Rhubarb, orange and almond cake

Some people listen out for the first cuckoo to tell them when spring’s here.  I wait for the CCD (Caked Crusader’s Da) to tell me that he’s got tons of rhubarb and I’d better come up with some plans for it or it will rot...no pressure then!

So here it is; my first home-grown rhubarb bake of the year.  Spring has officially arrived!  Rhubarb and almond always work well together, as do rhubarb and orange...so putting all three together is dynamite!  Orange seems to add freshness to rhubarb and lift the flavour to something even zingier.  The almond does what it always does and adds lovely body to the sponge and a comforting blanket of flavour.

This is a big cake but it keeps well.  It’s the sort of cake I find irresistible – homely and rustic.  I love how the rhubarb bakes down and becomes squidgy but retains a hint of sharpness.

Definitely a cake you have to be genteel to eat – it requires a plate and fork as it is very soft and crumbly.  You won’t get away with a quick hand-held slice gobbled down in the kitchen while you make a cup of tea! (please tell me it’s not just me who cuts themselves a little slice to sit down with, but then cuts a ‘bonus’ slice to eat while you’re waiting for the kettle?)

Ingredients

400g rhubarb cut into 1cm chunks
280g golden caster sugar
225g unsalted butter, at room temperature
zest and juice of one orange
225g self raising flour
100g ground almonds
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 eggs
2 handfuls flaked almonds

To decorate: icing sugar

To serve: if serving warm then custard or cream, if serving at room temperature then definitely cream!

Method

Place the chop rhubarb in a bowl and sprinkle 50g of the sugar over it.  Stir to ensure that the rhubarb is covered and leave for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan oven 160°C/350°F/gas mark 4.

Line a 20cm round springform cake tin with baking paper.

Place the butter, remaining sugar (i.e. 230g), orange zest and juice into a bowl and beat until smooth and well blended.  It might look a bit curdled and yucky at first but keep beating and it will all come good.  You will end up with a rich yellow whippy batter.

Add the flour, almonds, baking powder and eggs and beat until well combined.

Tip in the rhubarb and all the juice that has come out of the rhubarb.  Stir in until evenly distributed throughout the batter.

Spoon into the prepared tin and level the surface.

Scatter the flaked almonds over the top.

Bake for approximately 1 hour 25minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.  NB.  Check the cake after an hour in case the edges are browning too much – if they are, wrap a piece of foil around the edge to shield them, and continue baking.  I had to do this. 
Don’t worry if it takes longer to bake than the guideline time – the rhubarb releases a lot of juice and this can slow down the baking process.

Leave to cool in the tin until you can safely remove the tin.

Leave to cool completely on a wire rack.

Just before serving, sieve some icing sugar over the top.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.