Rhubarb & Custard Cake

Earlier this week I felt like I needed some rhubarb in my life. Every year I miss the rhubarb in the shops but not this year! I refused to be caught out! Obviously Tesco being next to useless didn't have any but as expected Waitrose stepped up to the mark.

I searched around for a suitable recipe and settled on the Rhubarb and Custard cake from BBC Good Food because a) it sounded lovely and b) it had pretty good reviews.

My biggest stumbling block with this cake was roasting the rhubarb. Not because it's difficult or anything, but because the aroma was amazing and all I wanted to do was scoff the roasted rhubarb! I did manage to restrain myself though.

This cake was gorgeous.  I thought I was going to have a complete cake wreck on my hands as it took ages to cook, I mean almost double the time the recipe states and as a result the edges went a bit biscuity but actually overnight it softened again and was perfect the next day.  It was absolutely delicious and even Mr M didn't object to the slimy bits of rhubarb.  It's firmly found it's place in my list of favourite cakes ever!  If you like rhubarb, give it a try!

Rhubarb and Custard Cake

Ingredients

For the rhubarb;

400g rhubarb

50g caster sugar

For the cake;

250g butter (with extra for greasing)

150g pot Ambrosia ready-made custard

250g self raising flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

4 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

250g golder caster sugar

Method

First make the rhubarb.  Heat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6.   Rinse the rhubarb and shake off excess water.  Trim the ends of the rhubarb and cut into small finger-size pieces.  Put in a shallow dish or a baking tray, tip over 50g caster sugar, toss together.  Make sure the rhubarb is in a single layer and cover the dish with foil.  Roast in the oven for around 15 minutes before removing the foil, shaking it all around a bit and roasting for a further 5 minutes.  Carefully drain away the juices and leave to cool.

Heat the oven to 180c/gas mark 4.  Butter and line a 23cm springform cake tin.

Reserve 3 tbsp of the ready-made custard in bowl and beat together the rest of the custard with the butter, flour, baking powder, eggs, vanilla and sugar until creamy and smooth (I used the KitchenAid mixer for this). 

Spoon one third of the mix into the tin and add some of the rhubarb.  Add another third of the mix and spread it out over the top as well as you can.  Top with some more rhubarb and then the remaining cake mix, leaving it in rough mounds and dips.  Scatter the rest of the rhubarb over the top of the cake batter and dot the remaining custard over.

Bake the cake for 40 minutes until risen and golden, then cover with foil and bake for around 20 minutes more.  You can tell when the cake is ready in the usual way - by inserting a skewer or cocktail stick into the middle. If it comes out clean, it's ready!

Cool the cake in the tin and if you wish, dredge with icing sugar when cool.

Just be mindful, as mentioned above, that you may need to extend the cooking time somewhat.  All in all I probably had it in the oven for well over an hour and a half.  I kept the foil on for all of the extra cooking time.

Even though this cake made me nervous due to the extended cooking time, it turned out very well and I think I shall make it a lot over the years - it's perfect with a cup of tea in the afternoon!

love & kisses

Mrs M x