Eating Close to Home: Marijo’s Rhubarb cake
Apr 19th, 2009 by Amy
Today marks the start of the Eating Close to Home cookbook giveaway and I see no better way to start than with rhubarb cake. If you want to enter, be sure to enter a comment with your name, email address(which isn’t published), and your favorite spring dish this week. Click here for more details on the contest.
Also - We hope to give you a chicken update tomorrow. The girls seems to have settled into their new home.
We have actually made this cake twice this past week with a couple slight differences, and it has been disappeared both times. The first time, I used 4 rhubarb stalks (about 2 cups), quartered them lengthwise and then cut them into 1/4 slices. Both of my testers, Matt and friend Jesse, agreed (after devouring two pieces each) that the cake could use more rhubarb flavor. So, the second time I used 6 rhubarb stalks (about 3 cups), halved them lengthwise and then cut them into 1/2 slices. With the larger chunks and higher quantity, each bite featured a sweet, tart taste of rhubarb. It did extend the baking time slightly to account for the additional water from the rhubarb. I also adjusted the recipe slightly to accommodate my 11×7 baking dish (vs the 8×8 in the recipe).
We purchased the rhubarb at Market of Choice since I didn’t find any at the market yesterday. You should be able to find it at the farmer’s market within the next couple of weeks. Better yet, plant a start in your garden. It is an easy to grow, perennial vegetable. Be sure to only eat the stalks though - the leaves are toxic.
Marijo’s Rhubarb Cake, adapted from Eating Close to Home
Makes 11×7 cake
Ingredients
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup plus 3 Tbsp sugar, plus 2 more Tbsp for topping
2 eggs
1-1/8 tsp vanilla
1 cup plus 3 Tbsp buttermilk
1-1/8 tsp baking soda
2-1/3 cup flour
3 cups chopped rhubarb
1 tsp cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350F and butter your baking dish. Cream sugar and butter in a large bowl. Add the eggs, vanilla, and buttermilk and beat until combined. Sift flour and baking soda together and then add to the liquid mixture, mixing by hand until combined. Add rhubarb and stir until combined.
Mix 2 Tbsp sugar and cinnamon together. Pour into baking dish and sprinkle over top of the cake. Bake in the center of the oven for about 45 minutes, until it passed the toothpick test.
I’d love to be entered! I’ve never tried cooking with rhubarb, I’ll have to give it a whirl sometime. Amy I., playinghouseamy@gmail.com
The rhubarb season seems to be upon us…. I do love it, even all on its own without a second fruit to cook with it, so I will certainly try the cake.
I’d love to be entered in the cookbook giveaway. Fav spring dish this week, I’ve got to say the greens I got in the farmers’ market with some red onions stored from the winter and early peas from a friend’s garden. Very simple, very light, but after the winter with the sustaining root veg, it was just perfect for a quick supper.
Email is mangochild (at) gmail (dot com).
Read about local rhubarb being available in Corvallis over at BaltimOregon — should be in Eugene soon!
Jesse will be glad that you posted this recipe!!! I have a feeling I will be baking this cake often
This looks delicious! I love rhubarb. I bet cardamom, nutmeg and ginger (even chopped crystallized ginger on top) would be nice additions to the cake.
Great ideas folks! I can’t believe Mangochild is getting peas in CT already - ours are just limping along and no sign of any at the market yet. And do be sure to check out Laura’s blog (Baltimoregon) for more rhubarb ideas.
I’ve never used rhubarb before! My favorite spring thing right now is asparagus. I love roasting it in the toaster oven with some oil and garlic. Thanks for the contest for this great-looking book!
Alison - We should start seeing asparagus in our market this week (hopefully). Although it may have been there last week, we were late getting to the market because we were picking up our chickens!
I LOVED this cake! Nate did, too. I’m going to try making it for Cynthia because she’s always been a rhubarb fan. Can’t wait to try the strawberry rhubarb jam. Thanks Amy!