Some rhubarb recipes use a pitifully small quantity of rhubarb. This gingerbread does justice to the fruity stem. A cake that would do well as a dessert served in squares with vanilla icecream, cream or custard. I divide the cake in two and freeze half as it’s too moist to keep well. The remaining half stays in squares in the fridge.
If you’ve got young rhubarb plants, resist the temptation to pick too many stems in the first year or two. That way the plant will build up its strength over time. I’ve lifted and divided one of my clumps of rhubarb each year and they seem to be better for it.
Makes a 20cm (8″) square cake.
100g wholemeal flour
100g plain flour
Half a teaspoon baking soda
Two teaspoons ground ginger
100g butter
100g brown sugar (raw sugar will do)
60ml treacle or molasses (about 80g). Molasses gives a slightly stronger taste.
Two tablespoons milk
Two large eggs
50g crystallised ginger pieces
350g rhubarb stems, washed and dried.
Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees C. Line a 20cm square tin with baking paper (or similarly sized round tin).
Remove any ‘hoof’ at the bottom of the rhubarb stems. Slice large stems down their length and cut into 1cm slices. Chop up the ginger into pea-sized pieces. Sift together the flours, soda and ginger powder into a large mixing bowl. You’ll need to tip the coarse bits from the wholemeal flour left at the bottom of the sieve into the bowl afterwards. Mix in the rhubarb and ginger.
Melt together the butter, sugar and treacle or molasses gently in a pan. Remove from the heat and allow to cool before stirring in the milk and beaten eggs. Make a hollow in the dry ingredients and pour in the liquid from the pan. Mix well. Scrape out the mixture into the prepared tin until level.
Bake for about 40 minutes until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. After five minutes or so, remove from the tin and allow to cool on a cake rack. You may also like to try rhubarb crumble or rhubarb shortcake.
