Remarkable Rhubarb Cake: an Old Fashioned Simple Delight
The simplest and most delicious rhubarb cake you’re ever likely to bake. With only five ingredients, it’s quick to make and good served either warm for pudding or at room temperature for afternoon tea. Add ginger or rose and you have two additional cake recipes up your sleeve. Really quite remarkable.
Remarkable rhubarb cake may seem a bit of a lofty claim, but this bake is so easy to make and tastes so good that I make it regularly. In fact it’s my favourite rhubarb cake and I’ve both baked and eaten an awful lot of them. It’s a great way to use rhubarb when it’s in season.
A Simple Rhubarb Recipe
I may have called this cake old fashioned, but in truth I just made it up. It’s old fashioned in the sense of method and a reduced fat and sugar content. Modern cake recipes seem to have so much more sugar than they did when I was growing up. The nation’s sweet tooth has become even sweeter.
My recipe uses only five ingredients too: flour, butter, sugar, eggs and rhubarb. Unusually for me, I chose to use wholemeal spelt flour mixed with plain flour. For this sort of cake, this mix makes for a lighter bake than using 100% wholemeal flour.
So, for this cake, no creaming of butter and sugar is required. This means you don’t have to wait ages for the butter to become softened. Instead you rub the cold butter into the dry ingredients with your fingertips.
All you need to do then, is stir in the rhubarb pieces followed by the eggs. Easy peasy. Oh! You may just need to spoon the mixture into a baking tin and put it in the oven too.
Remarkable Rhubarb Cake
I have to confess I’ve made many rhubarb cakes in my time and all of them are good. You’ll find a few of them in a list further down the post.
This one, simple as it is however, is destined to become a firm favourite. It’s quick to make, rises really well and is light, juicy and delicious. The tartness of the rhubarb dances on the tongue. The cake has a slightly crunchy top enhanced by sprinkling a little sugar over it before baking.
A Touch of Rose
The second time I made this cake, I scattered a little homemade rose sugar over the top. This gave it a subtle rosy flavour and an added air of sophistication. We found that a dollop of whipped cream made a fine accompaniment. But I’m pretty sure custard would work well too.
If you like the idea of a rose enhancement, but don’t have any rose sugar, rose cream makes a delicious alternative. Just whip up some double cream along with a drizzle of rose syrup, a sprinkling of rose water or a drop of rose extract.
Rhubarb and Ginger Cake
The third time I made this fruity number, I went back to the original. However, the fourth time, I added ginger. Back in the day, I used to make a really good rhubarb and ginger cake. So many people asked me for the recipe, that it went viral and then everyone started making it, so I got a bit bored.
But I reckon that this pimped up version is just as good, if not better than that one was.
All you need to do is follow the recipe below, but with a couple of additions.
- Add one teaspoon of ground ginger to the flour before rubbing the butter into it.
- Add twenty five grams (one ounce) of finely chopped crystallised ginger along with the rhubarb. Stem ginger is fine too, but I always have a jar of crystallised ginger to hand.
That’s it, you now have the recipe for a fabulous rhubarb and ginger cake. Let me know if you try it.
Rhubarb Pudding or Cake?
So is this cake a dessert? Or is it best left for afternoon tea? It’s good for both in my opinion, so I’ll leave this one for you to decide. Let me know what decision you come to.
Other Rhubarb Cake Recipes You Might Like
- Almond rhubarb loaf cake (vegan)
- Rhubarb bundt cake
- Matcha, rhubarb and chocolate cake
- Honey cakes with rhubarb and rose
- Rhubarb fairy cakes with edible flowers
- Polenta, rhubarb & rose cake (gluten-free)
- Rhubarb friands
- Rhubarb and orange chocolate cake
- Spelt rhubarb muffins
- White chocolate & rhubarb muffins
Keep in Touch
Thanks for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make this deliciously simple but remarkable rhubarb cake, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. And do please rate the recipe. Have you any top tips? Do share photos on social media too and use the hashtag #tinandthyme, so I can spot them.
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If you’d like more simple cake recipes, follow the link and you’ll find I have quite a lot of them. All delicious, of course.
Choclette x
Remarkable Rhubarb Cake. PIN IT.
Remarkable Rhubarb Cake
Ingredients
- 100 g wholemeal spelt flour
- 100 g unbleached plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 110 g golden caster sugar + 1 tsp (I used cardamom sugar)
- 100 g unsalted butter
- 200 g rhubarb washed and trimmed
- 2 eggs
Instructions
- In a large bowl, rub the fat into the flour, baking powder and sugar with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.100 g wholemeal spelt flour, 100 g unbleached plain flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 110 g golden caster sugar, 100 g unsalted butter
- Chop the rhubarb into small pieces and stir into the cake mixture.200 g rhubarb
- Make a well in the centre and add the eggs. Stir together with a flat bladed knife until it all comes together.2 eggs
- Tip into a 20cm (8″) silicone round cake mould or lined tin and level with the back of a spoon. Sprinkle the remaining tsp of sugar over the top.
- Bake at 180℃ (350℉, Gas 4) for about 35 minutes until the cake is well risen and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
- Leave to cool for about ten minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Nutrition Estimate
Linkies
I’m sending this remarkable cake off to Katie at Feeding Boys for Simple and in Season. Rhubarb has a wonderfully long season in the UK. It starts in April and goes on until September, but it’s probably at its best now in June.
Just A.M.A.Z.I.N.G! light, fluffy and full of flavour…and most importantly the rhubarb is really elevated in this recipe. Everyone loved it.
So glad you all liked it and thanks for letting us know. It’s my favourite rhubarb cake.
I didn’t have spelt flour so just used plain flour, & topped up with corn flour as I was 25g short. I doubled the recipe, scooped half the mixture into one tin, then added ginger powder & chopped crystalline ginger (25g) into the remaining mixture before scooping into a second tin. While the mixture was made with Golden Caster, I sprinkled the cakes with granulated sugar; next time I will use Demerara for extra crunch. Wasn’t sure if the oven temp given was for fan, so left it at 180C. Baked for the full 35min, but I checked the cakes when I swapped their positions after 25mins.
I took the cakes to work & my family & colleagues all liked them; most of them preferred the ginger one though. Not too sweet, or tart.
Thanks for your feedback Margaret. The cakes should work fine with plain flour and it sounds as though they did. Ginger and rhubarb are a fab combination. Good to hear everyone liked them.
Really liked the basic cake. I have all the ingredients to hand and that made a big difference – other rhubarb cakes required buttermilk or creme fraiche, etc, and I wanted to get going and create, not mount a major expedition to the supermarket. I will definitely be making it again. We added a dollop of cream first time; the wife now want to try it with custard.
We both liked the sharp taste of rhubarb BTW. Less sugar works for sure.
So pleased you like the cake. It’s simple for sure, but sometimes that’s just what you need. And yes, warm with custard is really good too. Thanks for letting us know how you got on.
The cake was heavy, more like a whole wheat scone than a cake, and although I put in less sugar than the recipe it was still too sweet.
I’m sorry you didn’t like the cake, it’s one of my favourites. It’s not meant to be a light sponge, what sort of flour did you use? As for the sugar, all I can say is it has a lot less in it than most cakes do. And given that rhubarb is very sour, it needs some to sweeten it up.
This recipe really works. I just used plain flour though, as I had no spelt flour and just white caster sugar, as I had no golden. Sprinkled the top with demerera sugar, before baking, for extra crunch.
Good to hear Katie. Yes, it’s one of those recipes that’s actually very forgiving. So any flour or sugar should be fine. Thanks so much for your feedback and I’m glad you like it.
Hi Choclette, I tried your recipe again, for cupcakes and it worked. I cut the rhubarb up really small.
Ooh, how interesting. Thanks for letting me know. I’ve not tried this recipe as small cakes. I do have a recipe for white chocolate and rhubarb muffins though, which is really good, if a bit sweeter. Come to think about it I also have one for spelt rhubarb muffins.
Wonderful easy peasy cake .
I only had plain flour , made the ginger and rhubarb one using stem ginger and some juice and it was superb.
Will definitely make again and try replacing some of the butter with Greek yoghurt as a comment suggested , having a slice with Greek yoghurt and as a pudding with custard . I think they all sound great ideas .
Thank you
It’s a very forgiving kind of cake. I’ve made so many versions now I’ve kind of lost count. Glad you liked it and perhaps you’d let us know how you get on with the yoghurt swap.
Thank you for the excellent recipe, it worked a charm. A dangerously delicious cake that you can just keep eating!
I was wondering if it would work well as cupcakes. Have you tried this and would you suggest changing the oven temperature or just the cooking time?
I see others have used plums and other fruit. I was thinking of trying an apple and rhubarb version as I have Bramley apples in the garden. As long as I add the same weight of fruit then I assume that the moisture content will be similar and so should should bake ok, is this correct?
Thanks again for the lovely recipe and now I’m off to check out all your others…
So glad you like the cake. Despite its simpleness, it’s my favourite rhubarb cake. Yes apple will work just fine.
As for cupcakes, I’ve not tried it, but I somehow suspect they might not turn out so well. I could be wrong though. If you do give them a go, I stick with the same temperature, but just put them in for less time. Do let me know how you get on.
I only have a 9 inch cake tin would I be able use this or would I need to in increase the ingredients by 25%
Hi Mandy, it might be a bit flat if you make a 9 inch cake, so yes, I would increase the ingredients by about 20%. Two large or extra large eggs should do it.
Thankbyoubwill give it a go this afternoon and let you know how it turns out
Oh yes, do let me know. Enjoy your baking.
Excellent simple rhubarb cake!!! Tasty afternoon treat with a cup of tea or coffee. Simple and delicious!
So glad you liked it Emma and thanks for letting me know. Sometimes simple is best. It’s my favourite rhubarb cake and I’ve made quite a few.
I was searching the internet for a quick and easy recipe to use up a couple of sticks of rhubarb and found this one – I didn’t have wholemeal flour so I substituted with wholemeal rye flour and it worked perfectly. it’s so simple and really delicious, thank you! Off to look through your other recipes now!
Rye flour sounds like a fine substitution. I might just have to try that next time I make this cake. I’ve got a ton of rhubarb on the allotment, so it’s high time I made it. Thanks for the feedback and I hope you find something else you like on the blog.
Looking forward to trying this
It’s one of my favourite cakes Julie. Nothing fancy, but easy, satisfying and tasty. Hope you like it.
Any tips on making this cake egg-free? It looks great!!
Hi Anna. Well I’ve not tried an egg-free version, but you could give it a go with a chia or flaxseed egg instead. That’s one tablespoon of ground flaxseeds or chia seeds and three tablespoons of water. Mix whichever one you choose up with the water and leave it for ten minutes to swell. If you try it, would love to know how it goes.
A really good cake! Today I made it with 300g of plums from our garden, instead of rhubarb…..equally excellent but a little more tart. I added an extra 10g of flour to allow for the extra juice in the plums and it’s come out great! Thanks for this recipe!
Oh that’s interesting Linda, thanks for letting us know. Sounds delicious with plums, but I’d expect it to be less tart rather than more so. Nice tip re the extra flour.
oh wow this makes a fabulously moist and light cake! I used all wholemeal spelt and 3 tsp baking powder and reduced the sugar down to 80g( half unrefined caster/half coconut sugar) and it was utterly delicious.Thanks for such a great way to use up some of my rhubarb glut!
Woohoo, thanks Annette. I make it now with 100% wholemeal spelt, but not tried reducing the sugar. Glad it worked and thanks for letting me know. It’s my favourite rhubarb cake.
Hi there,
Thanks so much for posting this recipe, I picked some rhubarb and made one this morning to take into my old work colleagues for tea break. They all loved it, only crumbs left.
It’s quite a plain cake but this allows the rhubarb to sing, I like a cake that you can eat and not feel too guilty, I’d say it was quite a homely cake. I think it’s probably best eaten fresh and warm and would be great with cream or custard as a pudding, great for “soup and pudding nights”
I didn’t have spelt flour so used all plain, I’m looking forward to trying it with spelt the next time.
Thanks again, sure to become a favourite, looking forward to trying others from your blog.
Thanks for the feedback Elizabeth. So glad you and your colleagues liked it. It is a plain old cake, but one of my favourites, nonetheless.
Just made the cake and wolfed down two pieces. I added half a tsp of ginger and mixed spice then laughed when I saw the comments about the other tweaking that went on. Anyway it’s delicious so thank you for the recipe. I’m off work with a chest infection and feeling miserable so thanks for cheering me up with great cake.
Sorry to hear you’re feeling miserable and I hope you are well on the mend now. Thanks so much for getting back to me and letting me know you liked the cake. Tweaking recipes is part of the course. Ginger sounds like a particularly good addition.
I’ve just pulled my rhubarb washed and cut it, made this cake. Just brought it out of the oven, it smells amazing. Looking forward to a large slice with some Greek yogurt on the side. Thanks for the recipe.
I hope it was as good as you were expecting Mark. I haven’t made one this year, but I really think I should. It’s my favourite rhubarb cake and I’ve made a lot of them.
I really like the sound of this – I am not a fan of very sweet cakes and I think the rhubarb would work so well!
I’ve made many rhubarb cakes and this is the best one ever – plain but delicious.
Just baked another 3 of these cakes (everybody loved the previous editons !, so I’m making some more as they are easy bakes and make nice presents). Rhubarb season is nearly finished, but my neighbour gave me a large bunch yesterday. This time I used 20 % oat flour, some cinnamon and 2 tbsps of candied ginger. I also substitued 25 % of the butter with yogurt.
They are on the cooling rack now …. and looking good.
So glad the recipes proved a hit with your friends and family. As usual, your alterations sound like good ones. I’m off to friends for tea today and will be making one. I think I might add rose again, though I quite like the idea of your ginger – hmmm!
What a delicious cake. Sounds totally divine. I especially love the pretty pink bits showing through and the idea of a crisp top!
Thanks Kate. It’s a fabulous cake and as I’ve just been given some more rhubarb I can see another one coming along very soon 🙂
If you were to make 2 rhubarb cakes to save on fuel, would it be OK to freeze one of them?
Hi Beverley. I’ve not tried freezing this, but it’s the sort of cake I think would freeze very well.
Thanks, I will try it and freeze one for later.
Did it work Beverley?
YUM! I can’t get enough of rhubarb at this time of year. Particularly like the idea of the crunchy topping.
It’s such an old fashioned vegetable, but it seems to be making a comeback, which is ace.
There can’t be too many rhubarb cakes in the world as I just love them, yours looks and sounds fabulous:-) Thank you for linking to mine:-)
I’m with you on that one Camilla – bring on those rhubarb cakes 🙂
Tonight I’ll probably make two more of these cakes. My mum will love it, I’m sure. This time I intend to alter a few things: replace some of the flour with ground almonds and replace some of the butter with goat’s yoghurt. Just to see what happens. Maybe I’ll even try to make a glutenfree version as well, using a combination of corn flour/ground almonds and rice flour.
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Hahaha and why not Henk? It wouldn’t be you if you didn’t try a few different versions.
Rhubarb cake is one of my all time favourites and this looks spot on!
Rhubarb has such a good flavour and the tartness works really well in cakes.
P.s. Thanks for linking to my cake as well, you have so many rhubarb recipes!
I have many more rhubarb recipes than these ones Lucy, these are just the cakes 😉
What a glorious cake, rhubarb is one of my favourite flavours and always reminds me of childhood and my parents growing it on the allotment. I love a simple cake which always goes down well with the family and this is the perfect contender!
Thanks Lucy. It would be interesting to see how it came out in your slow cooker. I think it would be a different cake, but equally delicious I’m sure. I used to hate rhubarb when I was little and always pulled faces when presented with it in the form of a crumble. I wasn’t allowed to be fussy though, so I had to eat it and lump it! Now of course, I love it.
What a lovely cake to make use of the season’s rhubarb! And I bet that spelt flour gives it such a wonderful extra flavour and texture. Yum!
I love spelt flour. I’ve been baking with it for at least 20 years. I haven’t yet tried some of the other old fashioned wheat varieties though and really should.
I love the sound of this, simple understated but still up there with the best of them. I love rhubarb but for some reason have never tried it in a cake but can imagine it making a lovely flavoursome moist bake. Will defo try your recipe choclette, pinning,
Angela x
Thanks Angela. Sometimes it’s really nice to get back to basics. Do try a rhubarb cake, they are one of the best; its the tart contrast to the sweetness which is so good. Obviously I’d recommend this one as a starter though 😉
What a glorious bake! I just love old fashioned cakes like this – rhubarb is one of life’s pleasures and I can just imagine how wonderful this tastes with its crisp topping and soft interior. We’d be having it with lashings of cold custard… Thanks for sharing it for Simple and in Season!
Thanks very much Katie. Hmmm, first thoughts are “not sure about the cold custard”, but on reflection I don’t know why I feel like that. Cream is cold after all.
In my book, you can’t go wrong with rhubarb. Though it may be old-fashioned, I’ve never tried rhubarb in a cake recipe – looks delish!
Oh, you’re missing a treat Kari, rhubarb cakes are some of the best out there and this one is particularly good 😉
it looks yummy,im going to try and make it at the weekend
It’s my absolute current favourite and if I had more rhubarb, I would be making it again this weekend too. Would be great to hear how you get on with it.
That cake looks perfect for an afternoon snack or a grab and go breakfast. This would be easy to make vegan. Now I’m wanting cake 🙂 thanks for sharing!
Thanks Brandie – it’s definitely perfect for an afternoon treat 🙂
I love your cake, it does remind me of those everyday cakes we ate as children, I’ll definitely be trying your recipe.
But what’s so remarkable is that such an everyday cake can be so delicious. I sort of get carried away with adding lots of unusual ingredients and trying out different methods, but this is as good as anything I’ve made.
Thanks for the reminder: it definitely is rhubarb-time and I need to find some and bake something(s) with it ! As usual I make the Nigella-Domestic-Goddess-recipe, which is very nice (add 2 tbsps of crystallized ginger and it will taste even better !!), but in your list of ‘other recipes’ in this post, I see some very interesting suggestions too ! I’ll let you know.
Yes, I’ve made Nigella’s recipe a few times and your ginger addition sounds like a must. I used to make a fabulous rhubarb and ginger cake, but I’ve never blogged it and haven’t made it for years. it was the sort of cake everyone wanted the recipe when they tried it. Mind you this one, simple as it is, is pretty special.
OK, I ‘get the message’ Choclette. I’ll make this recipe too then :)) Today I went to visit my neighbour and when I asked if he could spare some rhubarb, he told me to take as much as I needed. He’ll get some of it back in the form of a cake of muffins of course. And yesterday I visited the good-looking goosekeeper in the next village and I got the last 8 eggs of the season for the price of 4 ! I promised him a piece of cake too.
Hahaha Henk, you’d better get baking then 🙂
And so I did, yes ! Just brought a piece of cake and some muffins (the ones with rhubarb and white chocolate) to my neighbours. It’s a very nice cake and an easy one to make. This time I didn’t change much. Instead of cardemom I used a bit of ginger, that’s all. I love the little crunch on top. Just simple elegance; everybody should try it.
I’m feeling all rhubarby right now. The whole house is smelling of rhubarb, as I’m cooking (Icelandic style) jam. Delicious !
Oh phew, glad they passed the Henk test, although I’m quite astonished not much got changed 😉
Now, you’ve got me wondering what Icelandic style jam is?
I prefer cakes without frosting…don’t get me wrong, buttercream frosting is always sexy and beautiful to stare at, but not sure that’s for me to eat…so this is my kind of cake…a real cake and treat!
I know what you mean Angie. A good cake really needs no other adornment. Having said that, I quite like some of my own frostings, but I generally fine if I buy cake when I’m out, the buttercreams etc are way too sweet and sugary.