Rhubarb & Custard Cake
I’m not in the Yorkshire triangle, I had to look up what that was when I first heard about it – See the post for Rhubarb Tart with Lemon & Ginger Custard.
But I do have one great set of neighbours I’m getting to know who are very generous with all that they grow (Oh, and I’m not joking when I say only one nice neighbour. Don’t even get me started on that topic).
Because of the lockdown, I’ve met a new neighbour only a few doors away from where I live.
When I say new, it’s not that they’ve recently moved in, as far as I know they’ve lived in their beautiful house, with fabulous garden for longer that I’ve lived in my home.
It’s just that since lockdown, my daily walks have taken me on a route that I’d not tread too often. Added to this, the attention to the garden of my neighbour, and you can see why I stumbled across them
I’m not too good at making friends. It’s not just an age thing, it’s something that has been part of me for many years.
Thank you, Mum.
Work situations aside, I’m a different person in those situations, I’m really an introverted extravert (my daughter taught me that).
Too much in my head, can only stand so much time talking to others until I have to retreat into a quiet space on my own to re-charge, and what you might see on the outside (smiling and chatting) might not be what’s going on internally.
How does the lovely Mr G put up with me?
As if that wasn’t enough, I don’t easily forgive either, don’t easily trust, and have a hatred of what I call fluffy talk.
You know the sort of chatter I mean?
Where’d you get your hair cut? Where’d you buy that dress? Oh, you’re going to the bathroom, I’ll come along with you? – Never understood what that was about.
It usually takes me about ten years to trust someone, (not even kidding, ask my son in-law).
The only time that I was different was when Mr G and I moved to America to live for a few years.
The skill to living in a new country and adapting to the new surroundings is to jump in with both feet and as quickly as possible.
So there, I was fortunate to make a few friends that I could spend time with.
I think what made it different, I knew that the time in the U.S. was transitory, whereas my feeling about making friends here, at home, is, I’ve always wanted to make lifelong friends.
Anyway, from this wonderful neighbour, I’ve received bunches of rosemary, a pot of amazing and ready to flower chives, and a bunch of fresh rhubarb picked straight from the garden.
Counting my blessings as I write.
It may not be a well known fact, but even though I used to make and design cakes for a living, eating cake has never been my thing. I’m much happier with the fresh cream, or marmite on toast. Go figure?
This is probably why I put very few cake recipes on this site (I must rectify that).
If there’s any sort of cake recipe you’d like me to share here, just let me know and I’ll get right on it?
For now, here’s one using that fabulous rhubarb.
Apologies for the rotten photos of the end product, I was half way through cutting it up to give to my neighbours before I remembered to take a photo.
Enjoy Your Sweet Life
Rhubarb and custard cake
Cake mix, rhubarb, cake mix, rhubarb, cake mix.
What You Need
Rhubarb
Rhubarb approx. – 300g Plus- Cleaned and sliced in to pieces– See Tip Box
Castor sugar – 2 tablespoons
Star anise – 1 crushed – See Tip Box
Cinnamon – ¼ teaspoon – optional – See Tip Box
Cake
250g Margarine
250g castor sugar
200 g custard – See Tip Box
250g Self raising flour
1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
Topping
200g Custard
300g Double Cream
2 teaspoons Icing sugar
Everything for the cake in at once and mixed until light and fluffy
How It’s Done
Heat the oven to 200c – See Tip Box
Rhubarb
Wash and cut the rhubarb to size and place into a bowl along with the crushed star anise, the cinnamon (if you’re using it) and the castor sugar
Mix it around until the rhubarb is coated.
Tip the contents of the bowl onto an oven proof tray, and cook in the oven for 5-7 minutes until the rhubarb is soft but still has a little bite to it.
Once cooked, let it cool completely.
Reduce the oven to 180c
Cake
Prepare a 9” round cake tin – See Tip Box
Place all of the cake ingredients into the bowl of an electric mixer, and mix on medium until the mixture is light and creamy and doubled in size – be patient
Add 1/3 of the cake mixture to your prepared tin.
Add a layer of the cooked rhubarb, then a layer of cake mix. One more layer of rhubarb and the last 1/3rd of the cake mix
Place the cake tin in the middle of the oven and cook until a toothpick, is dry when you remove it from the centre. Approx.- 40 -50 minutes – See Tip Box
Once cooked, remove from the oven and let it cool completely before removing it from the tin.
Once cooled, run a thin pallet knife around the edges to help it come out of the tin. Place onto a serving plate
Topping
In a clean food mixer, place the cream, the custard and the icing sugar and mix until thick and creamy.
Cover the cooled cake with the whipped topping – See Tip Box
Refrigerate for about 1 hour before serving
Best tip for not getting your cake topping everywhere - See Tip Box
Tip Box
Custard – Make your own, or use ready-made and have what’s left with the cake when its cooked.- I used a 400g tin of custard . 1 tin is 400g, so the tin will be enough for the cake and the topping.
Rhubarb – This is an approximate weight. If I had more when I made the cake, I would have put more into it . The size of the cut pieces is up to you. Mine were about 2 inches long.
Cinnamon – Love it or hate it, it’s up to you if you add this
Star Anise – this is pretty difficult to crush, so use a pestle and mortar if you have one. It’s not pleasant biting into this in the cake.
Oven – All ovens are different so adjust the cooking time accordingly.
Cake Tin – Coat the inside of the cake tin well with margarine. Then dust the inside generously with flour. Cut out a circle of non-stick baking parchment, the same size as the bottom of the tin, and place it onto the bottom of the flour dusted tin.
Covering the Cake – To make it less messy when covering the cake, and to make it easier for you to cover the cake directly onto the serving plate, tear off strips of baking parchment and place the all the around under the edges of the cake. When you’ve finished covering the cake, all you have to do is pull out the parchment pieces to reveal a clean serving plate.
Rhubarb and Star Anise - Crush it up really well
