Rhubarb, Lemon and Ginger Cake

Rhubarb, lemon and ginger cake

I can't seem to stay away from the rhubarb in our garden at the moment. Nor can I seem to stop combining it with some lemon and ginger. However this is all in aid of of a good cause namely being the Recipes for Life challenge set by Vanesther at Bangers & Mash for the Swallow charity.

I had the perfect opportunity to make this cake last weekend as it was my local Clandestine Cake Club meeting which had the theme of 'Cakes from the vegetable patch'. All I can say is that when I went to pick out the going home samples there was only one piece of my cake left.

It's quite a pleasure being able to cut the rhubarb, bring it into the house, wash it and then use it straight away. If if don't have any rhubarb in your garden there's plenty about in the supermarkets at the moment. Quite often it's reduced because I don't think people know what to make with it. Now you have no excuses!

I like to call this a 'right way up, upside down cake'. The faff of having to turn a large cake over in order to get it out the tin scares me a bit so instead I just put the rhubarb on top to cook. Basically, I don't do difficult.

There were a few pieces of rhubarb left in the syrup so of course I scoffed them. If you don't want to bake the whole cake and just want a simple pudding then just make the topping. It would make a simple summer dessert served with some natural or Greek yoghurt.

Equipment: 8in (20cm) loose-based or springform cake tin, greased and lined, large frying pan.

Ingredients

9oz (250g) Rhubarb (about 4 sticks, mine weighed 254g)

3½ oz (100g) Caster sugar

Juice and zest of 1 Lemon

7oz (200g) Unsalted butter or baking spread

5oz (150g) Dark muscovado sugar

2 tbsp (30ml) Honey

¼ pint (150ml) Milk

2 Large Eggs

10½ oz (300g) Self-raising flour

2 tsp (10ml) Ground ginger

2 tbsp (30ml) Crystallised ginger, finely chopped

Method

1. Grease and line the baking tin. I use reuseable non-stick liners.

2. Pre-heat oven to 180°C/Gas mark 4

3. Chop the rhubarb into 4cm pieces (Yes, I used a ruler).

4. In the frying pan put the rhubarb pieces along with the caster sugar, 2 tablespoons (30ml) of lemon juice and 3 tablespoons (45ml) of water.

5. Bring to the boil and then bring the temperature back down to a simmer.

6. Cook the rhubarb until it has soften but not falling apart.

7. Put the rhubarb and the lemon syrup mixture to one side (do not get rid of the syrup!)

8. In a saucepan put the butter/baking spread, muscovado sugar and honey. Heat gently until the butter and sugar have melted. Put to one side.

9. In a large bowl lightly beat the milk and eggs together.

10. Add the butter/sugar mixture to the eggs and milk. Then stir in the flour, lemon zest, ground ginger and crystallised ginger.

11. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin.

12. Place the rhubarb on top of the cake batter (it's a very moist cake). Keep the syrup still!

13. Bake for around 1 hour until a skewer comes out clean.

14. Leave the cake in the tin and pour over the lemon syrup. Leave to cool completely in the tin before turning out.

Rhubarb, Lemon & Ginger Friands

Rhubarb, lemon & ginger friands

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the tidy-up we had in our garden and one of the things I was looking forward to was the rhubarb growing so all the family could enjoy it in some tasty treats. All four of us are rhubarb fans and the brilliant thing about rhubarb is that it is so easy to grow. The variety we have is Timperley Early but due to the seemingly constant snow in the past months it hasn't been as early as usual. Despite living in Yorkshire we don't force it but simply let it die down at the end of the season and then wait for it to come back up the next year. That's it. The perfect crop for a lazy gardener.

I've recently acquired 8 mini loaf tins which I have been desperate to use. Therefore I decided to posh up my usual style and make some friands. You can buy special friand tins but these tins have worked just as well. My tins measure 9cm x 6cm around the top and have a depth of 4cm. You can also bake these in muffin cases. If you do use muffin cases or another sort of tin just make sure the mixture doesn't come any further than two-thirds of the way up the sides.

This month's Recipes for Life challenge for the Swallow charity is rhubarb, lemon and spice and since these contain the magical trio I will be submitting them to Vanesther at Bangers & Mash.

With the seasonal rhubarb I will also be sending this to Ren Behan for Simple and in Season. Although, I expect she is probably sick of the sight of rhubarb recipes by now. I'm sorry.

 

My tip for this recipe is don't melt the butter until you need it otherwise it will cool and turn back into its original state. Obviously this was done purely for recipe testing methods...If you are wondering what to do with the leftover 5 egg yolks I make a rich scrambled eggs with mine. Alternatively you could also buy cartons of egg whites in the supermarkets now. I've never tried them but I have heard very good reports about them.

Equipment: 8 friand/little loaf tins or muffin tin lined, electric whisk.

Ingredients

2½ oz (75g) Plain Flour

7oz (200g) Icing sugar

1 tsp (5ml) Ground ginger

4½ oz (125g) Ground almonds

Zest of 1 lemon

5 Egg whites

6oz (175g) unsalted butter, melted

1 stick (about 2oz/50g) Rhubarb, chopped into 1cm pieces.

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 200°C/Gas mark 6.

2. Grease the friand/loaf tins or line a muffin tin with paper cases.

3. In a large bowl sift the flour, icing sugar and ground ginger.

4. Stir in the ground almonds and lemon zest.

5. In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites until frothy – not stiff peaks!

6. Melt the butter.

7. Fold in the egg whites and butter into the dry ingredients.

8. Spoon the mixture into the tins or cases.

9. Place the rhubarb pieces on top of each friand.

10. Bake for about 20 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.

11. Leave in the tins for about 5 minutes to cool slightly and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Ginger Preserve and Chocolate Cake

Ginger preserve and chocolate cake

My Mother often gives me food items that she has found reduced and knows it will be gratefully received when trying to feed my hungry horde. This is usually yellow-stickered meat which has been reduced by vast amounts. Occasionally, though, she gives me other things which I presume she bought on whim, unable to resist such a good bargain. When I left her house at Christmas she pressed a jar of ginger preserve into my hand muttering something about how I could do something with it.

Now I'm not really one for preserves of this type. I stick to mainly olive spread for toast and sometimes join the kids with Marmite or chocolate spread. Jam is used for Victoria Sandwich cakes and scones. My husband goes for marmalade and peanut butter. So this jar has now become a problem for me and quite frankly I AM SICK OF THE SIGHT OF IT.

My cupboards are full to bursting at the best of times and it seems to have found a home on the top shelf in front of the self-raising flour. This means I have to unpack everything in front of the flour container in order to get it out of the cupboard and I use a lot of flour. I can't give it away or sneak it into school raffle or hamper prize because it has been opened and sampled. By me. Yes, one morning while at breakfast I had a bit of it on some toast because my Mum kept bringing it out and finally I cracked when she suggested for the umpteenth time I should try some. It is very strong tasting and like the label describes, warm and spicy. If I did start to have some on toast each day it would still take a long time to finally get shot of it due to its intense flavour. The fact I've had it now for two months and not opened it again just shows that it's not going to disappear by its own accord. In such desperate times there is only one solution – bake it into something.

Inspired by Jen's choice of ginger as this month's theme for her hosting of We Should Cocoa on behalf of Chocolate Log Blog and Chocolate Teapot, I thought the ginger preserve would be best used in a cake. As such I will be putting it forward for this month's challenge on Jen's Blue Kitchen Bakes blog.

I also have to say thank you to Jen for making me aware of the No Waste Food Challenge which is run each month by Turquiose Lemons. February's ingredient is preserves so I shall be entering this recipe for Kate's blog.

I've covered this with chocolate flavoured icing but you could use a chocolate ganache and even put some more ginger preserve on top.

Ingredients

5oz (150g) Self-raising flour

1oz (25g) Cocoa powder

½ tsp (2.5ml) Baking powder

4oz (110g) Butter, softened or baking spread

2.5oz (75g) Soft light brown sugar

2 Large eggs, beaten

4oz (110g) Ginger preserve

Topping

3oz (85g) Icing sugar

1 tbsp (15ml) Cocoa

1 tbsp (15ml) Hot water

Equipment

Large mixing bowl

Electric whisk

2lb/1kg Loaf Tin, lined

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4.

2. Sift together the flour, cocoa and baking powder into a large mixing bowl.

3. Add the butter, sugar, eggs and ginger preserve and beat well with an electric whisk.

4. Pour the mixture into the lined loaf tin.

5. Bake for 30 minutes and check the top isn't burning too much. Cover if needed. Cook for another 20 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.

6. Leave in the tin for 5 minutes before leaving to cool completely on a wire rack.

7. Once cool make the topping by sifting together the icing sugar and cocoa.

8. Add the water and stir together.

9. If you want thicker icing just add more icing sugar. Leave to set.

This recipe uses about a quarter of a jar of ginger preserve so one down, three to go...