A moist cake which works well as a dessert and is best eaten with a fork. This vegan almond rhubarb loaf cake is easy to make and infinitely adaptable. It has a crunchy top, lovely flavour, pudding-like texture and is not overly sweet.
85mlunsweetened almond milkor plant milk of your choice
Topping
20gflaked almonds
1 ½tbspgolden caster sugaror swap for granulated
Instructions
Line a 900g (2 lb) loaf tin with baking paper, ensuring the paper sticks out of the tin by a centimetre or two. This will make removing the cake from the tin a lot easier.
Preheat the oven to 180℃ (160℃ fan, 350℉, Gas 4).
Whisk the flour, ground almonds, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt and sugar together in a large mixing bowl until thoroughly combined.
225 g wholemeal spelt flour, 50 g ground almonds, ¾ tsp baking powder, ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda), pinch fine sea salt, 200 g golden caster sugar
Stir in the rhubarb pieces and finely grate in the zest from the orange.
250 g rhubarb, 1 orange
Make a well in the centre and add the oil. Squeeze the juice from half the orange into a measuring jug, then top it up to 100ml with the milk. Pour into the well.
100 ml sunflower oil, 85 ml unsweetened almond milk
Stir the cake the oil and milk mixture into the dry ingredients from the inside out until it all comes together into a sticky, but not wet dough.
Scrape the dough into the prepared loaf tin and level it out.
Bake in the middle of the oven for twenty minutes. Take it out and scatter over the flaked almonds followed by the sugar. Return to the oven and bake for a further thirty five to forty minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out more or less clean. The top should be crisp and golden.
20 g flaked almonds, 1 ½ tbsp golden caster sugar
Place the tin on a wire rack and leave to cool.
Once cool or nearly cool, remove from the tin and serve.
Notes
If the almonds look as though they're burning, cover the cake with a piece of parchment paper or silver foil.This cake is best eaten on the day it's made. Although it will still be delicious the next day and the one after, the top will no longer be crunchy.Serve with crème fraîche or custard and eat with a fork.Please note: calories and other nutritional information are per serving. They’re approximate and will depend on exact ingredients used.