Rhubarb Buckle

My hubby likes to go to our local farmer's market, because one of the vendors there has bakery items that remind him of Cleveland.  I've been bugging him to find me some rhubarb because I wanted to try and bake with it. I'm pretty sure that I have only baked with rhubarb one time in my entire life. That was about 20 years ago and it was because an office mate gave me a bunch of it for free!!  I ended up making rhubarb bread and I have absolutely no idea what recipe I used.  A few days ago, the hubby said, "when are you going to do something with that rhubarb?!?!" I finally decided to make a "buckle."

A buckle is actually a dessert with a cake type batter with fruit mixed in and a streusel topping that "buckles" up when it's baking. I think it's more like a coffee cake, so I would think of eating it more for breakfast or brunch. It most definitely could be a dessert, especially served warm with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped topping!  When I pulled the rhubarb out of the fridge this afternoon, I was wondering - should I shred it? dice it? slice it? I finally decided to dice it up in small pieces.  The texture of rhubarb reminds me of celery. I had visions of the rhubarb staying hard and the buckle ending up extremely crunchy.  I am pleased to report that the rhubarb got soft while it baked. When I sent an e-mail to the hubby this afternoon telling him I FINALLY did something with the rhubarb, he wrote back, "I'll look forward to sampling the rhubarb buckle." Since Lauren and I have already "sampled" it, we know that it is super yummy! I'm sure my husband will agree :)

Ingredients

Batter:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup milk
2 cups white flour
2 cups rhubarb, diced

Topping:

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 cup white flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Lightly spray a 9 x 13 inch pan with non-stick cooking spray and set aside. In large bowl, put the butter and sugar. Cream by hand or with mixer. Add the eggs, vanilla, baking powder, salt, sour cream, milk and flour. Mix well. "Fold" the rhubarb into the batter with a large spoon.  Pour into the pan and spread evenly.  In separate bowl, blend the butter, sugar, flour and cinnamon together with large spoon until it begins to resemble loose crumbs. Sprinkle evenly over batter. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.  Remove from oven and let pan cool on wire rack. Enjoy!