Step 1

Preheat your oven to 350 F. Grease a 12 cup muffin pan with nonstick spray or line with cupcake liners. Set aside.

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Step 2

Prep the fruit: Wipe your food processor or blender completely dry and pulse the freeze-dried strawberries for 1-2 minutes, or until they become a fine powder. Some small granules may remain, which is okay! Set strawberry powder aside. Cut the ends off the rhubarb stalks. Slice rhubarb stalks in half lengthwise and then dice into 1 cm pieces. Set aside in a small bowl and sprinkle with a large pinch of sugar.

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Step 3

Make the cake batter in one bowl: Add the buttermilk, vegetable oil, eggs, and only 1 cup of sugar to a large mixing bowl. (The remaining ¼ cup of sugar will be used later.) Whisk until the sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture is smooth and homogenous. Add the baking powder and whisk again for 1-2 minutes, until it has fully dissolved. Add the baking soda and salt and whisk again for another 1-2 minutes, ensuring all leavening agents have dissolved in the liquid.

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Step 4

Add the flour and strawberry powder to the batter and fold with rubber spatula until only a few streaks of flour or red powder remain. Add 1 heaping cup of your diced rhubarb (there should be some rhubarb leftover for sprinkling on top later) and finish folding the batter together so no streaks of dry ingredients remain and the rhubarb is evenly distributed.

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Step 5

Use an ice cream scoop to portion batter out into the greased or lined muffin pan. The batter should come ⅔ of the way up in the muffin divots. Sprinkle a few pieces of extra rhubarb on top of each muffin and then finish each muffin with a few large pinches of sugar. Bake muffins for 20-25 minutes, or until the tops are deep golden brown and they bounce back to the touch upon poking the top.

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Step 6

Let cool for 10 minutes and then gently twist them out of the muffin pan. Enjoy warm or store at room temp and reheat at a later time!