Wednesday 2 March 2011

Rhubarb & almond streusel cake





I think I may have just said it before but, as this is my blog, I feel I can say it again. I love cake. Plain cake, fruity cake, fancy cake, kids cake, grown up cake. You name it. The only cake I'm not too keen on are what I call 'gloopy icing cakes'. You know the ones - where there is more icing than cake and its just all a bit sickly and saccharine, not to mention dreadfully difficult to eat.

With Doris, Ellie, Mabel & Sam laying exceptionally well at the moment (4 eggs every single day for over a week) I am obliged, happily, to keep baking. Like me, they can sense spring in the air and I like to think that its making them happy and productive. Which in turn makes me happy.

And so, here is my latest cake, slotting rather nicely into the grownup cake category. This is a wonderful cake for dessert when you have friends to visit, with a dollop of creme fraiche it is elevated swiftly into 'pudding' territory. But great too for afternoon tea, and also for my favourite time to eat cake, weekend breakfast with good coffee. There is really no need to feel we have to eat muesli or porridge on a Saturday morning.






Rhubarb & almond streusel cake

You will need:
300g young pink rhubarb, cut into 3cm pieces
zest & juice small orange
60g granulated sugar

200g unsalted butter
200g caster sugar
3 eggs
140g ground almonds
60g self raising flour
1 level tsp baking powder

100g flaked almonds
40g dark brown sugar
1 tsp ground ginger


What to do:
Preheat the oven to 180oC. Line the base of a 23cm springform tin with baking parchment and brush a little melted butter around the sides.

Arrange the rhubarb in a single layer in a baking dish. Toss in the orange zest and juice and sprinkle over the sugar. Bake in the oven for 15 mins. Remove from the oven and allow to cool a little.

Make the cake batter by creaming together the butter and caster sugar, either by hand with a wooden spoon and a lot of elbow grease or, as I did, in a food mixer. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition. Fold in the ground almonds, flour and baking powder. Pour into the prepared cake tin and level a little with a knife. Press the baked rhubarb pieces lightly into the surface, reserving the cooking juices.  It will look like a lot of rhubarb but during cooking it will be enveloped beautifully within the cake. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.

Whilst the cake is baking make the streusel topping by mixing the reserved rhubarb juice with the flaked almonds, brown sugar and ground ginger. When the cake has had its initial baking spread this mixture gently over the surface and return the the oven for another 20-25 minutes. It is ready when a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin.

This cake is a great 'keeper', lasting well for several days. I have just eaten a piece 4 days after I made it and it tastes virtually as good as it did on its first outing from the cake tin.

2 comments:

  1. Chris Evans had a good bit on eggs this morning on Radio2. It was eggcellent!! Good blog am now hungry again! Matt (from Rob's Work!)

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