Strawberry Rhubarb Coffee Cake

As I mentioned earlier, I've checked some cookbooks out of the library. My favorite is The Williams-Sonoma Baking Book--maybe this is because baking is my not-so secret weakness. Since I have the cookbooks on a short loan, I perused them and marked them with bookmarks for the recipes I want to try.

I must admit, I didn't use local strawberries for this. They were from Texas (Whole Paycheck had Texas grown strawberries), but weren't as sweet as those I picked a couple of weeks ago. I just couldn't gather up the initiative to drive an hour and corral three children to pick strawberries. Forgive me. The rhubarb was grown locally though. I bought several stalks of rhubarb at least 3 years at Boggy Creek Farmstand which I had sliced and frozen. The container had been lurking in my freezer waiting for a recipe just like this. The best part was that there is enough rhubarb left for at least one more cake.

This worked perfectly. I mixed this cake up, gently placed it in the oven, and headed out on a 17 mile bike ride. When I got home, the cake was done (and almost half eaten by the 4 people I left at home). It went perfectly with the hot coffee that was waiting for me. It was a wonderful Saturday morning breakfast! (And the small leftovers were pretty good Sunday morning too!).

Strawberry-Rhubarb Breakfast Cake
from The Williams-Sonoma Baking Book

2 T sugar
1/2 t cinnamon

4 lg eggs
1 1/3 c sugar
3/4 c canola oil
3 c flour
2 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
2 t cinnamon
1 t slat
4 c (1 lb) fresh strawberries, hulled and coarsely chopped
1 - 2 stalks (4 oz) fresh rhubarb, cut crosswise into 1/2" slices or 1 c thawed, frozen, sliced rhubarb

In a small bowl mix together 2 T sugar and 1/2 t cinnamon. Set aside.

Beat together the eggs and sugar in a large bowl in an electric mixer on medium-high speed. Add the oil and beat until thick and pale, about 2 minutes. In another bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Add to the egg mixture and mix on low speed or with a wooden spoon until thoroughly blended, about 1 minute. Gently fold in the strawberries (and their juice) and the rhubarb using a silicon spatula. Take care not to break up the fruit. Do not over mix. Pour batter into greased 9" angel food cake pan with removable bottom. Evenly sprinkle reserved cinnamon-sugar mixture over top. Bake in preheated 350 degrees oven for 60 - 70 minutes, or until topping is golden brown and tester inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Remove from sides of pan immediately and place on wire rack to cool completely. Once cool, remove bottom of pan. Place cake upright (not inverted) on a serving plate.