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.
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.