Rhubarb season has arrived and I for one am very happy! I wasn’t always a fan of it I have to admit, and while many people raved about Rhubarb Crumble, I used to prefer the Apple version.
When we started our vegetable garden, many years ago, I knew that despite my reservations, no ‘Veg Patch’ was complete without a Rhubarb Crown or two. I can’t tell you the names of the varieties we planted as we bought them in the days before my real interest in garden began! I’m still of the opinion however, that no matter what the variety, they are all very similar in taste – an expert out there may be able to explain otherwise!
Earlier this week, I noticed that there were some stalks ready for picking and decided to make something with them – it’s all about seasonality when you grow your own so now is the time to be making use of this very versatile fruit (or is it a vegetable?? 🙂 )
I went about looking for a cake recipe with a spicy kick to it and found what I was looking for on the Le Creuset website (there are some other really great recipes on it here and not to mention the beautiful cookware! This isn’t an ad but I like to share nice things when I find them).
I had everything I needed in my pantry so gave it a go. I loved it so much, I just had to post it on here today – if you are a rhubarb lover then you will enjoy this cake…
Ingredients:
400g Rhubarb, cut into ½cm thin slices
225g Caster Sugar plus 2 heaped Tablespoons extra
225g Self-Raising Flour
2 Teaspoons Ground Cinnamon plus 1 heaped Teaspoon extra
2 Teaspoons Ground Ginger
150g Salted Butter, Melted
3 Large Eggs
2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
50g Flaked Almonds
Method:
- Preheat your oven to 170ºC (Fan 160ºC) Gas Mark 3
- Butter a 26cm x 18cm Rectangular Baking Tin (Le Creuset recommend their 26cm Heritage Rectangular Dish)
- Put the Rhubarb slices into a bowl with the 2 heaped teaspoons of caster sugar and 1 heaped teaspoon of ground cinnamon, mix well and set aside
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together the eggs, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and ginger with the melted butter until evenly combined
- Add in the flour and mix well
- Add in the rhubarb and mix again
- Pour into the prepared tin and smooth over ensuring the fruit is evenly distributed
- Sprinkle the flaked almonds liberally on top.
- Bake for 40 – 50 minutes until golden brown or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- Allow to cool to room temperature in the tin before removing to a serving plate
- You could serve this with custard or cream but it is equally as nice just on its own with a cup of tea !
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