It’s the end of May, and the weather in our region has been most uncooperative. It’s been cold. It’s been rainy. And it’s been windy. All the vegetables are well behind schedule. But through it all, the rhubarb plant is growing like a trooper.
Rhubarb is a very easy perennial to grow. It can handle full sun but also quite a bit of shade. Find a neighbour who can give you a starter plant, find a place to plant it, and just stand back. Make sure to give it lots of room, because it can take up quite a bit of space. Rhubarb is so easy, I’ve never understood why it is so expensive to buy at the market. Any extra stalks can be cut up and kept in the freezer for winter use.
With an abundance of rhubarb, we’ve tried a bunch of different ways to use it. There’s the classic rhubarb and strawberries compote. How about a rhubarb pie? There is a great recipe for a rhubarb apple fruit leather at West Coast Seeds. But by far my favourite use for rhubarb is this fantastic cake recipe!
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 egg
- 1 cup yogurt
- 1/4 cup butter, melted
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups rhubarb (cut into 1 inch pieces)
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tbs flour
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tbs butter, room temperature
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Butter and flour a 9" diameter round pan.
- Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.
- In another bowl, beat the egg, yogurt, melted butter and vanilla together. Whisk into the flour mixture until just blended.
- Fold in the rhubarb and spread into the prepared pan.
- Make the topping by combining the brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Work in the butter with your fingers until crumbly. Sprinkle over the cake.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool on a wire rack, but serve warm.