This blogpost was originally published in 2016...
I tweaked and updated it with more recent pictures (June 23, 2020)
It's rhubarb season again. Rhubarb is my husband's favourite fruit. He likes it stewed, in cakes, in pies, in squares... you name it, he likes it.
Fortunately, my mom has a really terrific recipe for the simplest, stir it into one bowl recipe. It's called "Rhubarb Stir Cake" ... I think we originally got it from my sister's MIL Judy, but I have been making it for G for YEARS. Suffice it to say, this is the most easy, delicious recipe... below is how I have tweaked it to my taste over the years.
It is THAT GOOD, let me tell you.
In a bowl, cream (that means just stir) 1/4 cup very soft butter and 1 1/2 cups of brown sugar until combined. I add 1/4 cup of water to this mixture, because I usually find the dough a bit dry, and it's easier to incorporate into the batter at this point. Add in a single egg, a teaspoon or so of cinnamon, and a generous Tbsp of vanilla and glotsch it around.
On top of the wet ingredients, measure and roughly mix in 2 1/3 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon salt. It will be very dry at this point.
Add 1 cup of sour cream and 4 generous cups of chopped fresh (or even frozen) rhubarb. Again, stir it up with a spatula to combine it.
See how the dough comes together after awhile?
Press it into a 9x13" pan. No grease necessary.
Now comes the topping... I usually add more rhubarb and another kind of fruit, like strawberries or raspberries to the top of the cake, whatever is seasonal or in the freezer.
Today, I loaded it up with a generous number of frozen blueberries, because I forgot to reserve some of the rhubarb for it. Presto change-o... that’s the beauty of this recipe.
In fact, after having made this over and over again, I have found I can get REALLY lazy, not mix the rhubarb in, and press the thick batter into the pan and THEN top it with the rhubarb (or any mixture of fresh or frozen fruit) and then finish it with the simple topping, like this:
The original recipe also calls for a certain (1/3 cup?!) amount of white sugar and (measly teaspoon) cinnamon to be sprinkled on top of the cake, but I never measure it. I just sprinkle away generously until it looks good. I told you this is an easy peasy recipe... almost anything goes! Ain't it purdy?
Or this:
The takeaway message: this recipe is very forgiving and you can definitely play around with it. Once I didn't have any sour cream AT ALL... so I used a combination of vanilla yogurt and (I'm not kidding!) some mayonaise and a little water to get the "one cup of sour cream" and, aha... I really did.
And it turned out perfectly.
There's no picture of this cake fresh from the oven, no... the hubs got into it before I was able to snap a proper photo of it... ha!
This perfect little slice goes so well with a cup of coffee or tea... for breakfast, for a snack, for a church potluck, or for a surprise little treat for my dad and mom.
Yes, this rhubarb cake is quintessentially perfect.
I suspect I'll be making more rhubarb recipes in the next few weeks, before the season is over for another year. How do you like your rhubarb?
Let me know!
