Rhubarb and Custard Cake
A sweet-shop memory baked into a soft, custard-rippled sponge
Contents
Rhubarb and Custard Cake
Ingredients
- 350g rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 2cm pieces
- 175g unsalted butter, softened
- 175g caster sugar, plus 1 tbsp for the rhubarb
- 3 large eggs
- 175g self-raising flour
- 0.5 tsp baking powder
- 50g ground almonds
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- Finely grated zest of 1 orange
- 200g thick fresh custard
- 2 tbsp flaked almonds
- Demerara sugar, to finish
Method
- Heat the oven to 160C fan and line a deep 20cm springform tin with baking paper.
- Toss the rhubarb with the tablespoon of sugar and set aside.
- Beat the butter and caster sugar until pale and fluffy, then add the eggs one at a time, beating well.
- Fold in the flour, baking powder and ground almonds, followed by the vanilla paste and orange zest.
- Spread half the batter into the tin, scatter over half the rhubarb, then dollop over half the custard; repeat with the remaining batter, rhubarb and custard, swirling lightly with a skewer.
- Scatter with flaked almonds and a generous pinch of demerara sugar.
- Bake for 45 to 50 minutes until risen, golden and just set, covering loosely with foil if it browns too fast.
- Cool in the tin for twenty minutes, then release and cool further before serving warm or at room temperature.
Rhubarb and custard is one of those flavour pairings that lives somewhere deep in the British psyche, summoned instantly by the pink-and-yellow boiled sweets we all sucked on as children. This cake takes that nostalgic duo and makes it real: tart, blush-pink rhubarb baked into a buttery almond sponge that is rippled, before it goes in the oven, with spoonfuls of thick vanilla custard. The custard does something rather magical in the heat, sinking into pockets of the batter and setting into soft, creamy seams that contrast beautifully with the sharp fruit. The twist, if you can call it that, is simply trusting proper custard to behave like a baking ingredient rather than a poured sauce.
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