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.