Recipe: Rhubarb Poke a Dot Coffee Cake with Streusel Topping and Vanilla Glaze

RHUBARB POKE A DOT COFFEE CAKE
"The rhubarb filling is one often used in pie. Here, it's layered in a coffee cake with streusel sugar and cinnamon topping."



FOR THE YEAST DOUGH:
1/4 cup warm water (100 to 110 degrees F)
1/4 teaspoon plus 1/4 cup sugar, divided use
1 envelope Fleischmann's Active Dry Yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter OR margarine, softened
1/2 teaspoon Spice Islands Pure Vanilla Extract
1/2 cup warm milk (100 to 110 degrees F)
1 egg
2 1/2 cups bread flour
2 tablespoons butter OR margarine, melted

FOR THE RHUBARB FILLING:
2 cups cut-up rhubarb (1-inch pieces)
1/3 cup water
2 tablespoons Argo Corn Starch
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons strawberry gelatin powder
1/4 teaspoon Spice Islands Ground Saigon Cinnamon

FOR THE STREUSEL TOPPING:
1/4 cup butter OR margarine, softened
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon Spice Islands Ground Saigon Cinnamon

FOR THE GLAZE:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon butter OR margarine, softened
2 to 3 tablespoons milk
1/4 teaspoon Spice Islands Pure Vanilla Extract

Grease a 13x9-inch baking pan.

TO PREPARE THE DOUGH:
Combine 1/4 cup warm water, 1/4 teaspoon sugar and yeast in a small bowl. Let sit 5 minutes until yeast is foamy.

Combine 1/4 cup sugar, salt, 1/4 cup butter and vanilla in large mixer bowl. Add warm milk and stir to mix. Add yeast mixture, egg and flour. Beat on medium speed until well blended. Spread into prepared pan. Brush with 2 tablespoons melted butter. Cover and let rise in draft-free area until doubled, about 1 hour.

TO PREPARE THE RHUBARB FILLING:
Combine rhubarb and 1/3 cup water in large saucepan and cook over medium-high heat until the rhubarb is soft and beginning to lose its shape. Stir together corn starch, 1/2 cup sugar, gelatin powder and cinnamon; add to rhubarb mixture. Continue to cook and stir until rhubarb is thick, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.

TO MAKE THE STREUSEL TOPPING:
Combine all ingredients for the topping in a bowl with a pastry blender until butter mixture is the size of peas.

TO FILL AND BAKE:
Before baking cake, gently make small wells in the risen coffee cake, about 1-inch apart. Spoon about 1 teaspoon of rhubarb sauce into each well. Spread the remainder of the rhubarb filling evenly over the top of dough. Top with streusel topping.

Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F oven for 30 to 35 minutes until the top begins to brown. Cool on wire rack for at least 15 minutes.

TO MAKE THE GLAZE:
Combine all glaze ingredients together and drizzle over coffee cake.

Best served warm.

Makes 1 (13x9-inch) coffee cake
Source: Fleishmann's Yeast, ACH Food Companies, Inc.