3 Men and a Baby, Tempting Rhubarb Coffee Cake and Tom Selleck's Arms

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oy...to be the baby in Tom Selleck's blanket - and my rhubarb coffee cake

oy...to be the baby in Tom Selleck's blanket - and my rhubarb coffee cake

I'm not sure what you are doing this wonderfully not sunny Sunday but I'm enjoying the classic Three Men and a Baby while binge eating cold pizza and rhubarb coffee cake. 

If you are unfamiliar with the classic Three Men and a Baby it is the story three adult grown men living together in a fashionable penthouse apartment, throwing extravagant parties and raising a bastard child. And yet they all have "girlfriends". This movie left me so confused as a gayby.  

Three things for Three Men and a Baby: 

  1. Remember that urban legend of the boy who committed suicide in the apartment that the movie was filmed in? Remember how you used to sit there with your Mr. Movie's rental copy in your VHS player pausing the video just before that scene started and hitting the frame by frame fast forward until you crapped your pants seeing the 'ghost'?
  2. How did I miss Celeste Holm playing Jack's mother?!?! She came so far from All About Eve. 
  3. OKAY THIS IS MIND BLOWING...Blair Waldorf's mother plays Peter's girlfriend! As you may know I have a soft spot in my heart for Blair's mother and was so glad to see she was working in the mid 80s.  

Back to the rhubarb coffee cake. Once again a coworker was kind enough to offload some of her bumper crop of rhubarb. I'm not sure why I am obsessed with rhubarb but I can't get enough. And I was super jazzed at the prospect of attending this year Rhubarb Festival in Duluth. Naturally I read the news article wrong and it's actually two weeks from now.  So before I start chopping it up and hoarding it in the freezer I thought it best to make something. 

Thanks to that devil site Pinterest I came across other like minded Rhubarb fetishists.  

I found this recipe on relishingit.com

The Recipe:  

Rhubarb Crunch Coffee Cake

  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 eggs at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 cup yogurt or sour cream
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1 /2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

For the Rhubarb and Crunch Topping:

  • 2 cups chopped rhubarb
  • 1 /4 cup plus 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
  • 1 tablespoon butter, softened
  • pinch of kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 350°F. 

Butter an 8-inch square cake pan.

To prepare the Rhubarb and the Crunch Topping:

Combine 2 cups of rhubarb with 2 tablespoons of brown sugar in a small bowl; set aside. Using a fork, combine 1/4 cup of brown sugar, 1 tablespoon of flour, cinnamon, 1 tablespoon of butter, and a pinch of kosher salt in a small bowl until crumbly.  Stir in the walnuts; set aside.

In a medium-sized bowl, sift or whisk together 2 cups of all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, and kosher salt; set aside.

In a bowl of a stand mixer fitter with a paddle attachment, cream together 1 stick of butter and granulated sugar until creamy.  Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each one.  Cream for 2-3 minutes, until light and fluffy.  Add the yogurt and vanilla and mix until combined.  The mixture may look curdled at this point.  That is ok.  Add the dry ingredients and mix until everything is just combined, being careful not to over mix.

Place half of the cake batter into the pan and smooth out.

Sprinkle half of the crunch topping over the batter in the pan.  Dollop the remaining cake batter on top of the crunch topping and smooth out with an offset spatula.  Combine the remaining crunch topping with the rhubarb and pour that mixture evenly on the top of the cake.  Place in the oven and bake for about 55-60 minutes.  Check the center for doneness with a toothpick.  This cake will taste great right away and will be even more moist the following day.  Store covered at room temperature.  

Enjoy!