Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Rhubarb & Custard Cake: Simple & in Season Blog Event

I've had my eye on this recipe for a while and then I happened to see the Simple and in Season monthly challenge hosted by Fabulicious Food. As it says on the blog 'all you have to do is come up with a dish using any seasonal produce you like (savoury or sweet)'.

Fortunately, this challenge coincides with the start of the forced rhubarb season. So I purchased my British rhubarb fresh from the Rhubarb Triangle in Yorkshire and proceeded to make my rhubarb and custard cake.
So, how did it taste? Well it tasted pretty good but I think if I were to make it again I'd want to make a few modifications. Firstly, it was a little dry and the cake mix was fairly dry to start so maybe next time I might loosen it a bit before putting it in the tin. It also seemed to be cooked in about an hour, so I might take it out earlier.

My final modification would be to add more of the star ingredient, rhubarb. In the cookbook the finished product had rhubarb that seemed to meet in the middle of the cake but I'm not really sure how it all fitted in there, when I tried there was no room in the pan so I had to cut the stalks shorter. I didn't use nearly as much as the recipe suggested! I might also try experimenting with putting an extra rhubarb layer on top of the custard...not sure if this would work or not! Anyone any thoughts on any of these modifications or any other suggestions?

Overall though, the rhubarb itself was amazingly tasty, in season and homegrown... why not join in with next month's simple and seasonal!

Ingredients
  • 200g butter, softened
  • 110g caster sugar
  • 185g self-raising flour
  • 40g custard powder
  • 4 stalks of rhubarb, sliced lengthways and cut into 10cm lengths
  • 20g butter, melted
  • 2 tsp caster sugar
Custard
  • 2 tbsp custard powder
  • 55g caster sugar
  • 250ml milk
  • 20g butter
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
Firstly, start off by making the custard by placing the custard powder and sugar in a small saucepan. Gradually add in the milk and blend in to avoid lumps. Then put on the heat and stir until the mixture boils and thickens. Take it off the heat, it is important to put clingfilm over it at this point to avoid a skin forming. Leave to cool.
Preheat the oven at 180c/160c fan and then grease a 20cm cake tin and line the base with baking paper. Combine the softened butter and sugar in a bowl and beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs in one at a time before sifting the flour and custard powder over the top and stirring in.
Put half of the mixture into the cake tin and spread evenly. On top of this spread the custard mixture before dolloping the remaining cake mixture on top and spreading carefully with a spatula. Finally, place the rhubard in a circle on the top and brush with melted butter and sprinkle with the 2 teaspoons of caster sugar. Cook for 1 1/4 hours and then cool in the tin.

13 comments:

  1. Hi Laura, thank you so much for joining in with Simple and in Season! This is a really tasty looking cake, I love the star shaped rhubarb in the middle! Looking forward to trying some Yorkshire rhubarb myself!

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  2. I have always wonder how cakes and dessert taste like with rhubarb in it. I guess it tastes great as I've seen many food bloggers post their recipes using rhubarb! great looking cake.

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  3. Delicious... looks really inviting!

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  4. Your cake looks absolutely stunning and i love the sound of a rhubarb and custard cake. I can see how you would have struggled to fit anymore rhubarb on top though. I made rhubarb muffins one year which were really tasty, but our rhubarb died last year, so I felt rather bereft. I've never had forced pin rhubarb - I know it's meant to be tastier and it certainly looks a lot prettier.

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  5. Thanks all!

    What's baking...you should try some baking with rhubarb... it really tastes great!

    Choclette thanks...sad news about your rhubarb :-( Apparently forced rhubarb is supposed to be sweeter and more tender!! I may try and attempt more rhubarb next time...I'm sure I could sneak some in there somewhere!

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  6. Such a beautiful cake! I don't like rhubarb myself but have been wanting to try a rhubarb and custard cupcake recipe since last year. It's a shame the cake was a little dry but at least now you know and can make it better for next time :)

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  7. I'm loving rhubarb at the moment and have been making crumbles. Your cake is awesome and I love how it incorporates the custard

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  8. Thanks Laura, I've just posted a round-up today for January x

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  9. I love rhubarb and custard and this is a fantastic looking cake. I love the fact that it's a bit unusual.

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  10. Oh my..We love rhubarb in our house and this looks fantastic! I am drooling at the thought! Have a fantastic week!

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  11. I really want to make this cake.
    How many eggs go in? (I can't see eggs in the ingredients but it looks eggs go in.)

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  12. Thanks for sharing this informative information about Rhubarb Powder with us. It's very helpful. Keep it up!

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