In May I mentioned that I had made Rhubarb Almond Cake for our Missions Fellowship Lunch. Since then I have made it several times with some minor adjustments ... enough so that I feel the need to record somewhere the actual recipe. I still haven't gotten around to adding it to my recipe collection (it's still handwritten in a notebook which is better than my usual method of writing it on scrap paper and then losing it).
Anyone who knows me knows that I tend towards simply, fail-proof recipes, and the less ingredients the better. This one ticks all the boxes, as well as a few other boxes that are joining the line-up of must-haves in a recipe.
Not only is it gluten-free, but it is also free of gluten-free-flour-mix. I have a choice of two gluten-free flours in our local supermarket (unless I blend my own) and I don't like the taste or texture of either. In place of flour, this recipe calls for ground almonds, but I have used almond meal, almond flour, and a mix of almond flour and meal, and with great results each time.
The fact that it is dairy-free also appeals. In recent years, I seem to have lost my tolerance to lactose. Looking back, I think it's been there under the surface for a long time, but the symptoms certainly intensified since having COVID, and so I try to avoid it (hard for a person who once could have happily lived on yoghurt for three meals a day).
But even for those who are not dairy free, with the price of butter at present, any recipe that does not contain butter is a winner. Unbelievably, the price of butter has become of great concern to our politicians, perhaps because it has now created a two-tier system between those who can afford to pay $8.60 or more for 500g of butter (the price the media are reporting as the average price although I'd love to know where I can buy it for that price because that's less than what I see ours advertised at) and those that can't. It's gotten to the point that it's almost a special occasion food. Any more price hikes and I'll be watching DH like a hawk and measuring out his daily allowance! And olive oil is little better at roughly $30 a litre.
All that to say that this cake is special without breaking the budget.
Although, if you're not fortunate enough to be growing rhubarb in your garden (we've only recently planted some since rhubarb was one of those foods I didn't grow up with and was not on my list of ideal food items to grow until I made this cake), then it might not be the cheapest ingredient to buy, depending on season. Having said that, the original recipe calls for 300g. Ours come pre-packaged in 400g from the supermarket which I have found is more than adequate for two cakes. If you want to use 300g, go for it, but know that 200g will work perfectly too.
A few tweaks I have made is to use less sugar, substitute almond essence for vanilla paste, and not bother with preheating the oven (it preheats while the rhubarb is roasting - and apparently there are some chefs that say preheating is simply a waste of energy - which lets me off the hook for being lazy/forgetful and failing to do it most times).
Credit to Pink Haired Pastry Chef for this incredible cake.
Ingredients (for 1 cake)
200g rhubarb
1 tablespoon sugar
3 eggs
160g almond meal or almond flour
100g caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste
20g flaked almonds, optional
Method
1. Wash and then slice the rhubarb into 1-2cm chunks and place into a deep baking tray. Sprinkle the 1 tablespoon of sugar over and cover with aluminium foil. Place into an oven and set the oven to 180 degrees Celsius and cook for 10-12 minutes until barely softened.
2. Meanwhile, whisk together eggs, almond meal, sugar, baking powder and vanilla essence until a smooth batter has formed.
3. Add half of the rhubarb to the batter and fold in with a spatula.
4. Grease and line a springfrom tin and spread the batter evenly into the tin. Add the remaining rhubarb on top, and the flaked almonds if using.
5. Bake for 40 minutes at 170 degrees Celsius or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool on a rack and enjoy warm or cold.
Note: for fan forced ovens, lower the temperature by 10 degrees.
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