Rhubarb Cake

I had tried and failed at growing rhubarb for years and then mum’s friend Flis (who is surely a rhubarb whisperer!) gave me one of her plants and miraculously it is still alive three years later. Not thriving but alive enough to let me make this cake a couple of times a year!  I do also request a large bunch of rhubarb from Flis whenever mum comes to stay! It’s like folklore in my family - the kids talk about “Flis’s rhubarb” like it’s the holy grail!

This cake is so quick to pull together and a great one to take to a friend’s house. It’s gluten free and can also be made with raspberries or blueberries. It is a moist cake so just be careful when transporting.

1½ cups almond meal
1 cup caster sugar
1 cup desiccated coconut
200g butter, melted
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tsp vanilla extract
Zest of 1 lemon
125g rhubarb

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (fan forced). Grease and line a 20cm spring form pan.

Wash the rhubarb and finely chop into 1cm pieces.

In a large bowl, combine almond meal, sugar and coconut.
In a jug, whisk the butter, eggs, vanilla and zest.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry and gently mix together.

Pour the batter into the pan. Gently sprinkle the rhubarb over the top, making sure it’s spread evenly, right to the edges. Sprinkle with a little bit of sugar (or not if you love the tartness of rhubarb).

Bake in the oven for 50-55 minutes, until golden and the top springs back gently when pressed in the centre.

Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove and place carefully on a wire rack to cool completely.

Best served with an enormous dollop of lemon curd and a scoop of ice-cream. But dusted with icing sugar is also good!