Recipe: Rhubarb Tea Cake

When I was a child, we would pick rhubarb from the garden, then dip the tender ends in sugar. It was our version of Fun Dip, the candy sticks you plunge into flavoured sugar.

Now, one of my favourite things to do with early rhubarb – whether it's the garden variety or the slightly sweeter, pinker kind grown in greenhouses – is to stir it into this one-bowl cake. The method couldn't be simpler. Just be sure to beat the ingredients together for three minutes to properly incorporate air, which makes the cake fluffy.

The syrup, if you do not reduce it, can also be used in cocktails and shrubs or for rhubarb soda. Reduced, it can be tossed with strawberries or other fruits or served as a sauce over ice cream. You'll need about a pound of rhubarb altogether for this recipe. Serve with tea after Easter brunch or dinner.

Servings: 1 loaf

Ready Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes

Cake

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup diced butter, at room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1/4 cup whipping cream

1 cup chopped rhubarb

Syrup

4 cups chopped rhubarb

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

Method

To make the cake, preheat oven to 350 F. Line the base of a loaf pan with parchment. Butter the sides of the pan and sprinkle sugar to coat the sides.

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Stir in butter, sugar, eggs and cream. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute, then on high speed for 2 minutes longer until mixture is smooth and some air has been incorporated. Stir in rhubarb. Scrape into loaf pan.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until top is golden and a cake tester comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes. Turn out cake on rack, remove paper and return cake to pan.

To make the syrup, combine rhubarb, sugar and water in a pot while cake is baking. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes or until rhubarb is very soft. Strain mixture into a clean pot, pressing down on the solids. Discard any rhubarb or use for a very thick rhubarb jam.

Bring strained mixture to a boil and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes or until reduced to syrup. You will have about 2/3 cup. While cake is warm, make holes on top with a wooden skewer. Brush or pour about 2 tablespoons of syrup overtop. Reserve remainder and let it cool.

To serve, cut cake into thick slices. Place slice on a plate, drizzle syrup over it and top with crème fraiche or vanilla ice cream.