Since we rely mostly on donations to fill our food bank and Social Supermarket, we get a lot of seasonal fresh food from shops and donors’ gardens. We’re getting really good at suggesting recipes for making the most of this seasonal bounty. We also love hearing ideas and recipes from donors and service users. This recipe for the current glut of rhubarb we’re enjoying is simple to make and doesn’t require lots of expensive extra ingredients.
Ingredients
For the cake
- 4 medium/large eggs
- 225g softened butter or margarine
- 225g caster sugar
- 225g self-raising flour
- 1tsp vanilla extract
For the rhubarb
- 3 or 4 sticks of rhubarb
- Additional sugar to taste (at least 150g
method
- Wash and chop the rhubarb into 2cm pieces. Put into a saucepan with a covering of sugar (around 100g should do) and a small splash of water. Leave on a gentle heat to soften. When rhubarb is completely soft (no large, solid pieces left at all), place it into a sieve over a bowl to separate the juice from the fruit. Leave to cool while you make the cake.
- Beat together the butter, caster sugar and vanilla extract until pale and fluffy. Crack the eggs into a jug and beat, then add them a little at a time to the butter and sugar mixture, beating thoroughly each time.
- Sift in half of the flour at a time, gently folding the mixture in between so that all the flour is mixed in.
- When the rhubarb is cool enough, add as much of the fruit (not the juice) to the cake mixture as you’d like without letting it make the mixture soggy or runny. Fold it in gently to avoid knocking any air out of your cake mixture.
- If you have left over rhubarb, this can be enjoyed as a separate dessert with cream or custard.
- Place the mixture into a large cake tin & bake in the oven at 180°c for around 30 minutes or until a skewer pushed into the middle comes out clean.
- Leave the cake to cool for around 10 minutes before the next stage. This can be done in the tin, or you can turn out the cake onto a plate first.
- Take the rhubarb juice and add sugar until it is thick and gloopy. Stir it well, but expect it may be a little grainy, this is completely fine.
- Take a skewer and poke holes all over the cake. Generously pour the rhubarb/sugar mix over the cake, giving it time to sink in between doses. The juice should soak into the cake and the sugar should form a crisp, crunchy topping.
- This cake will keep in an airtight container for 3-4 days or it can be frozen for up to 1 month.