The first time I made this cake it was a huge gamble. We were having guests for dinner and this was my only dessert. I had nothing else planned in the event that this was terrible. I had a guess that it would be good because it’s a version of a cake I really do love. But putting rhubarb into a cake is risky. It can be extremely sour when not prepared properly.

After thinking through the process completely I decided to use more sugar than seemed reasonable to counter the sour of the rhubarb and bring out its delicious flavor.

I don’t think I would have even considered rhubarb in this cake until we were in Sweden this past summer. Rhubarb was in full effect in EVERYTHING and I could not get enough. In Seattle, rhubarb is a spring flavor but it turns out in Sweden it’s a summer flavor. For this cake, frozen is mandatory which makes it an any season cake! I usually have frozen rhubarb from our garden or my mother-in-laws garden but you can always but it at the Whole Foods.

Rhubarb Snack Cake

makes one 9” cake

1 cup frozen rhubarb

1 1/2 cup sugar (divided)

1/2 cup butter, at room temperature

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/3 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 tablespoons turbinado sugar

STEP 1

In a small bowl combine the rhubarb and 1/2 cup of the sugar and set aside. Mix to combine and let rest until the rhubarb is defrosted and a syrup has formed around the rhubarb. Smush it a bit with a fork to mash the fruit a little. This can take as little as an hour or as long as a whole day (usually takes me 2 hours). Plan accordingly.

STEP 2

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray the bottom of a 9” pan and line with parchment paper.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine butter and remaining one cup of sugar. Cream together until a paste forms. Add the eggs and vanilla and combine.

STEP 3

Mix flour and baking soda together in a separate bowl.

Drain the liquid off the rhubarb. It should be about 1/2 cup.

STEP 4

Alternate flour, rhubarb syrup, and flour mixing into the stand mixer and combine. Remove the bowl from the mixer and stir in the rhubarb gently. Pour into the prepared 9” pan. Option to sprinkle the top with the turbinado sugar - or see glaze option below.

Bake 35-40 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool before serving.

OPTIONAL

If I don’t add the sugar to the top, I like to add a glaze. I realize there’s already an excessive amount of sugar in this small cake, but I figure what’s a little more? Mix together 1/3 cup powdered sugar and one to two teaspoons cold water. Pour over the cooled cake.

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Rhubarb Soda

Turning things into cocktails is a special skill of mine. Here’s a rhubarb cocktail in case you can’t get enough rhubarb.

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I love Chicken Picatta but I hate making Chicken Picatta. Do you know how much work it is?! Especially if we’re talking about a weeknight or a summer evening or really anytime you don’t want to spend a bunch of time in the kitchen. I have been turning my favorite dinners into meatballs lately and these are an instant hit in my house. My kids love them - I love them - and they make a great lunch the next day too!

Chicken Piccata Meatballs

dinner for four

for the meatballs:

2 pounds ground chicken

1 cup panko

4 cloves garlic, grated

2 eggs

zest of one lemon

2 tablespoons chopped capers

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

1/4 cup cold water

salt & pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

for the sauce:

4 tablespoons butter (or Earthwise fake butter)

2 tablespoons flour

1 cup white wine

2 cloves garlic, grated

1/4 cup capers

2 tablespoons caper brine

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 tablespoon chicken bullion concentrate

STEP 1

In a bowl, combine all of the meatball ingredients and form into balls. Heat the olive oil to medium/high and brown the meatballs. Don’t worry about cooking them through - you’ll do that later. Just get each meatball brown and then remove them from the pan.

STEP 2

Once all of the meatballs have been browned, turn the heat down to medium and melt the butter. Whisk in the flour until completely combined with the butter. Deglaze with the wine and simmer one minute - whisking the whole time - until it all comes together.

STEP 3

Add the garlic, capers, brine, lemon juice, and bullion. Whisk gently. Return the meatballs to the pan and cover. Let cook about 10 minutes or until the meatballs are cooked through.

Serve with pasta tossed in garlic olive oil.

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Aperol Spritz

The perfect cocktail for your Italian style dinner - and it’s light and refreshing which is perfect with the briny capers.

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The classic spritz online is THREE parts Prosecco, two parts Aperol and one part soda water. But it doesn’t taste like the spritz I had in Venice last year. So I messed around with the proportions and decided that just a little less Prosecco makes for the proper cocktail. Obviously, you can add more bubbles if you’d like, but I like it just like this - a little more bitter!

A spritz is the perfect day drinking/afternoon cocktail. It’s light on booze - Aperol and Prosecco are both light alcohol options so you can have one (or two) and still function for the rest of the afternoon. It’s a classic option when you’re sitting at a cafe in Venice on a warm summer day. The secret to a good spritz is to not waste expensive champagne on it! I like La Marca, which is a reasonably priced Prosecco that tastes great in a cocktail like this.

Ali’s Classic Spritz

2 parts Prosecco

2 parts Aperol

1 part soda water

Fill a glass with ice. Pour in two parts Aperol (I use two ounces) then add equal parts Prosecco. Top with soda water and add a straw. Cin cin!

The perfect spritz in Venice with the love of my life.

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