It's Friday and for many people working from home, the weekend is nigh. Why not treat yourselves with some nice rhubarb cake? It is the season for rhubarb here in the UK and they are fresh and juicy.
The rhubarb cake is a new addition to our household and when I say new, I mean in the past 7 years. My ex-husband and I visited my brother in Vienna a while ago and my brother made a very nice meal, with a white asparagus cream soup, potato gratin and the wonderful rhubarb cake.
Whenever we entertained friends at our house, the rhubarb cake was not far off and was always a huge hit. And when I say a huge hit, it wouldn't outlast the evening.
What I generally do is buy a huge amount of rhubarb, clean it which is a pain, cut it into pieces and freeze it so I can make it at any time, even when rhubarb is not in season. It loses a bit of its flavour like this as the rhubarb is not as zesty but otherwise a lot might go to waste, and I do not like waste.
The recipe calls for egg liquor. You can find it in the UK in all major stores, Tesco, Morrisons but I also find the cheaper version of it in Lidl or Aldi. A bootle can come up to 15 pounds, but if you only use it for the cake it will last for a long time. Just look for the name "advocaat" and you hit the jackpot.
You can leave the cake as it is but I top it up with some meringue. It is amazing if I say so myself. My housemate usually drenches it in lemon curd....which I think spoils it but to each their own.
I like to add some rum essence to the dough mix. I am Romanian after all, and in all cakes we make, we add rum essence. But the most important part is, do not remove the cake from the oven once the meringue is cooked or it will collapse and be rather chewy. I learned that the hard way as no recipe actually mentions it. They either assume people know or want people to learn by themselves.
Enjoy!
This cake is amazing 😉 made today. Tastes beautiful!