Rhubarb & Custard Cake

It's rhubarb season and I just love the stuff, so I was very excited when I saw this cake which was dreamed up by The Caked Crusader. It is just glorious. Light and fluffy, but with a creamy richness courtesy of the custard and then sweet, but ever so slightly tart chunks of rhubarb. It is like the best of puddings made into a cake.

If you pop over to The Caked Crusader to view the original recipe in metric, you will be sure to notice the lovely pink streaks of rhubarb in her cake. My cake is distinctly lacking in this splash of colour because I used some rhubarb whipped from the garden. It was thicker and greener, but it still tasted glorious.

Love rhubarb? Try this Scottish Strawberry and Rhubarb Crumble

Rhubarb & Custard Cake

Ingredients

For the rhubarb:
400g rhubarb, washed and cut into chunks
2 tbsp orange juice
¼ cup caster sugar

For the cake:
250g/2¼ sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup ready made custard
2 cups self raising flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
2 tsp ground ginger (this was my addition)
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1½ cups golden caster sugar


Preheat the oven to 180˚c/fan oven 160˚c/350˚F / gas mark 4.

Wash and trim and dry the rhubarb. Cut into 2-3cm long pieces. Place in a small pan with the sugar and orange juice and cook on a high heat for about 5 mins (this will hold the colour. Drain off the juice and set the rhubarb aside to cool. (The Caked Crusader, bakes her rhubarb in the oven, if you prefer that method.)

Line a 2ocm round springform cake tin with baking paper or cake liner.

Set aside 3 tablespoons of custard for later.

Beat the butter, remaining custard, flour, baking powder,ginger, eggs, vanilla and golden caster sugar in a large bowl until smooth and creamy.

Spoon a third of the batter into the prepared tin and level.

Spoon a third of the rhubarb onto the batter and ensure it is evenly distributed.

Spoon a further third of the batter onto the rhubarb and spread out as best you can. Be gentle and it will be ok.

Spoon a further third of rhubarb and top with the remaining cake batter.

Scatter the remaining rhubarb on top and then dot the 3 tablespoons of reserved custard on top as well.
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Bake for approximately 40 minutes or until risen and golden, then cover with foil and bake for a further 15-20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Cool in the tin on a wire rack.

If you wish you can sieve some icing sugar over the top before serving.

Enjoy

Thanks to The Caked Crusader for allowing me to publish the recipe in cup measures.