This is an extremely delicious cake with double layer of rhubarb and strawberry sauce and soft, moist and delicate texture (more of a muffin type).
The recipe is adapted by me from Martha Stewart's Annual Recipes - 2003.
Ingredients:
For rhubarb-strawberry sauce:
350 g rhubarb
250 g strawberries
juice of 1 lemon
2,5 tbsp cornflour
110 g sugar (any type)
For crumble:
35 g plain flour
85 g sugar
30 g butter
For sponge:
112 g caster sugar
187 g plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
113 g chilled unsalted butter
1 egg
165 ml buttermilk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract (or 1 tsp vanilla sugar)
Method:
Make fruit sauce. Hull and slice the strawberries, trim the rhubarb and cut into 1 cm pieces. Squeeze juice from the lemon.
Combine lemon juice, cornstarch and sugar in a medium saucepan. Add strawberries and rhubarb.
Cook, stirring frequently, over medium heat, until rhubarb is soft and liquid is thickened, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool.
Make crumb topping. Combine sugar and flour in a medium bowl, melt butter over a low heat. Pour the butter into flour mixture, mix with a fork until crumbly. Set aside.
Make cake batter. Whisk flour and sugar (+ vanilla sugar, if added), baking powder, soda and salt in a large bowl. Chop the butter into cubes and add to the flour mixture.
Using a pastry knife or two forks, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal.
In a separate bowl, mix eggs and buttermilk (+ vanilla extract, if added).
Pour into the flour mixture, stir to just combine (don't overmix).
Grease and line 20 cm baking tin. Spread half the cake batter evenly into the prepared tin.
Top with half the fruit sauce.
Carefully spread the remaining batter over the fruit (this may take some effort).
Top with the remaining fruit sauce, sprinkle with the crumb topping.
Bake in a preheated oven (180 C, fan 160 C) about 1 hour, until golden brown and risen,
Serve warm or at room temperature, cut into squares. Perfect with a cup of tea or coffee!
Bon Appetit!
