For the past three years, Spring for me has been defined by the appearance of rhubarb in the farmer’s market near my house. It throws me into a frenzy, because it’s only in season for a short amount of time, and there are always so many recipes I want to make with this weird little vegetable.  So when I saw a tweet from St. Lawrence Market a couple of weeks ago that some early spring “forced” rhubarb (i.e. that grew in a greenhouse) had hit their shelves, you best believe I hopped down there on my lunch hour to pick some up.

I consulted my bookmarks and lo and behold, I have had this recipe for Rhubarb Crumb Bars saved since June 14, 2009, which was the first Spring I really got into baking with rhubarb. It has a thin, soft, buttery layer of cake at the bottom, a layer of rhubarb in the middle, and a crunchy brown sugar streusel on the top. I shared half of it with my co-workers and stuck the rest in the freezer as a treat for my parents when they get home from Florida!

Happy Spring! 

Rhubarb Crumb Bars

Source: Martha Stewart

Yield: 1 8×8 pan, 16 squares

Ingredients

Streusel

6 tbsp butter, melted

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup flour

Rhubarb

8oz rhubarb, diced in 1/2″ pieces (I would actually use more next time)

1/4 cup flour

1 tbsp brown sugar

Cake

1/2 cup butter (1 stick), room temperature

1 cup icing sugar

2 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

 Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350, and line an 8×8″ square baking pan with foil. Spray the foil with non-stick spray.
  2. For streusel, in a medium bowl, whisk together melted butter, sugar and salt, then add flour and mix in with a fork until large clumps form. Stick in the fridge while you make the cake.
  3. For rhubarb, in a medium bowl, toss the rhubarb with the flour and brown sugar until coated and set aside.
  4. For the cake, in a large bowl, cream together the butter and icing sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in eggs one at a time, then blend in vanilla. Add flour, baking powder and salt, and stir in until everything is smooth.
  5. Spread the cake batter in the pan, and smooth into an even layer with an offset spatula. Sprinkle rhubarb over top, and then crumble the streusel over the rhubarb.
  6. Bake for 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool completely in pan, then lift out and slice into squares.