Rhubarb Cake

This cake livened up a very wet and cold afternoon today, great with a cuppa to brighten the mood.  It was really popular with my 3 daughters as well as a friend and her daughter who stopped by to escape the deluge and warm up a bit after school.  I thought about using some of my homemade rhubarb and ginger jam as a filling but had already baked some rhubarb to use with yoghurt for tonight's pudding so I used that instead.  The general consensus was "OMGness, it is rather delicious with a little cream and a hot cuppa!" LOL

Put the following into an ovenproof dish:

1 bunch (500g) rhubarb, washed and trimmed then cut into 2cm dice
2 - 3 Tblp Caster sugar

Bake at 180C for about 30 minutes until the rhubarb is tender.  Mash up a little with a fork, a syrup should've formed from the rhubarb juice and sugar.  Mix to combine everything together and leave to cool.

For the cake you will need:

200g caster sugar
200g butter, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 free range eggs
385g self-raising flour
300ml (1 pot) buttermilk, you could use natural yoghurt instead

To sprinkle on the top:

1 Tblsp brown sugar
1 - 2 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat your oven to 180C.  Grease and line a square cake tin with non-stick baking paper, mine is 23cm square.

Using a stand mixer or electric beater, cream the butter, sugar and vanilla together until they are pale and fluffy. 

Add the eggs, 1 at a time with 1 Tblsp of flour, beating well after each addition until well all the eggs have been added and the mixture is well combined.

Stir in the rest of the flour and buttermilk or yoghurt.  When the cake mixture is ready to be baked, spoon half of the mixture over the base of your prepared cake tin and smooth the top. Spoon over the rhubarb filling and smooth it to the edges to ensure even coverage.

Spoon over the remaining cake mixture and smooth the top.  Combine the light soft brown sugar and cinnamon  then sprinkle over the cake just before you bake it.  

Bake in the preheated oven for 40-45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean, without any crumbs sticking to it.  Take the cake out of the oven and leave to cool for 10 minutes in the tin before turning out on to a wire rack to cool completely.