I’ve been spending my mornings offline, in a conscious effort to slow down my life. It’s been an absolutely insane week, one that could only happen in May, with performances and festivals and schools and never quite dressing for the weather. Keeping my mornings quiet has grounded me, helped me gather the focus and energy I’ve needed to get through long days.

I fell asleep reading Charlotte’s Web last night and woke up early with a hankerin’ to do something with the rhubarb from my neighbor, Beth. I made a batch of the Rhubarb Cardamom Syrup I came up with last year and still had half a dozen stalks left.

One of my goals right now is to stop thinking of baking as a four-letter word, and with this in mind, I dove into my cookbook collection. I’d planned on muffins but knew I’d hit the jackpot when I found my copy of the 1967 Betty Crocker’s Hostess Cookbook:

My bestie Sveah’s husband, Matt, loves going to estate sales and buying up all kinds of random stuff. This was in a pile of cookbooks & sheet music that he gave me last year. I thumbed through it and found a recipe called Favorite Coffee Cake.

I made a few modifcations, but not many. I swapped out the shortening for butter. I only had soy milk in the house, so I used that instead. I brewed a bag of green tea with heated milk before adding it to the mix. I didn’t have any brown sugar for the topping, so I added turbinado sugar instead. I used cardamom & ginger in the topping, instead of cinnamon.

You could make this coffee cake a million different ways.

I scored this lil’ guy at a garage sale yesterday, and listened to The Current while whippin’ this up. A wonderful, sunny morning. If I’m gonna keep baking this summer, it’ll have to be very early in the morning.

Do you have any easy recipes for a beginning baker? Please share. I’m especially interested in recipes with vegetables. I’ve never even made carrot cake or zucchini bread, the old standbys! : )

Happy Friday, friends!

Rhubarb Coffee Cake

Vegetarian // Serves 8

Cake
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup soy milk
1 bag green tea (optional)
1 egg
1 cup rhubarb, chopped

Topping
1/3 cup brown sugar (packed)
1/4 cup Gold Medal flour
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder

From the cookbook:

“Heat oven to 375*. [My note: if you're adding green tea, heat the milk in a small pot on the stove. Add a teabag and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Remove the tea bag.]

In a large mixing bowl, blend all ingredients except topping thoroughly with a fork. Beat vigorously for 30 seconds.

Pour into greased round layer pan, 9×1 1/2 inches, or square pan, 8x8x2 inches. Sprinkle with topping. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Serve warm.

Topping
Mix brown sugar, flour, ginger, cardamom and butter until crumbly.”

This is definitely best enjoyed with coffee. Oh, and just in case you were wondering, rhubarb is a vegetable. : )

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