RHUBARB AND CUSTARD CAKE

I used to stay well clear of rhubarb. I think it stems from my old school dinners when they used to serve the most vile stewed rhubarb crumble that used to send shivers down my spine when they slopped it on my tray and poured over lumpy custard. It turns out that when it's prepared correctly it can be super delicious. So whilst its in season I decided I would transform that old horrible school dessert into this whopper of a cake, marbled with rhubarb and custard and sandwiched together with a custard filling.

There isn't really much to say about this cake really. It's rhubarb and custard. Your either going to try it or not but trust me when I say that if your a bit of a rhubarb hater like I was then don't be put off. Give it a go and you might be surprised at how much you tasty this is. Make sure you have a lot of people around to eat it or have a big appetite though as it is a bit of a beast!

I've used ready made custard for my filling too as I find it to me the right consistency to with stand the weight of the top cake. By all means make your own if your a custard master but make sure it's thick enough to make a spreadable filling. If it's too thin it will just squirt out the sides when you place the top tier on it. You could also used a whipped cream or jam filling if you fancy a more Victoria sponge type of vibe.

So here is the recipe. Hopefully it'll be good enough to make you fall in love with the dreaded rhubarb as well!

Rhubarb And Custard Cake

400g Diced Rhubarb

 730g Golden Caster Sugar

 480g Softened Butter

6 Medium Eggs

 280g Plain Flour

 2 Tsp Baking Powder

 2 Tsp Ground Cinnamon

 100g Ground Almonds

50ml Whole Milk

500g Carton Ready Made Custard

 Handfull Flaked Almonds

1 Tbsp Cornflour

1 Tsp Vanilla Extract 

1. Place the rhubarb and 350g of the sugar into a saucepan with 100ml of water and warm through on a medium heat, stirring and breaking up the rhubarb as you go until its simmering and thickens to a jam like consistency. Remove from the heat and leave to cool completely.
2. Grease and line two 22cm circular cake tins and get your oven on to 180 degrees (160 fan).
3. Take the remaining sugar and butter and beat until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs one at a time, beating after eachaddition until the egg is well combined.
4. In a separate bowl mix together the plain flour, baking powder, cinnamon and almonds before adding half of these dry ingredients into the bowl with the beaten egg mix. Add in the milk and then fold in the dry ingredients until you can see no streaks of flour.
5. Add in the second half of the dry ingredients along with half of the stewed rhubarb mix and fold through until you can once again see no streaks of flour.
6. Into each cake tin, add one 4th of the cake batter and spreadinto an even layer. Take half of the custard and the remaining rhubarb and mix together in a bowl. Take this mixture and carefully spread it equally over the top of each of the sets of batter in the tins. 
7. Take the remaining two 4th's of the batter and carefully pour equal amounts into the cake tins and spread it out so that you cannot see any of the rhubarb and custard filling.
8. Over one of the sets of batter, sprinkle over the flaked almonds (this is your top tier). Place both cakes into the oven (on the same shelf if possible) and bake for around 1 hour. Take a look at the cakes after around 30 minutes and if they are starting to brown cover them with some foil. 
9. After the hour, check if the cake is cooked by inserting a skewer. If it pops out clean you are done. Your cake might still look a bit wobbly but remove them from the oven and leave to cool completely and they will firm up during this cooling time.
10. Whilst the cake cools, take the remaining custard and mix in the cornflour and vanilla until well combined. The custard should now be thick, spreadable and coat the back of a spoon. If it's still runny then add a smidge more cornflour until it's thick enough.
11. Once fully cool, take the cake you topped with rhubarb and spread over the custard filling, leaving a cm gap from around the edge before placing the second almond topped cake on top, almonds facing up.

The custard filling should now be pushed to the edges of the centre of the cake and slowly begin to deliciously ooze over the sides. It's messy and gooey but will make it look so tempting. Cut yourself a massive wedge and with each bite you should get a yummy burst of the stewed rhubarb and little pops of the custard both inside the cake and from the filling.

If my school dinners were this amazing I would of been eating rhubarb much sooner! This cake is the stuff dreams are made of!
 

 

This recipe is part of the Great British Rhubarb Recipe round up which is being ran by Karen at Lavender and Lovage and Janice at Farmers Girl Kitchen. Click here if you have a fabulous rhubarb recipe to share too!