This Rhubarb & Vanilla Cake is a great way of celebrating the rhubarb season in a different way to the usual crumble. The rhubarb and vanilla compliment each other to make a delicious cake. 
Rhubarb is a quintessential British fruit. I don’t know any nation that seems to love it as much as us Brits. This could possibly be because it is something that grows so well in our less than sunny climate. Both my Mum and Mr Curly’s Nan grow rhubarb so I am very lucky to receive lots of home grown rhubarb during the summer months. This year has been a particularly good year so I have bagged some up and frozen it to use later in the year.
As I have so much rhubarb, I didn’t want to just save it for crumbles like my Oaty Rhubarb & Port Crumble as although they are delicious and comforting, I wanted to try some new bakes. That is where I came up with this Rhubarb & Vanilla Cake!
The yogurt in this cake means it is quite a dense cake, but really moist. The rhubarb adds a little sharpness to the sweet cake and makes a delicious combination. It may not be the prettiest cake, but it is tasty!
I made this Rhubarb & Vanilla Cake to take to Mr Curly’s family’s house and although there were 8 of us, the cake didn’t last long at all with people going back for seconds! Even Mr Curly couldn’t get enough of it and he will be the first to admit he’t not a big cake fan.
I made the cake again recently because I wanted to update the photos. This time, I took it into work and everyone really loved it so it has been tested by enough people for me to be confident in saying it is a big hit!
I do love a cake that doesn’t need anything further doing to it once it has cooled. Don’t get me wrong, cakes with buttercream etc on them are delicious, but from a lazy point of view I have to be in the right mood to make them because once they’ve baked you then need to wait for them to cool before icing them. This cake is fantastic because when it’s out of the oven you just need to wait for it to cool and then you can enjoy!
I think this would be a great cake to have later in the afternoon after a lovely roast lunch. It is great as it is, or you can eat it with ice cream, cream or custard if you want to make it more of a dessert.
Making this Rhubarb & Vanilla Cake also coincided with the new series of The Great British Bake Off which is a extremely popular baking show here in the UK. There has been a lot of anxiousness around the new series due to the change to Channel 4 and the new presenters, but for me it is about the baking so I still enjoyed the show.
So with the start of the new series comes the opportunity to bake along! A couple of years ago I baked something inspired by the show along with others or the Great Bloggers Bake off hosted by Jenny at Mummy Mishaps. I was very pleased that Jenny is hosting it bake along again this year and can’t wait to see everyone’s bakes.
Updated 2018
Rhubarb & Vanilla Cake
This Rhubarb & Vanilla Cake is a great way of celebrating the rhubarb season in a different way to the usual crumble. The rhubarb and vanilla compliment each other to make a delicious cake.
Ingredients
For the roasted rhubarb
- 400 g rhubarb
- 50 g caster sugar
For the cake
- 250 g margarine
- 250 g caster sugar
- 150 g non fat yogurt
- 250 g self raising flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 4 eggs
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
Instructions
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Begin by roasting the rhubarb – heat the oven to 180ºC (fan, 200ºC non fan). Rinse the rhubarb and dry off any excess water. Trim the ends and cut into pieces roughly one inch in length
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Put the rhubarb on a baking tray and sprinkle over the sugar. Toss together making sure all of the rhubarb is coated and then put the rhubarb in a single layer
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Cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes before removing the foil and giving the rhubarb a quick stir. Return to the oven without the foil for a further 5 minutes
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Using a colander, allow the rhubarb to drain as it cools
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Reduce the oven temperature to 160ºC (fan, 180ºC non fan) and line a 9 inch loose bottomed or spring form tin
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Beat the butter and sugar together before adding the rest of the cake ingredients and mixing until combined
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Spoon half of the mixture into the cake tin and spread evenly. Then add the rhubarb and spread out
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Add the remaining cake mixture on top of the rhubarb and smooth out the best you can. Don’t worry if the rhubarb mixes with the cake mix
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Bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes then cover with foil and bake for the last 15-20 minutes. You’ll know its ready when a cocktail stick comes out clean
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Allow to cool slightly in the tin before turning out onto a wire rack and cooling completely
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rhubarb and vanilla must taste great – two of my fave flavours but i’ve never tried them together! It is nice to have a change from crumbles – we’d had enough of apple and blackberry crumble hence using them in the cake i made! Enjoy the rest of GBBO – look forward to seeing what other brilliant bakes you have in the coming weeks. x
Cakes always make a nice change from crumbles 😉 Really looking forward to seeing what you bake too – I love baking along! x
looks yummy hon, might have a go at this one, i love rhubarb
thanks 🙂 x
That looks like a lovely rhubarb cake. I have always aded the rhubarb in my cakes uncooked but i imaging cooking it first really brings out the flavour
Thank you 🙂
I didn’t know if it would be a bit watery if I added it in uncooked. This turned out so great I’d be worried to try it differently incase I was disappointed haha.x
This has got to be delicious! Love rhubarb and I also like the idea of using yogurt in this type of recipe – makes it a bit healthier and fluffier:)
Definitely, and it always seems more moist too! x
your cake looks so delicious Cat. I have only added raw rhubarb before, and `I found it a little stringy, so cooking it first is a great idea. Adding yogurt is always a guarantee for some moistness to a cake too.
Thank you for linking to #GBBOBloggers2017 xx
Thanks Jenny 🙂 looking forward to baking along! xx
What a gorgeous cake, I’m a huge fan of rhubarb and feel quite envious at the moment that you have two family members who supply it to you 🙂 You certainly have made a much better version of it that the contestant on GBBO who also used rhubarb. I can imagine it being lovely too with a little custard as you say,
Angela x
I know I’m very lucky. Thank you very much Angela 🙂 I did feel quite pleased with myself that my cake turned out better than a GBBO contestant’s!x
Your cake looks delicious! I am a recent rhubarb convert (as of this year) and really love it and that wonderful combination with vanilla, mmm. 🙂 I like the fact that you have roasted yours as opposed to stew which is what I usually do, will need to try it next time. x
Thanks 🙂
Glad you are now a rhubarb lover!x
This sounds delicious, I love rhubarb, will have to try it out x
Such a pretty cake and I love rhubarb – really sounds lovely.
Thank you 🙂 x
I agree, I love a cake like this that’s packed with flavour and doesn’t need any additional decorating. The swirl on top is so pretty!
Thanks 🙂 I’m glad I have rhubarb in the freezer so I can make this again over the winter!x
I absolutely love fruit cakes and I love rhubarb so this is heaven on a plate to me.Alone and with a cup of tea….bliss!!
Definitely what you need, especially with this weather – a slice of cake and a cup of tea x