A few years ago our son-in-law and daughter introduced us to Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp. We fell in love. The start from my mother-in-law’s Rhubarb plant is thriving. Every Spring it comes back larger and larger so a couple of years ago it was transplanted to its own garden bed. Time to find some new ways to use it. This year we have a new treat, Rhubarb cake.
In the past and this year as well, we freeze multiple bags cut and ready to use but we wanted more options. My husband loves cake so we were on the look out for a cake recipe. He found a recipe that we could work with. As always it has been tweaked a little.
For me Rhubarb was a acquired taste unlike my husband who had grown up with it. So this new treat, Rhubarb cake is exactly that a new treat!
Recipe
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda ½ tsp baking powder 1 teaspoon salt ½ cups white sugar
1 cup milk or buttermilk
½ cup butter melted
1 ½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 egg
3 cups fresh rhubarb chopped
Topping
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×13 pan and set aside.
Whisk together flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder in a large bowl. Set aside. In a small bowl, combine sugar, milk, melted butter, lemon juice, and vanilla. Stir in the eggs. Stir the rhubarb into the flour mixture and gently mix. When you mix the rhubarb with the flour first it ensures it doesn’t sink to the bottom of the cake. Fold the liquid mixture into the flour mixture until combined. Pour the cake mixture into the prepared pan. Combine the sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over the cake. Because Rhubarb is very tart this adds is a little bit of extra sweetness to the cake.
Bake 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool and serve with ice cream.
Since there are just the two of us we freeze most of the cake to keep it fresh. I personally like to eat it a little frozen but it is really good warmed with a little vanilla ice cream.
When our plant was at its largest I asked a friend if she liked and needed any Rhubarb. She had already received some earlier from another friend. But during our conversation she shared her favorite recipe with me. It will be upcoming in another post. It’s a frozen one.