Best Seasonal Recipes, Spring

Rhubarb and white chocolate crumble cake

May 14, 2012

If you live in the UK one of the best things around at the moment is rhubarb. If you grow it in your garden you’ve probably already had a couple of pickings, and it’s plentiful and cheap on our market stalls. You can’t go wrong with rhubarb crumble, but it’s nice to do something different too, and this cake goes down an absolute treat, either cold or hot with vanilla ice cream.

I. In a food processor whizz together 200g plain flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda, 1 tsp cinnamon and 75g (cold) butter. Then whizz in 100g sugar. (If you don’t have a food processor, chop the butter into small chunks and rub it into the flour with your fingertips until it looks like rough breadcrumbs; then mix in the sugar.)

2. In a big mixing bowl, whisk together 2 eggs and 150g natural yoghurt or buttermilk.

3. Add the dry ingredients into the eggs and yoghurt mixture and stir together until nicely combined.

4. Spoon that mixture into a well oiled and lined baking dish, approx 23x16x5cm, and smooth the surface.

5. Scatter 400g of chopped rhubarb over the top.

6. In the food processor again, whizz together 50g plain flour with 25g butter, and then 25g sugar (or rub in with your fingertips). Mix in a handful of white cooking chocolate chips or chunks (about 40g will do) and scatter the mixture over the top of the cake.

7. Bake for 35 – 40 minutes in an oven at 180 C (slightly less for a fan oven), gas mark 4. Cool on a wire rack once cooked (the cake is cooked when it is well risen and brown on top and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean).

8. Enjoy!

(I’ve adapted this from a Waitrose recipe which you can see here)

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6 Comments

  • Reply Micha Jazz May 14, 2012 at 12:31 pm

    Hey Ruth I love Rhubarb. My dad used to row it in his allotment – sadly I don’t have one. Yet it grows easily in a find black bucket! My favourite variety is champagne rhubarb since this is what I grew up eating.

    Although it looks like an unappetising stick, it is as versatile as Ruth describes.I love to chop it into 3 cm. chunks, place on a baking tray, add the zest of an orange, sufficient fructose sugar for individual taste (rhubarb is naturally quite tart) and then the wonderful vanilla pod. Split this in half and scrape out the seed before tossing the spilt pod in as well. Pour on some water and bake in an oven until soft, yet don’t allow the rhubarb to disintegrate into pulp.

    You have a beautiful flavoured grit to add to low fat creme fraiche or fat free yoghurt. It also is lovely on muesli at breakfast and is remarkably good with smoked mackerel as a sweet chutney.

    So if like me you eat as fat free as possible, this is an excellent treat. Thanks for the inspiration Ruth!

    • Reply ruthvalerio May 14, 2012 at 9:07 pm

      Wow, that sounds delicious! I love rhubarb as an accompaniment to savoury things, very nice.

  • Reply Chris & Jill Squires May 21, 2012 at 8:43 pm

    Excellent recipe… If you’re like us, and have a couple of very productive rhubard plants, it’s a great way to use lots a surplus of without the tart rhubarb flavour overpowering everything else.

  • Reply ruthvalerio May 22, 2012 at 9:01 am

    Great, really pleased you liked it!

  • Reply Tyree Liedberg July 9, 2012 at 6:38 am

    I just like to eat chocolates in particular the dark chocolates because they taste yummy. Chocolates can also benefit your overall well being.`’*`,

    • Reply ruthvalerio July 9, 2012 at 8:09 pm

      yup, Green & Black’s 85% organic is my favourite 🙂

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