From the Pantry: Try our tasty Rhubarb Pudding Cake

Rhubarb season has arrived, and it’s hard to miss those vivid pink stalks popping up at markets, allotments and in gardens. Tangy, sharp and full of the taste of summer, rhubarb is a wonderful ingredient to cook with in sweet or savoury dishes.

We are keen cooks at B&B, and always make the most of seasonal ingredients. We’ll be sharing regular journal posts with recipes from our kitchens – simple, wholesome and just the sort of good, honest food we enjoy cooking at home.

This time, it’s rhubarb in the spotlight and we have used a tasty recipe from Hugh Fearnley Whittingstalls Everyday cookbook.  He uses apples in his version but we have baked this pudding cake many times using plums, pears and rhubarb, depending on what’s in the garden. Lovely on it’s own or with a dollop of crème fraiche! Give it a go and if you try it, we’d love to know how you get on.

Ingredients

150g of unsalted butter, softened
125g caster sugar
2 medium eggs
75g white self-raising flour
75g ground almonds

For the rhubarb
2-3 stalks of rhubarb (depending on size) cut into roughly 50mm lengths
3 heaped tablespoons of granulated sugar (less if you prefer your rhubarb tarte)

Method
Grease a 20cm springform cake tin and line the base and sides with baking parchment.

Pop the rhubarb into a baking dish and spoon over the granulated sugar. Roast in a preheated oven for about 35 minutes until soft. Cover with foil to avoid it drying out.

Put the butter and caster sugar in a large bowl and beat together with a hand-held electric beater, or using a freestanding electric mixer, until light and fluffy. Break in an egg and beat well, then beat in the second egg and a spoonful of flour (this helps to prevent the mixture curdling). Add the ground almonds, sift in the remaining flour and fold in gently with a large metal spoon.

Scrape the mixture into the prepared tin and gently smooth the surface with a palette knife, then arrange the rhubarb on top. (If you have any left, pop it in the fridge or freezer to store for another day). Place in an oven preheated to 170°C, Gas Mark 3 and bake for 45-50 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Stand on a wire rack to cool for few minutes before releasing the tin.
Serve warm or cold with cream, custard, crème fraiche or Greek yoghurt