Rhubarb cake & yet more rhubarby loveliness......

Hello Friends,
Isn't it fab to see a bit of sunshine after what feels like 4 months of sort of indeterminate grey. I feel we need a theme tune this week, so who remembers this? Surely one of the best theme tunes ever, & most appropriate today when I'm going to be boring you all with rhubarb! 

On Easter Sunday, I lifted the forcing crock & harvested our crop of lovely pink rhubarb, the first significant food from our garden this year. When people leave their jobs, they generally like some kind of commemorative or personal gift, but practical to the end, I decided that a forcing crock was what was missing from my life. This year, it was sending signals that it was more than ready.........

After a winter of pretty much bare soil, the pink stems & bright lime leaves are always a welcome burst of colour.

Surprisingly, there was sufficient to make a few different things. I started by trying a new recipe from the Waitrose 'Spring Harvest 2015' booklet. 

These are free booklets, & are nice enough to collect & give as a gift if you know someone who loves cooking......if I didn't live near enough to a Waitrose to pick them up for myself, it's the kind of little gift I'd be happy to receive, tied up with a bit of arty-farty raffia, of course, with a couple of new pound shop wooden spoons. Anyway, back to the all-important life-giving subject of cake. I used 400g of my rhubarb in Rhubarb & Custard Traybake. 

What can I say? Oh my days, it was fab! I've made other rhubarb cakes, but this was different & special. First, the rhubarb had to be lightly caramelized in a hot oven.

The cake mixture is a sponge, made infinitely more interesting through the addition of ground almonds, custard powder & about a cupful of Waitrose Seriously Creamy Madagascan Vanilla Custard (no, definitely NOT the stuff you had slung in the general direction of your jam roly-poly at school in the 70s!). The cake mix is smoothed into a lined tray, then deep craters are made with the back of a tablespoon, which are then filled with the remaining custard. This seems counter intuitive, as it seemed to me, as an experienced home baker, that the cake mix would be too wet to cook through properly. If you try this recipe, don't worry, just follow the instructions & make the custard craters.....

When all the custard has been applied, add the rhubarb and bake. The custard sets a bit, but still retains a lush squidge on cooling. 

All it requires now is a sprinkle of sugar before devouring a piece with a really decent cup of coffee. Not sure if you like it a lot or love it immensely? Best have another piece. Seriously, this is the best rhubarb cake I've ever made.....or eaten. It's not difficult to make & it offers the deep therapeutic qualities of the cake that is just the right balance of squidge & crumb, sweet & tangy. Go on, bake one, you know you want to! 

So that was the fate of some of my pink rhubarb. The rest of it was turned into compote, a rhubarb, apple & ginger cake and a batch of rhubarb & cinnamon muffins. 

The muffins, which have now have a layer of lemon icing, are in the freezer waiting for a picnic opportunity. While the Big Hairy One & I are known for picnicking in all weathers, including 4 inches of snow, it's always great to be able to sprawl out in the sunshine so as to be able to combine a bit of serious communing with nature..........& cake.

For fans of Albert Whiskers, I am pleased to report that after a slow start, he has really taken to his cardboard claw sharpening pad. He hasn't stropped his claws on the rug for over a week. I still think that the catnip is the main pull, as he can enjoy inhaling it from his paws all evening. It's a result, though. Not often that there is helpful behaviour to report where Albert Whiskers is concerned.

Hope you are all enjoying the sunshine......& if I've tempted you to make a Rhubarb & Custard Traybake, I do hope you enjoy it.
Until next time,
C x