The joy of homegrown rhubarb

My parents & grandparents grew rhubarb & I have always loved the sharp taste, especially when tempered with a sweet custard or a dollop of cream.  My late father in law always 'forced rhubarb' for a treat at Easter by putting a vintage chimney pot over the crown with hay on top to force it in to early growth. It was a delight with hot custard. 

Our own crown is grown in a rather large black pot in the garden & over the winter, I added some of the wood ash from our log burner to the pot, apparently it is something they really like. Truth be told, the wood ash was emptied on a different part of the garden over the winter to spread it out because ash is beneficial to plants in moderate amounts. 

Our rhubarb has certainly put on a growth spurt & I decided to pick some today for a Sunday pudding. The leaves are toxic so they were cut off. The stalks were washed well, cut them in to shorter lengths, layered them in to an oven dish. I added about 150g of frozen cranberries to the rhubarb, sprinkled a generous lot of brown sugar on top & mixed the cranberries & rhubarb to mix them up. 

All it needed is a crumble topping. Here is a healthier topping , or this one I used previously with more precise measurements. I usually wing mine - about 4 large serving spoons of flour, just less in rolled oats, 1 large sprinkle of desiccated coconut, a sprinkle of brown sugar & about 130g of butter. All were worked in to a large crumbly mixture, & then sprinkled generously over the fruit. 

Baked at about 180 fan for 30 minutes, but covered in foil after about 15 min to stop the top browning before the fruit had cooked. 

Served hot with a dollop of honey yoghurt. Absolutely scrumptious. 

I hope you have something growing that you also enjoy. Thanks for stopping by, 

Dee 🪏🪴👩‍🌾🏡

Apple & citrus cake

 Sometimes you need a quick cake to use as a pudding - my go to recipe is the easy Victorian Sponge that uses just 4 ingredients that most kitchens already have. 

I peeled & cubed 3 normal eating apples to put on the top.

The sponge mixture is:

180g self raising flour

180g caster sugar

180g butter (I used a plant based butter) 

3 eggs

Preheat oven to 170-180c (fan or normal oven) 

Cream the butter & sugar well, add the eggs one at a time with a tablespoon of flour to stop the eggs curdling. Add the remaining flour & mix well - don’t overmix. I added a teaspoon of vanilla extract for flavour. You could add mixed spice or cinnamon to the mixture if liked. 

I buttered & floured a deep pan - put all the mix in, smoothed the top then put the cubes apples on top, sprinkled a little brown sugar on top then baked it for 30 min at 175c, checked it & gave it a few more minutes until a skewer came out clean. 

While it was baking I cut up a small orange, a pink grapefruit & a lemon. I brought them to boil in a pot with enough water to cover it.  Once it was soft, I squashed tge fruit with a masher to release the flavours, added some soft brown sugar & boiled to use as syrup on the top of the hot cake when it came out the oven. I strained it through a sieve to use. It made about 150ml of syrup. 

I pricked holes in the top of the hot cake & gently spooned most of it over the cake. We had it after supper with natural yoghurt or ice cream. It was really delicious warm & generous slices were enjoyed …

I hope this has inspired you … 

Dee 🥮