Sunday 24 June 2012

Strawberry and Rhubarb Cake

Garden rhubarb is getting a bit long in the tooth at this point in the season, but this cake makes fine use of it, sliced thinly and partnered with strawberries.  Together, they cook in a buttery caramel with a light sponge on top, and the whole thing is turned out as an 'upside down' cake, delicious slightly warm with ice cream or whipped cream.  I use a classic 'pound cake' recipe, with 130g each of self-raising flour, soft unsalted butter and caster sugar, mixed in a KitchenAid with 2 eggs, 2 slightly heaped tablespoons of Greek yoghurt and a teaspoon of vanilla essence.  For the fruit bit, line a 20cm square or round tin with baking parchment, dollop in 40g of butter and 2 tablespoons of soft brown sugar and put into an oven (180C fan) for 8 minutes until the butter has melted and the sugar is bubbling and starting to caramelise.  Now, take 1 large or 2 medium sticks of trimmed rhubard, cut cross-ways into pieces as thick as a £1 coin, and lay out over the caramelised butter/sugar.  Now top with 2 handfuls of hulled, halved strawberries.  Gently dollop the cake batter over the surface, spread with a spatula (don't worry if bits of fruit peek out a little) and bake at 170C for about 30 minutes or so, until the sponge is set and a skewer comes out clean.  Leave in the tin for 20 minutes or so to cool, then turn out onto a large cake plate or board, peel off the parchment and cut into squares or slices.  Eat with a dollop of vanilla or strawberry ice cream or whipped cream.  Any leftovers (who am I kidding!) are nice eaten cold as a regular cake.

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