Rhubarb Coffee Cake with my very own rhubarb! Recipe included! LOL!

I planted the rhubarb last year....6 plants but only 3 of them made it.  They were 2 year old plants and you can harvest on the 3rd year. It's hard to grow rhubarb in Arkansas but this strain is specifically designated for this climate.  I know now why many people here say they've never had it.  Anyway, up North, where I came from, it is a staple on any gardener's plot.  In the Amana colonies which were close by, they were famous for their rhubarb wine.  We'd have it for Easter and the Cranberry for Thankgsgiving.
I had a big plot of 16 or 18 plants of rhubarb on my little farm in Iowa and every year I would make my rhubarb coffee cake with the first rhubarb that we picked and of course many other rhubarb dishes came later but the first was always the coffee cake.  I couldn't find my original recipe but found the same one on All Recipes only I'm not sure if I used sour cream in mine and theirs did and they did not add vanilla and I did.  But the topping and the taste and the looks of it are exactly the same.  It wasn't my recipe to begin with as I got it years ago from someone else.  It was rated 5 stars by quite a few people and I agree.  It's been in our family since my children were little and they always loved it and so did I. 

Rhubarb Coffee Cake
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1/2 C shortening
1 1/2 C packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
2 C flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 C sour cream
2 C fresh or frozen rhubarb thawed and chopped

Topping
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1/2 C packed brown sugar
1/2 C chopped walnuts
1 T butter melted
1 tsp cinnamon

In a mixing bowl cream shortening and brown sugar.  Beat in the egg and vanilla.  Combine the flour, baking soda and salt;  add to the creamed mixture alternately with the sour cream.  Fold in the rhubarb and pour into an rectangular baking dish or cake pan.  Mine was a 9 x 13 non-stick pan but I still greased it.  (it's an old non-stick pan! I don't trust it).
Combine the topping ingredients and sprinkle over the batter.  Bake at 350 degrees F for 40-45 minuntes or until toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.  Cool on wire rack.  This cake may be frozen for up to 6 months. 

Now that I have my own rhubarb supply, I'm going to make 2  8" square ones and freeze one.  Another "make ahead" dish.............LOVE!!!!  The picture below is last night on my way to bed.....with my cup of tea and a little something sweet....I swear it tasted better being it was grown and baked by my own hands.  

 

Happy Friday everyone.....and thanks SO MUCH for your comments and for stopping by.  It's my "company" and much appreciated.  I just wish I could REALLY give you a piece of cake and sit and have tea with you.  I guess this will have to do.