Tag Archives: coffee cake

This Cherry Cake brings music to my ears

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I love the fresh, dark sweet cherries of summer. This time of year, when the ruby-hued fruit from Washington is toppled into huge bins in grocery stores, long slender stems going this-away, that-away, I just can’t resist them — no matter the price. And, the price is high when you choose organic cherries. So, I buy them in small quantities, bring them home and savor each luscious orb of succulence.

This morning, though, I have gained even stronger appreciation for each cherry I slip into my mouth.  I was tuned into NPR in the car as Gracie and I were heading home from the kennel this morning, where she spent her Saturday while I was cooking at the Lakes Area Farmers Market in Detroit Lakes. As I listened, Anna King did a short piece about migrant workers from Mexico who have discovered that picking cherries is one of the best-paying agriculture jobs in the northwest. As the men and women perch themselves on ladders raised high up into trees heavily laden with cherries, they learn to become adept at quickly and carefully picking and dropping as many cherries as they can into their buckets. They are not paid an hourly wage. They are paid by the amount of cherries they pick. As the listener is hearing the sound of melodious voices of migrant workers singing in Spanish, a slight cry breaks in as a young woman falls from her ladder. It’s alarming.

When the NPR piece ends, I begin to wonder what it’s like to live the life of a migrant cherry-picker. Little things come to mind. Must they worry about getting stung by bees as they climb their ladders and disappear into a lush mass of leaves and ripe cherries? Do they itch with sweat, but don’t dare take time to wipe their brow, that moment or two keeping a few cherries from the bucket? How many have had to overcome a fear of heights in order to take this good-paying job? And, is this “best-paying” agriculture job actually paying these hard-working migrants a fair wage? If so, I won’t mind as much having to pay a high price for this summer fruit that I love. And, I will appreciate the laborious work of the migrants who have made it possible for me to enjoy Washington cherries in my Minnesota kitchen.

After a morning walk with Gracie, constantly swatting away pesky deer flies buzzing around my head, I was ready for a piece of moist and spicy Cherry Cake with a good cup of coffee. I could hear those melodious voices singing songs in Spanish each time a cherry half burst with juice on my tongue.

And, I wonder, do the migrant cherry pickers have to deal with deer flies? Oh, I certainly hope not.

Cherry Cake

  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk
  • 3/4 cup butter, room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cup sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 cup pitted sweet cherries, halved

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 13- x 9-inch baking pan. Set aside.

Stir baking soda into buttermilk. Set aside.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add buttermilk mixture. Beat well.

Sift flour with allspice and cloves. Stir into creamed mixture, blending well. Stir in cherries. Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until cake tests done. Makes 12 to 15 servings.

 

Weekend Baking: Cherry-Chocolate Swirl Coffee Cake

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When I was growing up, my dad was my best taste-tester. When I was 9- or 10-years-old and starting to do some baking on my own, he and his best friend, Jim, who lived in the house behind ours, would gobble up any sweet thing I would come up with.

After just a couple of bites, my dad would say something like, “My favorite daughter has come up with another winner.” I was his only daughter.

At that point, Jim would most likely be on his second piece. I’m sure one of the reasons I love to bake stems from the enthusiasm and unconditional support of my early experiments in the kitchen offered to me by my dad and his best friend. I basked in the feeling of success that I felt when I watched those two men eagerly gobble up the treats I whipped up all by myself. I know there had to have been some some flubs along the way, but they always smiled and ate.

When President’s Day rolled around each year, I’d try to find a recipe that included cherries. My dad always looked forward to dessert on President’s Day.

I continue to create sweet cherry treats when we honor George Washington with a holiday. Whether he really did cut down the cherry tree or not, I still think cherries when I think George Washington.

Cherry-Chocolate Swirl Coffee Cake is based on a cake my mom and her friends used to make with a swirl of cinnamon and sugar and nuts. I used an easy-to-make filling of canned sweet cherries, dried cherries and almonds with some mini-chocolate morsels stirred into the mix. It’s the same filling I used in the Chocolate and Cherry-Filled Mini-Heart Tarts in an earlier post.

I know my two favorite tasters would have loved this cake, despite the flub. Yes, I must be honest. After the cake was in the oven, I discovered close to a cup of the sifted dry ingredients still sitting in the bowl on the counter. Grrrrrr. The cake still baked up nicely and tasted wonderful with a cup of coffee. But, what I’ve managed to hide in the photo is a little tunnel running through the cake. Tunnel of love, maybe? Well, that little tunnel didn’t effect the wonderful flavor.

I took the cake to a cooking class I taught last night as a little pre-class treat. Everyone smiled and gobbled it up in no time flat. I still love that enthusiasm and support.

Bake Cherry-Chocolate Swirl Coffee Cake this weekend. You’ll enjoy the smiles it creates.

Happy President’s Day weekend!

Cherry-Chocolate Swirl Coffee Cake

  • 3/4 cup butter, softened
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 (8-ounce) container sour cream
  • 1 batch cherry-chocolate filling
  • 1/4 cup powdered sugar, for serving

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 12-cup Bundt pan. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter at medium speed of an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add 1 1/2 cups sugar, beating well.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in vanilla. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together. Add to butter mixture alternately with sour cream, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Batter will be stiff.

Spoon 1/3 of batter into a greased and floured 12-cup Bundt pan. Spoon half of cherry-chocolate mixture over batter. Top with half of remaining batter. Spoon remaining cherry-chocolate mixture over batter. Top with remaining batter. Bake in preheated 350-degree oven for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Remove from pan and let cake cool completely on wire rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.

Cherry and Chocolate Filling

  • 1 (15-ounce) can pitted sweet cherries, drained
  • 1/4 cup dried cherries
  • 1/4 cup sliced almonds
  • 1/8 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1/4 cup mini semisweet chocolate morsels

Put drained cherries and dried cherries into a food processor or heavy-duty blender. Process until mixture is quite smooth. Add almonds and process until finely chopped. Transfer mixture to a small saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring frequently, for about 10 minutes, or until mixture is thick. Remove from heat and stir in almond extract. Transfer to a glass bowl. Allow to cool completely, then stir in chocolate morsels.Cover and refrigerate. The filling can be made a day or two before baking.

It’s coffee cake.

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A couple of weeks ago I stopped into a cozy coffee shop tucked into a rural community in West Central Minnesota. On the exterior, it was just an old brick building, but one step through the door and my nostrils were greeted with the aroma of rich brewed coffee. Cookies, sweet rolls and scones tempted me from the case of sweets. I decided this was a place I could nestle into for a while.

As I ordered my first cup of coffee of the day — large dark roast, no cream — I spied a cake in a 9-x13-inch pan situated on the counter. A couple of pieces had already been served from the cake, so I could see its insides. I thought for sure it looked like a rhubarb cake. If I could be that lucky, I would definitely splurge on a big chunk to eat with my coffee.

It was a very brief back and forth conversation with the server in the shop that dashed away any dreams of satisfying my taste buds that had begun to salivate for rhubarb cake.

Me: Excuse me. What kind of cake is that?

She: It’s coffee cake.

Me: Oh, there’s no rhubarb in it?

She: No, it’s coffee cake.

Me: So, there’s coffee in the cake? (I thought this a legitimate question, since this was a coffee shop, after all.)

She: It’s coffee cake.

Me: Okay. I’ll take a piece, please.

The cake was good, despite the fact it had no rhubarb. It was moist on the inside. The top carried a blanket of crunchy sugary topping. It went well with my coffee. I guess that’s why it’s called coffee cake.

After finishing my morning pick-me-up, I walked to an antique shop that was close-by. I found a rack of old church cookbooks. As I was paging through a cookbook from a church in the community, a recipe for COFFEE CAKE jumped right out at me. I decided to buy the book and make coffee cake when I returned home. By the time I was done shopping, my arms were loaded with at least half a dozen old cookbooks with their stained pages, torn covers and occasional notes jotted in by previous owners as they baked and cooked their favorite recipes.

When I set the stack of cookbooks on the counter to pay for them, I was shocked when the store owner told me they were $9.99 each. What? I’ll bet they didn’t cost that much brand new. Apparently, church cookbooks are harder to come by these days, thus their value has increased. Just when I thought I would clean out all the old church cookbooks from my shelves — guess not. I walked out of the store with just two cookbooks and 4 of the prettiest little Italian espresso cups and saucers.

Finally, I’ve made a coffee cake. I used the recipe from the old church cookbook I brought home, but added my own topping and some sweet almond glaze. It’s so old-fashioned looking — it seems like something out of grandma’s kitchen. And it tastes like it, too. Delicious!

When I took the pretty little cake out of the oven, it suddenly occured to me that I had forgotten to add the sugar to the cake batter.

Sugar is added to baked goods for a good reason. Irregular sugar crystals create thousands of tiny air pockets that produce a delicate and satisfying crumb structure and expanded volume. Sugar also slows down the baking time, giving the baking powder time to work. So, with sugar, this coffee cake would have a delicate crumb texture rather than here-and-there holes. And, it may even have more volume if the baking powder had a little more time to do its job.

My coffee cake — no sugar — gets plenty of sweetness from the almond and brown sugar topping. I mixed some almond paste into the butter and brown sugar. It adds marvelous flavor.

 Well, now you know. It’s coffee cake. No sugar. No cream. Coffee cake.

Coffee Cake with Sweet Almond Topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and lightly flour a 9-inch round baking pan or glass baking dish.

Make Sweet Almond Topping:

In a bowl, mix:

  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/3 cup almond paste
  • 2 tablespoons melted butter
  • 1/4 cup sliced almonds

Set topping aside.

Make cake:

Sift together into a mixing bowl:

  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Whisk in:

  • 1 cup sugar (I forgot to add the sugar. You can go with or without.)

In a 2-cup glass measure, beat:

  • 1 large egg

Add:

  • enough milk (I used buttermilk) to measure 1 cup.

Add:

  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons melted butter

Pour liquid into bowl with dry ingredients. Mix just until none of the dry ingredients are visible. Spread batter in prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with topping. Bake in preheated 350-degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes.

Allow cake to cool in pan on wire rack. Make glaze and drizzle over the cake.

Glaze

  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
  • 4 tablespoons cream
  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Mix all ingredients until smooth. Leftover glaze can be stored in the refrigerator.

Cake adapted from recipe in First Lutheran Church Cookbook, Morris, MN. 1986.

 

 

 

Have your cake and eat it, too — morning, noon and night

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The inspiration for this cake started at the Scandia Cafe in Scandia, Minnesota. It began the moment I stepped inside. There, right in front of me, was a glass bakery case. There were desserts in the case, including two specials of the day: Pear, Ginger and Candied Apple Upside-Down Cake and Pear Dumplings.

I was on a long weekend road trip with friends. One of the great things about traveling with a few others is that it’s easy to order two desserts (or anything on a menu that sounds tempting) and split them allowing tastes of several menu items in one visit. That’s why I never travel with people who don’t like to eat.

We had planned to eat lunch at the Scandia Cafe and then tour the Gammelgården Museum.

Before we even ordered our lunch, we had decided on both desserts with four plates and four forks, please. First, though, came a huge, dinner-on-a-plate salad. That was the healthiest part of the meal. Fresh spinach with bacon, onions, peppers, eggs, cooked potato chunks, cucumbers, carrots, tomatoes, pickled beets, celery, chicken and cheese (phew, I’m out of breath) drizzled with bacon vinaigrette. And, I had to try a cup of the soup of the day — very thick Squash Soup. I ate the soup and salad all by myself. No sharing.

And then came dessert. Do you see the four plates and four forks at the ready for four dessert-hungry women?

The Pear, Ginger and Candied Apple Upside-Down Cake was light and tender, just as I remember my mom’s pineapple upside-down cake. I’d never had this combination of topping ingredients, though. The spicy cake hit the spot on a cool autumn day.

The cake at Scandia Cafe prompted me to come home and create my own version of Pear, Ginger and Candied Apple Upside-Down Cake. My version is heavier and hearty with oatmeal in the batter. That’s why it makes a perfect coffee cake for breakfast or brunch. And, after a roast beef and mashed potato dinner, it’s a satisfying dessert. This cake goes both ways. And I never have to share — I can have my own big piece.

Maybe later I’ll try making pear dumplings. Or, maybe just go back to the Scandia Cafe and see what’s for dessert.

Pear, Ginger and Spiced Apple Upside-Down Cake

  • 1 cup quick-cooking oats
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 6 tablespoons butter
  • ½ cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 1 to 2 juicy pears, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 1 (14.5-ounce) jar spiced apple rings
  • ¼ cup packed light brown sugar
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • Whipped cream, minced crystallized ginger and walnut halves for garnish, optional

Combine buttermilk and oats in a bowl and mix well. Let stand for 20 minutes.
Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg together and set aside.
Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees.
Melt 6 tablespoons of butter in a 10-inch skillet with an ovenproof handle, preferably nonstick, (I use cast iron) over medium heat. Swirl the butter in the skillet until it turns nut-brown, then immediately pour it into a medium mixing bowl – an 8-cup glass measure works well. Without wiping out the skillet, sprinkle ½ cup dark brown sugar evenly over the bottom. Top with sliced pears and spiced apple rings, arranging them decoratively in an even layer.
Add the ¼ cup light brown sugar, granulated sugar and honey to the browned butter and whisk until thoroughly combined. Whisk in the egg and vanilla. Stir in the oats and buttermilk mixture. Add sifted dry ingredients all at once and stir just until thoroughly combined.
Dollop the batter over the fruit in skillet and spread evenly. Slide the skillet into the preheated oven and bake at 375 degrees for about 25 to 30 minutes or until the cake is golden brown and springy to the touch at the center. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes.
Invert a plate over the skillet, then holding plate and skillet firmly together with oven mitts or pot holders, invert the two in one swift movement. Remove the skillet and the cake is ready to serve. For dessert, garnish with whipped cream, minced crystallized ginger and walnut halves. Or just whipped cream with a chunk of spiced apple ring is nice, too. Makes 8 servings.

  • If you don’t have a 10-inch skillet, use a 9-inch round cake pan. Just brown the butter in a skillet, pour it into the round cake pan and give it a swirl to coat the pan. Then pour the butter into your mixing bowl. When using a 9-inch round cake pan, baking time may be a little longer.
  • Sometimes I use a few tablespoons of Calvados (apple brandy) rather than the vanilla extract. Pear brandy would be good, too.

 

Green Tomatoes (not fried) in a Fudge Cake (no lie)

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Last week my friend, Bobbie, mentioned she had picked all of the green tomatoes from her garden and had put them in boxes to ripen. Question is, will they ripen?

I’m not a gardener, so I don’t know if those green tomatoes in the box will ever turn red. The ones I buy at the farmers market are always ready to eat. I suggested to Bobbie that she could chop up those green tomatoes and stir them into a cake. I had vague memories of a recipe I had clipped years ago. I told her I’d check my recipe box. If she would give me some green tomatoes, I would make her a cake.

I searched through my recipe box until I finally came across a card with the recipe for Green Tomato Fudge Cake. The recipe had been clipped from a newspaper and was taped to the card.

The list of ingredients held some intrigue. Instant coffee, black pepper, rum, green tomatoes — an unusual combination in a chocolate cake. Four ounces of candied orange peel was also included on the list. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to find that in my local grocery stores.

At the end of the recipe I found a great surprise. In parantheses, in bold print I saw (Halgrimson is food writer for The Forum). Years ago, I used to take cooking classes from Andrea Halgrimson. She’s not only a wonderful cook, she always has interesting stories to tell and she still writes a food column for The Forum. Andrea has always been an inspiration to me. She introduced me to edible flowers. It was at one of her cooking classes that I ate heavenly chocolate desserts washed down with sips of champagne. The next day I overslept and missed my early morning racquet-ball match. Anyway, I sent Andrea an email to ask her about the cake. She remembers the Green Tomato Fudge Cake. She told me people often put candied orange peel in fruitcake. I don’t make fruitcake. I’ve never searched for candied orange peel.

Bobbie suggested I make my own candied orange peel. She loaned me her copy of Mark Bittman’s "How to Cook Everything." Bittman’s instructions for candied orange peel seemed easy enough to follow. I just wasn’t in the mood for scoring, simmering, scraping, scissoring and sugaring. I used grated orange zest in the cake instead.

The cake is good. You won’t find even a trace of green tomatoes in the baked cake. There’s a hint of bright orange flavor in each bite of this not-so-sweet cake. Coffee, cinnamon and black pepper combine with the cocoa for deep flavor. A shower of powdered sugar over the cake and a scoop of premium vanilla ice cream give the perfect finishing touch to each serving of Green Tomato Fudge Cake.

This cake can be baked in a bundt pan. I divided the batter in half and used a small bundt pan and an antique cake pan that I picked up this summer. I used my no-fail mixture of equal parts canola oil, shortening and flour to coat the inside of the pans. I didn’t want to take any chances of having the cake in the old ruffled pan stick when I turned it out.

Andrea’s Green Tomato Fudge Cake sounds wierd, but tastes great. So, don’t toss those green tomatoes.

Guess what else I found in my box of clippings? A recipe for Chocolate Cucumber Cake. Maybe I’ll try that next.

Oh, and one more thing. I’ll be presenting cooking demonstrations this week that are open to the public. No, I won’t be making cakes with green tomatoes or cucumbers, but I will be sharing some other great recipes. I’ll be at the Women’s Expo in Alexandria, Minnesota tomorrow evening (Thursday, October 8th) doing a program on healthful appetizers from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. On Saturday (October 10th) you will find me in Willmar, Minnesota where I’ll be doing two cooking demonstrations at their Women’s Expo that morning. Come see me.

Andrea’s Green Tomato Fudge Cake

  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
  • 3/4 cup butter, room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 tablespoon dark rum
  • 1 tablespoon grated orange zest (or 4 ounces candied orange peel, chopped)
  • 2 cups chopped green tomatoes, (remove core from tomatoes before chopping)
  • 1 cup walnuts, chopped
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • Powdered sugar, for serving

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 10-inch tube pan. Add 1 tablespoon of the cocoa powder and shake pan to distribute evenly.

Sift dry ingredients into a large bowl and set aside.

With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Add rum, orange zest, green tomatoes and walnuts, stirring after each addition. Alternately add dry ingredients and milk. Stir to mix.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake in peheated oven for about 1 hour or until cake tests done.

Cool in pan for 15 minutes. Turn onto a wire rack to cool. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving. Makes 12 servings in some homes, 3 to 4 in others.

 

Whisk it Wednesday: Road-Trip Rhubarb Cake

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Last Friday, my two biking partners and I headed down to Red Wing, Minn. We were on our way to do the Tour de Pepin, an organized bike ride beginning in Lake City. We chose the 32-mile route that would end in Stockholm, Wisconsin.

Not unlike any girlfriends road trip, we braked often for antique shops, any other cute little shops, and food. I’m always on the lookout for darling little props to use in food photographs. I found a few pieces that I couldn’t live without. A stop at an antique shop on Highway 10 in Motley and cute little Weekend Cottage in Clear Lake had all three of us adding shopping bags to the back of our vehicle.

An old fluted cake pan seemed like it would be perfect for baking quick breads. The scalloped-edge Syracuse bowl was irresistible. I wish there had been more. It seems like the perfect size for big scoops of ice cream. I’ve already had it on my counter filled with malted milk balls and chocolate-covered banana chips. And the floral pattern on the plate just grabbed me.

The old-fashioned cream-whipper may be my favorite treasure from the trip. See it in the photo with the cake?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We arrived in Red Wing just in time to be able to spend about an hour at Falconer Vineyards. When we pulled into

the parking lot at the winery, the Falconers were out watering all the plants and their golden retriever, Cedar, was happily watching them. They have a beautiful spot tucked into the hills. We sat in the sunshine at one of their outdoor tables with a bottle of North Star Red, some cheese and  some crackers. It’s a place to put on your must-visit list when you are in the Red Wing area.

On Saturday morning we wound up pedaling 32 miles through raindrops and very cool temps in the low 50′s. We were soaking wet and freezing by the end of our ride. After changing into dry clothes in the bathroom of the Dollar Store (the guy there felt sorry for us and invited us to use the employee bathroom as a changing room) we headed for a great homemade lunch at Chickadee Cottage Cafe in Lake City.

I was anxious to try out my new little (old) cake pan. My friend, Jodi, shared one of her favorite rhubarb bread recipes with me. She says it came from an old (1993ish) Betty Crocker Fresh! Spring Recipes book. I’ve adapted the original recipe, which called for pears. I also added some pumpkin pie spice that I had on my shelf. I sprinkled a mixture of sugar and butter over the top, stealing the idea from Bickey Bender’s recipe that I shared on my previous post. I baked part of the batter for Old-Fashioned Rhubarb-Peach Coffee Cake in my new pan and still got nine big muffins and a tiny individual-sized loaf. I call it old-fashioned just because I baked it in an old pan. I love the flavor of rhubarb and peach together. I use that combination in my Crisp, too.

If you have an old-fashioned cake pan, pull it out to bake this coffee cake. And if you don’t just bake the batter in two loaf pans.

Enjoy.

Old-Fashioned Rhubarb-Peach Coffee Cake

  • 1 1/2 cups finely chopped rhubarb
  • 1 1/2 cups finely chopped fresh peaches or frozen peaches that have been thawed first
  • 1 2/3 cups sugar
  • 2/3 cup canola oil
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 4 large eggs
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (or your favorite baking spice)
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 cup chopped nuts

Topping:

  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon softened butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour baking pans of your choice. In large bowl, mix rhubarb, peaches, sugar, oil, vanilla and eggs. Sift dry ingredients and stir into mixture in bowl. Transfer batter to baking pans. Mix Topping ingredients and sprinkle over the batter. I baked the cake for about 40 minutes, the large muffins took about 30 minutes. If you use two 9- x 5- x 3-inch loaf pans, baking time will be 50 to 60 minutes. Makes 2 loaves.