German rhubarb cake

I am slowly trying out more recipes from this book. This is possibly my favourite so far. Definitely the simplest I have tried - but nonetheless a lovely way of using the first rhubarb of the season. Below is what I baked, which was a half quantity, in a 9 inch cake tin with removable base. It was a good size of cake for our little family.

250 g rhubarb, trimmed and chopped into 12 mm pieces
80 g sugar
50 g butter, softened
1 egg
1/4 tsp vanilla essence
grated zest of 1/4 lemon
95 g flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
30 ml milk

Heat oven to 350F / 180C. Grease and line a 9 in cake tin with removable base. Toss rhubarb pieces with 1 1/2 tbsp sugar and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and the remaining 63g sugar until light and fluffy, then beat in the egg, then beat in the vanilla and lemon zest.

In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt together with a fork. Beat half of this mixture into the butter mixture, then beat in the milk, then beat in the rest of the flour mixture until just combined.

Scrape the batter into the prepared cake tin, smoothing it out evenly. Scatter the rhubarb over the top and press in lightly. It will seem like a lot of rhubarb, but that is good. Bake for 45-50 min, or until the cake batter has puffed up slightly around the rhubarb and is golden brown. Remove from the oven when done, and set on a rack to cool completely before removing the cake and peeling off the paper. Best eaten the day after baking.


The lemon and vanilla are almost imperceptible, but important - I had a really nice, fragrant lemon by chance, and I think maybe it made a difference in such a simple cake. Can’t help wondering about replacing some of the flour with ground almonds? The recipe suggests trying almond streusel on top, and trying sour cherries or chopped plums instead of rhubarb.