Farm Fresh Rhubarb Cake

Hi hello!  It is good to be back!  We've had a crazy few months, with buying, selling and moving house, followed by an amazing holiday away to Estonia and England exploring and visiting family... Before coming back to our incredible new house to make it our home :-)

So the blogging had a little break, and so did my baking while everything was packed up in boxes for a month or so which was super sad, but I'm happy to be back baking - and made up a little bit as I baked twice in two days which is just perfect!! 

Our new home is just down the street from a local farm, with pick-your-own seasonal fruit and veg, and a farm market, so before baking this week I wanted to pick up some farm fresh rhubarb, because why not buy local?!  And it was so worth the taste!! 

 

So here I am - super excited to be back baking and blogging.  Super relieved that our new oven worked and baked the cake through evenly.  And SO happy and excited to be in our new home and for all the adventures that are coming up!

 

We had the big cousin Summer bash last weekend, where I have made a citrus cake, and nautical themed cake in past years, but this year went a bit more rustic and fresh with a Rhubarb cake (inspired by all the rhubarb flavours we tasted while in Europe in various cakes!), with almond buttercream and fresh strawberry filling.

 

I am totally in love with this new recipe (firstly inspired by The Transplanted Baker) and how it turned into a deliciously moist and tangy rhubarb cake, with the sweet almond buttercream and fresh strawberries.  A perfect dessert!

 

First came a test run in muffin form that were for an event I had signed up to make 12 muffins for.  It was great timing to try it out, and I had plenty of rhubarb! 

 

And then the next morning it was time for the full on cake ready to take to the party! 

 

Here's the recipe, and finished product photos at the end.  I'll DEFINITELY be making this recipe again :-D

 

Ingredients:

 

6 stalks (450g) fresh rhubarb, sliced into 1cm pieces

200g sugar

225g unsalted butter, softened

2/3 cup buttermilk

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

280g all purpose (plain) flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Some more coarse sugar for sprinkling

 

and for the buttercream:

6oz unsalted butter, softened

18oz icing sugar

2 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond extract

 

Method:

 

1.  Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease two 9/10 inch sandwich tins.  Line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper.

2.  In a large mixing bowl (I used the stand mixer) - cream the butter and sugar.

3.  Add the buttermilk, then the eggs, one by one mixing until well blended.  Add the vanilla.

4.  In a medium bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and salt.

5.  Incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet, until everything is combined.  Then fold in the sliced rhubarb.

 

6.  Fill the prepared pans with the batter, and smooth the top with a spatula.

7.  Sprinkle the top with the coarse sugar.

8.  Bake in the middle of the oven for 40-45 minutes, checking to test if it is done with a cake tester/skewer.  The top should be golden brown and should spring back when touched.

9.  Leave the cakes to cool on the rack.

10.  While cooling, you can prepare the buttercream in the mixer - cream together the butter and icing sugar.  Add the milk and extracts and beat until well whipped. 

11.  Slice the fresh strawberries and when the cake is cooled fill and decorate with buttercream and strawberries.

 

 

This cake was a really great, easy recipe, that was perfect for a summer's day - fresh and sweet.  And there were NO leftovers!  Good and bad right?!  I hope you find some deliciously fresh rhubarb somewhere and get a chance to try this out - I'll for sure be making it again later this Summer!... And there's still some rhubarb left in the fridge... expect another rhubarb bake coming soon :-)

 

I also just noticed this is my 100th post!!  YEY! 

Strawberries and Cream Lemon Scone Dessert

 

Summer is on it's way, and to celebrate the long weekend I created a super yummy dessert that wasn't just baking, but actually something that was served in a bowl - not just a cupcake liner like usual these days! 

 

I was excited to put together this dessert using fresh strawberries, whipped cream and, my favourite part - home baked lemon scones.  In my mind, I think perhaps this is similar to the American dessert Strawberry Shortcake, but well... In British style, I decided to go with a basic, but delicious scone recipe with some added lemon zest to please my citrus taste buds, and also give a good twist to match the flavours of the strawberries.

 

 

What better time of year to create this dessert... It was Victoria Day, and then Canada Day is coming up on July 1st - could the colours of strawberries and cream be any more Canadian?!... Wimbledon is only a month away as well, and endless strawberries and cream will be eating in England during the tennis tournament!  ... Another thought I had was for my American readers, add a sprinkling of fresh blueberries to go with the strawberries and you have a perfect mix of red, white and blue, just in time for Memorial Day and Independence Day!  So however you choose to create this dish, I'm sure it will pair well with any Summer party theme :)

 

 

The dish didn't need too much preparation.  Each element needed some preparation, but scones are an easy bake and the rest was easy peasy too.  I'm sure anybody reading this could recreate the dessert!  You probably have all of the scone ingredients in your cupboards too, go take a look now, and get baking!  They'll be fresh out of the oven in just a few minutes!

Here's my recipe for the lemon scones, and some step by step pictures to help along the way...  The recipe will make enough for 8/9 scones, thick enough to cut in half and smother with whipped cream and syrupy strawberries. 

 

We had friends over for dinner one evening of the long weekend, and then headed over to a friends place on the final night of the bonus day off work and got to share the dessert with each of them!

 

Ingredients:

 

10oz plain flour (all-purpose)

3 oz granulated sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

4 oz unsalted butter, cold

1/2 cup whole milk (3.25%)

2 large egg yolks

Zest of 1 lemon

 

1 large egg

1 tbsp whole milk

Sprinkling of sugar

 

Method:

 

1.  Preheat your oven to 400°F/205°C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

 

2.  Place the flour in a mixing bowl, and grate or cube unsalted butter in with it.

 

 

3.  Using a pastry blender, and/or your fingertips, rub together the flour and butter until it resembles breadcrumbs.  You could also use a food processor for this.

 

4.  Add the remaining dry ingredients to the bowl - baking powder, sugar and salt.

5.  Warm the 1/2 cup milk for 30 seconds in the microwave, and add the beaten egg yolks to the jug.  Once combined, pour into the bowl of dry ingredients and mix to combine.

 

The dough will come together into a ball that may still feel sticky. 

 

6.  Flour your hands and the surface and knead the dough a little before patting it into a round shape, around 2-3cm thick.  I thought a rolling pin may be needed here, but in the end, my hands were the only thing required!

 

 

7.  Using a cookie cutter cut out scone rounds and place on the lined baking sheet.

 

 

8.  Beat together the 1 egg and tablespoon of milk, and using a pastry brush, spread over the tops of the scones.  Sprinkle sugar on top and place in the oven.

 

 

9.  Bake for 9-12 minutes, until the tops are golden brown, and until a cake tested comes out clean.

 

If at this point, you're making lemon scones for scones sake - then dig in while they're still warm and fresh, but otherwise, leave them to cool and get started on preparing the strawberries and cream.

 

I used a box of strawberries per 4 lemon scones, one for each night of the long weekend where we ate with friends!  I cut each strawberry into 8 and placed them in a bowl along with a spoonful of sugar (to help the medicine go down!?)... Leaving it for a few hours, the strawberries tasted deliciously sweet and even a little syrupy!  Perfection!

 

 

For the whipped cream, take a carton of 35% whipping cream (500ml), along with 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract and a tablespoon of sugar and whip together until stiff.  This, like the strawberries, can be prepared a few hours before guests arrive meaning this is nice and easy to put together even perhaps after the main course as all of the elements of the dessert would be ready.

 

The soft cream paired well with the freshly baked scones - and all went down a treat with a cup of coffee or tea!

 

 

Super easy, but good looking!  And lucky us getting to eat it twice in two nights, sharing with different friends along the way!  I hope you get to try out these lemon scones - they're a really great basic recipe that can be put together and baked in just 30 minutes.  Halve and butter them and they're a great bake to share... And whether it's a traditional clotted cream and jam, or my take on freshly whipped cream and fresh fruit to go along with it - it's sure to go down a treat in these Summer months!