do another search and lo and behold, Bacon Jam is everywhere!  Knowing how much we love sweet & salty in our house, I was certain that if I could balance the two just so that it would a hit.  It has since been dubbed 'Brown Gold' by my husband :)  My version of Bacon Jam is sweeter than most and has less heat than many.

If you have a jar of Bacon Jam in your fridge, you can whip up these insanely good treats in no time flat, thanks to PC Butter Puff Pastry!  Use the rest of your jam on baguette, burgers, and spoons :)

My Bacon Jam & Havarti Puffs
Makes 16 Puffs

1/2 package (1 sheet) PC Butter Puff Pastry
100g Havarti cheese, shredded.
1/3 cup of Bacon Jam  (recipe below)

Using a thawed roll of puff pastry (follow steps on package), unroll and cut into 16 even square portions.  Lightly press each square into a mini-muffin pan.  In each tart put approximately 2 tsp of shredded havarti and 3/4 tsp of bacon jam.  Bake on middle rack of a preheated 400 degree oven for 13-15 minutes or until golden brown.  Serve warm or room temperature.

My Bacon Jam

1 pound (500g pkg) PC Naturally Double Smoked Bacon
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup lightly packed brown sugar (light)
1 cup freshly brewed coffee
1/4 cup PC 100% Pure Maple Syrup
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
2-5 drops of Tabasco sauce (more or less to taste)
1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Using kitchen scissors, cut bacon into 1/2 inch pieces and put into large cold Dutch oven or large pot.   Over medium heat, cook bacon until a lot of the fat has rendered and the bacon is starting to brown.  Using slotted spoon, removed bacon to drain on some paper towel and pour off all but 1 tbsp or 2 of the bacon fat.  Add the onions and garlic and sauté in the bacon fat until it is translucent.  Add back to the Dutch oven the bacon and all other ingredients.  Bring to simmer and then lower heat and continue to simmer uncovered for an hour or until thick and jam-like, stirring occasionally.  Allow the jam to cool for 5 minutes then transfer to food processor.  Pulse the mixture 8-10 times or until it reaches your desired texture.  Put into a jar and allow to cool, then cover and refrigerate.

Wish me luck!

Sweet Buttermilk Cornbread

Cornbread is a quick add-on to so many meals (or a marvellous breakfast or snack all on it's own smothered in butter and honey).

This is a sweet buttermilk cornbread recipe that also uses olive oil instead of butter for a nice change.  I baked this bread to be another tasty addition to our Father's Day dinner this year.  Occasionally I like a less-sweet cornbread and to add some cheese & jalapeños, and while I haven't done that yet with this particular recipe, I think reducing the sugars to 1/4 cup and then adding the rest would work out just fine.

Sweet Buttermilk Cornbread

Adapted from The Hungry Mouse

1 cup cornmeal

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar, honey, maple syrup or any mix of the three :)

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

3/4 cup buttermilk

2 eggs

Grease an 8x8 inch square cake pan and preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Whisk together dry ingredients in mixing bowl and in another bowl, whisk eggs then add buttermilk and olive oil (and honey or maple syrup if using instead of sugar).  Mix the wet ingredients into the dry using a large (wooden) spoon until just mixed, don't over-beat.  Scrape batter into prepared pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until tests done in the middle with a toothpick and edges are golden brown. 

Let cool at least 30 minutes before digging in.

Versatile Focaccia

We love a good loaf of focaccia and an olive oil dipper around here...yum!  With a good base recipe, you can add herbs and toppings to pair with whatever you might be serving.  I've made this with toppings such as caramelized onions, kalamata olives, fresh rosemary & thyme, roasted red pepper & mozza (shown) and simply just some coarsely ground sea salt.

Versatile Focaccia

Adapted from The Mixer Bible

1 pkg active dry yeast

1 1/3 cup warm water

1 tsp honey

3 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

3 tbsp olive oil

1 1/2 tsp sea salt

2 tbsp olive oil for topping

coarse sea salt and other topping of choice

In your stand mixer bowl, mix yeast, water and honey and let rest for 5 minutes or until yeast starts to bubble. Add flour, oil and sea salt (and any fresh herbs you might want to add) and attach bowl to mixer using the dough hook.  Stir on lowest speed to combine and then knead on speed 2 for 4 minutes.  With my flour I never need to add more, but if your dough is sticky, add flour 1 tbsp at a time.  

Cover with plastic wrap or a towel and let set for about an hour and a half, until doubled in volume.  Gently push down on dough and press evenly into a well-greased 9x13 inch pan.  Cover and let double again, about an other hour.  

Have your oven (and even a baking stone) preheated to 425 degrees.  

When dough is ready, lightly make shallow finger indentations all over the dough and brush with the reserved olive oil and sprinkle with coarsely ground sea salt, allowing the oil to pool in the little finger marks.  Add any other toppings, lightly pushing them on to surface and place pan on baking stone and bake for 22-26 minutes.  

Slip the focaccia out of the pan immediately and let cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes before devouring...that's the hard part!

My Olive Oil Bread Dipper

1/2 cup great tasting extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 cloves garlic, chopped fine or minced

1 tsp dried oregano

Pinch of dried hot pepper flakes

S&P to taste

Mix in a bottle and let rest in fridge for a few hours to let the flavours come out and combine.  When serving I shake and pour some on a small plate with a rim and sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese.  Like most things, this is just a guideline, add what you like and don't stop until it's just right :)

What are your favourite focaccia toppings?  Dippers?

Wordless Wednesday - Cinnamon Raisin Buns from Island View Restaurant/Bakery

Lattice-Topped Blueberry Pie (and another great pastry recipe...with a twist!)

For a girl who wasn't very fond of pie growing up, I am certainly making up for lost time.  Although it's not yet blueberry season, there were some tasty looking imports on sale this week at the Superstore so I decided that Blueberry Pie would be this year's Father's Day dessert (with approval from the Father, of course).  I also decided that I would break in my brand new America's Test Kitchen Complete Cookbook that I got as a Mother's Day present at the same time.  While I didn't (yet) make the Blueberry Pie from that book, I did try their All-Butter Pie Dough with a couple variations based on the ingredients I had on hand (I could almost see Christopher Kimball himself giving me a look of disapproval as I subbed ingredients, but it turned out fantastic, one of the best pie crusts I have ever made!).  Next time I will cover the edges with foil for half of the time as there were so many blueberries in this pie it took them longer than I expected to cook down and the pie edges got a bit too dark, although still very flaky and delicious :)

The twist to this pastry is that it contains Greek yogurt (original recipe called for sour cream).  According to ATK, the acidity from it helps slow down gluten production, resulting in a flakier crust... it worked!

My Blueberry Pie


3 dry pints fresh blueberries, washed
juice and zest of 1/2 a lemon
3 tbsp cornstarch
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Pie crust for a double crust pie (see below for the great one I used)

Egg and 1 tbsp milk for egg wash

Sugar for crust

In a large bowl, combine all of the filling ingredients and stir to combine.  Set aside and roll out bottom crust of pastry and lay into a 9 inch pie pan, leaving 3/4 inch of pastry remaining.  Fill pie with the berry mixture and set in the fridge while making the lattice tops.

To make lattice, simply roll out the pastry as if you were making a regular top crust, cut into 8 pieces a bit shy of an inch wide.  I had (I think it's called) a ravioli cutter that I bought at Winners years back, which made the crinkle cut you see on my lattice strips.  Remove pie from fridge and place four strips running up and down and then weave the other four strips side to side.  Crimp the edges together like you would any other pie and set the pie back into the fridge to firm up while you preheat the oven.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees and then remove pie from fridge (again), brush with eggwash (the egg and milk beaten together) and then sprinkle generously with sugar.  Cover edges of pie with foil (which I didn't do and regret) and bake for 60-70 minutes, removing foil strips about half way through baking.   It's going to bubble over, so you might want to set a baking sheet on the lower rack, put down some foil, or plan on cleaning your oven afterwards.

Let the pie cool completely before serving.  I waited about 3 hours with this pie, but it was still a wee bit runny... at about 4 hours after baking the consistency was perfect!


All-Butter Pastry w/ Greek Yogurt
Adapted from America's Test Kitchen

1/3 cup ice water
3 tablespoons plain fat free (or regular) Greek yogurt
12.5 oz (2.5 cups) cake/pastry flour
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and frozen for 10-15 minutes

Combine ice water and Greek yogurt, set aside.  In a food processor, combine flour, sugar and salt.  Pulse to combine and then add the frozen butter pieces.  Pulse until the largest bits of butter are like small peas.  Then add 1/2 of the water and yogurt mixture and pulse two or three times to combine.  Now add the remaining liquid and pulse just until it starts to come together in a coarse crumb, it will not be a ball.  On counter, put out two large pieces of plastic wrap out and put half of the crumbs on each piece then bring the corners of the wrap up together to form the a ball with the dough inside.  Twist the plastic wrap so it is airtight and flatten each ball into a disc.  Place the two discs into the fridge for an hour to relax before rolling it out.  Bring the dough out of the fridge 10 minutes before you are going to roll it to allow it to soften slightly.

Enjoy!

BFTP: Pecan Caramel Cheesecake

BFTP - Blast From The Past

It's been a crazy, laptop-less week here in our house.  It's amazing how many little chores I crossed off my to-do list without my favourite electronic distraction.  I made it less than a week without replacing it though... it's crazy how 'roughing it' these days means having to go down a flight of stairs to use a desktop computer.

I don't have too many more of these older recipes left kicking around, but who knows, as I get all of my pics transferred over to the new laptop I might find some.  This is a cheesecake that I made for last year's Boxing Day Dinner dessert. It was a different cheesecake to me as it used a can of sweetened condensed milk, but it was incredible and very festive.  Thinking back if I'd dipped the pecans in chocolate and had some chocolate sauce on the serving plates, it would have been very 'Turtle' like :)  The top of this cheesecake wasn't cracked, but I decided to add some of the extra caramel topping as a swirl and it didn't work out how I planned... live and learn!

Pecan Caramel Cheesecake

from Eagle Brand

1 1/2 cups (375 mL) graham crumbs
1/2 cup (125 mL) butter, melted
1/2 cup (125 mL) caramel or butterscotch flavoured topping sauce
1 cup (250 mL) chopped pecans
3 pkgs (250 g each) regular or light cream cheese, softened
1 can (300 mL) Regular or Low Fat Eagle Brand® sweetened condensed milk
3 eggs
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla extract

Combine crumbs with butter. Press onto bottom and halfway up sides of 9" (23 cm) springform pan. Pour caramel sauce over crust and top with pecans.  Beat cream cheese until fluffy. Gradually beat in Eagle Brand, eggs and vanilla; pour over crust.  Bake in preheated 325ºF (160ºC) oven 45-50 minutes or until centre slightly jiggles when pan is lightly shaken (Please see The Heather Method of Cheesecake Making for all my tips on baking a perfect cheesecake). Cool and chill at least 4 hours or preferably overnight. Garnish as desired with whole pecans and remaining caramel topping.

What is your favourite cheesecake?  

Wordless Wednesday - Halifax Greek Fest 2011... Mmm!

Sunday Morning Buttermilk Pancakes

We love to start our Sunday mornings with a feed of pancakes.  Sure, once in a while I'll deviate and make French Toast or occasionally waffles, but usually it's pancakes.  With a big breakfast, we are ready to start our day and as long as we pack a snack, can be out until dinner.

I have been using the same pancake recipe for years, but since falling in love with buttermilk, I played with my recipe a wee bit and now feel that it is perfect!  You can add so many things to a basic pancake batter; fresh berries, chocolate chips, walnuts and so on.  Some days though, a delicious buttermilk pancake without any add-ons is just what is best :)

My Sunday Morning Buttermilk Pancakes
Makes 6-8 Medium to Large Pancakes

1 cup flour (white, but I have also used half whole wheat and even all whole wheat with success)
2 tbsp sugar (I have reduced to 1 in the past, also fine)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg
2 tbsp melted butter (I have used oil and have also forgotten to add it completely...but it's best in)

In a large mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients.  Measure buttermilk into a liquid measure and add egg and melted butter and stir with a fork until egg is well mixed in (you could do it separately, but I usually haven't had my first coffee at this point, so I like to keep things simple).  Mix the liquid into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined and no dry bits remain.  Scoop batter onto hot griddle (this is the only time I used my electric griddle and I love it as I can make all the pancakes in one go... I heat mine to 350 degrees and use a 1/3 cup dry measure to scoop the batter) and cook approximately 4 minutes on each side or until the colour you like best.

Serve hot with your favorite toppings, I like the traditional butter and real Nova Scotia maple syrup.  Feel free to add copious amounts of freshly brewed coffee, some OJ and shh... bacon!

Technical Difficulties, Please Stand By!

Just a quick note to let you all know that my laptop died, and while I didn't lose any data, and we do have a desktop PC, it's not the most convenient machine to work on, especially when trying to multitask like I always am :)

I have a backlog now of posts to share with you and can't wait :)

Any good laptop recommendations?  Since I'm not working, my dream MacBook is not a possibility :(  Unless Apple would like to take pity on me in exchange for constant blog mentions, LOL.

I guess it's a good time to get cooking!

Slow-Cooked Nova Scotian Baked Beans

Nothing screams 'Saturday Night!' in Nova Scotia more than Baked Beans & Brown Bread (well other than a box of Keiths & Donairs perhaps).  Dark, sweet and just a wee bit smokey, these beans are good alone or with so many other comfort foods; potato salad, scalloped potatoes, fish cakes, fried eggs, corned beef hash... I could go on and on and on.

When I was growing up I loved going to visit my Nanny on the weekend because I was pretty sure that there would be beans (yup, I liked them as a kid too).  She could whip up a never-ending delicious country supper out of anything and everything it seems, but there were always pickles, fresh bread and usually pie... Man, those were the days :)

So suck it up, take your Beano if you must and get your bean on this weekend... they go great with BBQ too!

My Nova Scotian Baked Beans
Adapted from Webster Farms

2 lbs Jacob's Cattle Beans (or Yellow Eyed if you can't get Jacob's Cattle)
1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
3/4 cup molasses
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 lb (about 6 slices) bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces (can leave out, I did when I was vegetarian, but I would add a couple drops of liquid smoke).
2 tsp vinegar
1 large onion, chopped small
2 tsp dijon mustard

Soak beans overnight in a large pot or dutch oven filled with water.  In the morning, drain beans and refill pot with fresh water to cover beans.  Bring to boil and the reduce heat and simmer until the beans are tender (30-40 minutes).  They will not soften a bit once you add the sugar, (trust me) so make sure they are tender enough, but not mushy.  Strain the beans reserving (at least some of ) the cooking water and transfer beans to large (4 qt or larger) slow cooker.

Combine remaining ingredients with 2 cups of warm water and pour over beans.  Add enough of the reserved bean water to just come to the top of the beans.  Cover and cook for 4 hours on high and at least another 4 on low.

Strawberry Shortflake & Inspiration

Strawberry season will soon be upon us in Nova Scotia, so time to use up the remaining berries from last year that I have been hoarding in my freezer.  Strawberry Shortcake to me means one thing, fresh (hopefully still a wee bit warm) tea biscuits smothered in slightly sweetened sliced strawberries and (lots of ) real whipped cream.  

Strawberry Shortflake on the other hand, is a variation that is so tasty, but I just can't call it shortcake :)  It's a semi-cheater as I use the frozen puff pastry shells and fill them with a scoop of vanilla frozen yogurt and top with berries.  It's like the Flakie pastry I ate growing up on steroids.  

There is also Strawberry Shortcut, which is when I make it using sliced store-bought pound cake.  Shortcut can be fun to put together as there are so many cute presentation options.  I like building a 'Jenga' tower out of finger-sized cake pieces and pouring the berries and whipped cream inside :)

Although from a different family of desserts, I also enjoy this decadent and oh so rich Strawberry Cream Pie.

How do you enjoy your fresh local strawberries?  Let me know, because I'll be up to my ears in them soon enough!

Grilled Spinach & Feta Chicken Burgers

I became a vegetarian back around the same time as when the boxed burger came into vogue.  After I started eating everything again, I tried one of these modern day miracles and it was the nastiest thing I had eaten in a long time (way nastier than any veggie burger, FYI).  The texture was soft and mealy and I just didn't want to know what could have been lurking inside. 

This past week I finally made a huge batch of my own hamburger patties to freeze and wow, they were tasty and simple... lean beef, garlic, a splash of Worcestershire and a whole lot of goodness.  We try not to eat beef too often and we still had some buns left to use so I thought I'd make some chicken burgers. I was afraid that they might be dry and flavourless though, so I had to do some tasty thinking.

I came up with this recipe using some of our favorite flavours... feta, oregano and olives.  To help the burgers keep their shape and add a bit of moisture, I added the egg and bread crumbs.  I think the feta and spinach also helped keep these moist as they were so juicy!

My Grilled Spinach & Feta Chicken Burgers

Makes 8-9 large burgers

2 lbs extra lean ground chicken

1 cup chopped cooked spinach, well drained

3 green onions, chopped

1/3 cup feta, crumbled

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp oregano

2 tbsp Kalamata olive tapenade

S&P to taste

1 egg

1/2 cup bread crumbs

Mix all ingredients together well by hand and form into patties (I recommend putting your finger down in the middle, it will close up when cooking and will help to ensure the patty is cooked through...no rare chicken burgers please!  Grill over low or medium low heat on a preheated oiled grill until completely cooked.  Serve on buns with the roasted red pepper and feta mayo topping below and a spoon of Kalamata olive tapenade.

Topping

1/2 cup mayonnaise

3 tbsp crumbled feta

1/2 of a jarred roasted red pepper, chopped fine

Pepper to taste

Mix together, keep in fridge until ready to use.

Winner winner chicken (burger) dinner.

Sometimes Mommy's Gotta Cheat ... Stonemill Kitchens Red Potato Salad

This is the last of my posts related to C's second birthday party :(  Now to start planning her third, right?  I knew that things were going to be rush rush that weekend, so I decided to cut a few corners when it came to the barbeque sides.  Is that a 'tisk tisk' I just heard?  Well I never claimed to be Super Mom... you just assumed.  Ha!

It turned out to be a fantastic decision because hubby was offered some last minute overtime; 12 hours the day before the party and 6 hours the day of.  Since turning into a one-income family, OT is always a good thing, and as busy as I knew that it would make me prepping for the party while entertaining the Princess, I had a trick or two up my sleeve.

No purchased potato salad would ever be as good as homemade, but this Stonemill Kitchens Red Potato Salad that we bought at Costco was pretty darn good in a pinch.  We've noticed it being sold there for quite a while and generally if they keep selling something at Costco it's of decent quality.   The initial bite was a tangy one, like most store-bought salads, but the bite ended on a sweet note, which was quite nice.  The potatoes themselves were  tasty as well, they had a good sized dice, they weren't too soft or too hard, and their red skins remained intact.

I doctored it up with some quartered hard boiled eggs, some chopped green onions and a sprinkle of paprika on top and... Voila!  Mommy Cheats!

I wish that Costco would sell some of their other products; I was browsing their website and they have some yummy sounding dips as well.  Time to get email writing I guess :)

I received no free product or compensation for this review, it was done out of the kindness of my heart and the curiosity of my stomach.

Rhubarb Buttermilk Cake

Last weekend we took our daughter to the Annapolis Valley to celebrate her second birthday by taking her to her first parade in the town where I grew up.  My sister, being the hostess with the most-est sent us home with a bag of rhubarb, freshly picked out of her garden just as we were heading back home.

My earliest memories of rhubarb are of bowls of a pretty pink but slimy tasting dessert that usually was sour and stringy.  I do like strawberry rhubarb pie, but wanted to try something different.  I had tried some rhubarb cake that my sister had made (yes, it got eaten on the way home in the car), and couldn't wait to get home and Google some inspiration.

I am on a buttermilk kick right now after having it in the house for last week's cupcake-fest, so I did a search for buttermilk and rhubarb and found a recipe by Mollie Katzen that piqued my interest.  My cake is based on her recipe with some slight modifications, and instead of a cinnamon sugar topping, I wanted to have a richer, more buttery one, akin to the one I use on my Blueberry Buckle.

My Rhubarb Buttermilk Cake

Adapted from Mollie Katzen

1 1/2 cups chopped rhubarb (small bite-sized)

3 tbsp sugar

2/3 cup butter at room temperature (I normally use unsalted, but used salted here as it was all I had)

2/3 cup sugar

2 large eggs at room temperature

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup buttermilk

For the Topping:

1/3 cup butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar (white)

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Spray an 8 inch square pan with non-stick spray and preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place the chopped rhubarb in a small bowl and toss with 3 tbsp sugar, set aside.  In large mixing bowl, cream butter and (second amount of) sugar and beat in eggs one at a time, then add vanilla (you could do this part with an electric mixer if you want to, but do the rest by hand so the batter does not get over-mixed).  In another bowl, mix all remaining dry ingredients together and add to the butter/sugar/egg mixture alternately with the buttermilk, mixing just until combined.  Fold in the sugared rhubarb and scrape the batter into prepared pan, smoothing top somewhat.  

Mix the topping ingredients together by hand until big crumbles form and scatter them evenly over the batter.  Bake cake at 350 for 45 minutes or until done in the center.  

This cake is so incredibly moist and is good warm and also at room temperature, alone or with some whipped cream or ice cream.  We enjoyed our first bites warm with some vanilla frozen yogurt and Wow!  

Thanks to my Sis, Mollie Katzen and my buddy buttermilk, I have become a rhubarb convert.