I love Rhubarb, my college buddy. To this day, I’m not sure how she got the nickname Rhubarb… I don’t even know if she EATS rhubarb (do you, Rhube?), but I love her.

And while it was an interesting nickname, it wasn’t until some of our friends (who were international students) wondered just what the heck “rhubarb” was anyway, that I realized that not everyone grew up with the giant leafy plant in their yard in the summer. Huh. Who knew!

Needless to say, beyond the ubiquitous Starberry-Rhubarb Pie (which is to die for, IMHO), I’m a fan a rhubarb cake. Not to many people would know that – but it’s not hardly a deep dark secret.

Should it be? I got some seriously quizzical glances as I marched through the market proudly with my rhubarb stalks. Maybe they thought I was crazed for letting a toddler gnaw on the too-tart-for-words stalks, but heck, I figured that gnawing on that meant less gnawing on me. Right?

The cashier even asked me what I was buying. You’d think I’d found some freakishly rare veg or fruit from her face. When I told her it was rhubarb, she said “Oh, that’s what it looks like!”.

Well, kind of. Truly a rhubarb plant looks something like out of a mini-jungle book. The huge leafy greens hide the sometimes cherry-red or bright green stalks so much that I am amazed the stalks do actually turn red.

If you haven’t tried rhubarb and you fear the tartness in a pie, then try this cake. You will NOT taste any tartness at all – just the sweet fruit hint while munching on the cake… and topping this with Strawberries (which I keep typing as StarBerries tonight…. GEESH) with Grand Marnier will end any summer meal on a high note. Even the kiddoodle who at one point just preferred the raw, tartness fell in love with the cake. (She just got plain strawberry sauce, people, no worries.)

Give some rhubarb a go! Try out a stalk.
Just don’t eat it raw…. you’ll regret it. Really. You will.

Eat the cake instead. It’s a snap to make!

Gluten Free Rhubarb Cake with Strawberry-Grand Marnier Sauce
Find a printable copy of this recipe here.
Makes one 8″ by 10″ thick cake

Cake Ingredients:
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup buttermilk (or 1 cup milk + 1 Tablespoon lemon juice)
2 cups Gluten Free Flour mix (rice or sorghum based)
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cups fresh diced rhubarb pieces

Strawberry-Grand Marnier Sauce
Ingredients:
2 cups fresh strawberries, cleaned and cut into quarters
1/4 cup Grand Marnier (GF orange liquor)
1/3 cup sugar (or to taste)

Fresh Whipped Cream
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
2 Tablespoons sugar (or to taste)

Directions:
For the cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Clean and chop rhubarb into 1/2″ thick pieces.
3. In a large mixing bowl, cream together shortening and sugar. Add egg and vanilla. Mix again.
4. Combine dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt and xanthan gum). Dump dry ingredients plus buttermilk. Mix thoroughly.
5. Fold in rhubarb. Mix well.
6. Pour in to a lightly oiled (or parchment lined) 8″ by 10″ pan. Bake for 50 – 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. (If using a 9″ by 13″ pan, you can possibly lessen the baking time by 5-7 minutes. Keep your eye on it!)

Make Strawberry-Grand Marnier Sauce

1. Wash and quarter strawberries.
2. Place strawberries, sugar and Grand Marinier in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce heat slightly and stir continuously. Simmer for 4 – 6 minutes or until the strawberries break down. Set aside to cool.

To Assemble:

1. Cut cake into desired pieces. Cut each piece in half across the mid-section to create a layered cake.
2. Layer each serving plate with: cake, strawberries, whipped cream and repeat.
3. Top last dollop of whipped cream with a bit more sauce and a sliced strawberry.

Happy GF Summer Treats, everyone!
~Kate

Mommy Lesson #512:

Doddling in the kitchen before lunch means your shoes are now teething toys.

Look out, world.  She just might slobber on you too!

The flavours of vanilla and rhubarb combine surprisingly well here. You can serve it warm as dessert with some ice-cream or you could change it around and turn it into a rhubarb and ginger cake (a classic combination of flavours). To do so, fold in 55g/20z of crystallised or stem ginger before baking.

Ingredients

• 115 g/4oz rhubarb
• 115 g/4oz chopped dried dates
• 60 ml/2 fl oz water
• 125g/4 1/2 oz butter or marg
• 125g/4 1/2 oz gluten free/rice/regular flour
• 2 medium eggs
• 2 level tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

• Grease and line a 1lb loaf tin or a 15cm/6 in sandwich tin and set the oven temp  to 180 centigrade or equivalent.
• Slice the rhubarb and place in a pan with chopped dates and water. Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer on low heat until the rhubarb and dates are soft and mushy and most of the water has been absorbed. Allow to cool.
• Process the rhubarb mixture with the butter or marg until smooth and creamy. Add the flour, eggs, baking powder and vanilla extract and process again. The mixture should have a soft dropping consistency, so add a little extra water if needed.
• Place the mixture in the baking tin and bake for aprox 45 mins or until golden brown and spongy to touch.
• Allow the cake to cool  for 5 mins and then turn onto a wire rack and remove the lining paper.
• Serve and enjoy!

Last week I promised the department next door to me, here at work, a dessert for helping me out so much…so went looking for a new recipe to try. I narrowed it down to a Rhubarb recipe as that was one of the few things they ALL liked.

Not sure how many of you have found Mennonite Girls Can Cook…they are AWESOME! That is where I found a rhubarb recipe that was posted 20 July 2008 in Desserts.

RHUBARB ORANGE ALMOND CAKE

4 stalks fresh rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 1/2 inch pieces (I cut enough for 4-5 cups)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, room temp
2 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup ground almonds
Finely grated peel of 1 small orange (I used a medium size…love orange zest)
2 Tbsp of orange juice (just use your orange that you grated)
1/4 cup blanched sliced almonds

(PICTURES ARE OF A DOUBLE BATCH)

Preheat oven to 375F.

Grease a 9″ springform pan and line the base with parchment paper. (I lined with parchment and then sprayed the pan with flour Pam).

Place cut rhubarb in a bowl and cover with 1/4 cup of the sugar, mix and set a side.

Grate peel and juice the orange…set a side.

Mix butter and remaining 3/4 cup sugar in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy.

Add eggs and beat until fluffy.

Stir in orange zest and juice. Then gently fold in the dry mixture into the butter mixture.

Stir in sugared rhubarb and then pour into your prepared springform pan.

Spread batter evenly in pan then sprinkle with sliced almonds.

Bake for 25 minutes in a 375F oven. Reduce the oven temp to 350F and bake for another 20-25 minutes or until the cake is FIRM. Let set in pan for 10-15 minutes then slide knife around edges and remove from pan.

Serve warm or cold.

The first time I made it I drizzled powdered sugar/orange juice frosting over the top of the cake. The second and third time…just ate the cake as is. This is one the BESTEST CAKES YOU’LL EVER MAKE!

‘Tis the season! You’ve got those beautiful flowers planted and seeds in the garden. The best part? The rhubarb you planted 10 years ago is already growing and ready to eat. 

My roommates and I got creative this year, we wanted to utilize the rhubarb growing in our garden, but do something different than rhubarb cobbler. We made Rhubarb Crunch, Rhubarb Cake and Rhubarb and Cherry Jam. [I know, I know, these are not within my food plan, but they are ALL delicious.]

Rhubarb Crunch

Rhubarb Crunch

The egg makes this sort of like a rhubarb custard!

Rhubarb Mix Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 1 c sugar
• 1/3 c flour
• 6 c rhubarb, chopped into small pieces

Topping Ingredients

• 1/2 c butter
• 1 c brown sugar
• 1 1/2 c oatmeal

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, mix together eggs, sugar and flour.
2. Add sliced rhubarb
3. Pour mixture into greased 9×12 baking pan
4. Mix topping ingredients in a separate bowl. Sprinkle over the rhubarb pan
5. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes
6. Eat.

Rhubarb Cake

Rhubarb Cake

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 c brown sugar
• 1/2 c butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 c sour milk
• 1 tsp soda
• 2 c rhubarb, diced
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 c flour 
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Topping Ingredients

• 1/2 c brown sugar
• 1/4 c butter
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Directions

1. Mix all cake ingredients together and pour into 9×13 pan.
2. Mix topping ingredients together and sprinkle on top of cake batter before baking.
3. Bake at 350 for 50 minutes.

Rhubarb and Cherry Jam

Rhubarb and Cherry Jam

Ingredients

• 1 can cherry pie filling
• 4 c sugar
• 6 or 8 c diced rhubarb 
• 1 small pkg cherry Jello

Directions

1. Mix pie filling, sugar and rhubarb to a boil for 10 minutes, stirring occassionally.
2. Remove from heat and stir in Jello.
3. Can. Or put in Gladware and freeze.

Variation: use blueberry pie filling and raspberry Jello.

© Christophile Konstas 2009

Breakfast

by Elizabeth Ellen

The room we stayed in that night reminded us of what we envisioned summer vacations at grandmas house to be, 3 single beds lined up in a row in the attic part of the house. The numerous blankets and down comforters adorning each bed made it an extremely cozy night. As we all lay in our beds beckoning sleep, we heard the wildest winds howling outside. Having never heard such powerful winds before, we were convinced the roof would fly right off! It definitely enhanced the allure of how remote and off the beaten path we were.

The next morning, we padded down to the dining room sure not to disturb the quietness of the house. The place settings were laid out as they were for dinner the night before. Wasting no time, we dove into the fresh juice and coffee to get us energized for the day. Already set out for us were cereals, toast with various jams and dulce de leche toppings, and alfajores.

Sharon soon came out to greet us good morning, and asked us how our night was. We all agreed that we slept heartily, but that we had never heard such wild winds before. She smiled and said coolly that the winds we experienced were calm by comparison to what they normally experience. She casually commented, “the winds last night were maybe 50mph winds, we are used to 75 mph winds!” That sure put us in our place.

She then asked us if we were interested to see the behind-the-scenes workings of the estancia, how it was run and operated daily. Of course we were more than delighted to participate! She replied simply, “bueno,” but said that first she had a surprise coming out for us. She left and came back quickly with a piping hot rhubarb cake! Fresh and hot right from the oven; made with rhubarb grown right outside in her garden. What a treat! However, the real surprise came when she shared with us a notebook with all of her family recipes including of course, the one for rhubarb cake! Looking over the recipe, we noted how few and simple the ingredients were, must be the secret!

After filling up with breakfast treats, we bundled up to head out for a farm tour, first stop, sheepdogs!

This site has moved to a new home, here’s a link to see what’s cooking in A Yankee in a Southern Kitchen. www.ayankeeinasouthernkitchen.com 

Thanks!