Rhubarb is so delicious! Aside from asparagus, rhubarb may be my favorite of the produce that spring has to offer. I love the tangy sweetness that is so unique to this vegetable masquerading as a fruit. This is a traditional German recipe. The cake batter is called “Rührteig,” and forms the base for a number of different cake recipes. I recommend serving this particular version with a bit of whipped cream and an iced coffee or tea – especially since it’s been so wonderfully hot for the last few days!
Ingredients:
1 pound rhubarb, chopped
For the batter:
1 1/8 cups butter or margarine
1 1/8 cups sugar
2 eggs
4 3/8 cups flour
3 teaspoons of baking powder
2 teaspoons of vanilla sugar (made by scraping a couple vanilla beans, placing the bean and scrapings in 2 cups of granulated sugar, and letting it sit for at least one week)
For the crumbs:
1 cup butter or margarine
1 cup sugar
some cinnamon (I love cinnamon, so I recommend a generous amount)
1/2 cup ground almonds
2 5/8 cups flour
What to do:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
First, make the Rührteig. Get out the ingredients – it’s best if they are all at a similar temperature. With a whisk or mixer, beat the butter until it’s foamy, then add 2/3 of the sugar and dissolve it through mixing. Separate the eggs, making sure to place the egg whites in another bowl for later. The egg yolks are added to the butter and mixed in until the mixture is golden – yellow and thick. Sift in the flour and mix until just combined.
In your other bowl, beat the egg whites until they form a stiff foam and add the rest of the sugar. Combine with the batter in stages, taking at first only a little of the egg whites and mixing it in, before mixing in the rest of it. This batter is a bit crumbly, so just place it on a greased baking sheet and press it down.
Take the chopped rhubarb and spread it out on the dough, sprinkling the vanilla sugar on top.
Now it’s time to make the crumbs! In a bowl, combine the softened butter, sugar, cinnamon, ground almonds and flour until they clump up into crumbles. Sprinkle these atop the rhubarb layer.
Bake the cake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for approximately 45-50 minutes. Let cool slightly.
Guten Appetit!
From our kitchen to yours
