Rhubarb Cream Snacking Cake

Made with heavy cream and fresh squeezed lemon, this rhubarb cream snacking cake will surely be a seasonal favorite for a gentle sweet snack on the go. Add to your lunch bag to make your day gently sweeter.

Jump to Recipe

Why you will love this recipe!

Fruit in baked goods is delicious! We all know rhubarb is a vegetable, but it's so irresistibly "fruity", and the texture is on point. Enjoying a piece in the middle of your day feels like a mini-vacation. So bake some up and enjoy a little escape.

Ingredients:

The growing season is short and the shopping list is simple, here's what you'll need.

• ½ c heavy cream Subs: buttermilk, greek yogurt (120ml)
• 1 tsp lemon juice ⅓ of fresh lemon squeezed
• 1 Zest of whole lemon microbladed
• ½ c butter at room temperature (113g)
• 1 c raw granulated sugar + some for sprinkling on top (215g)
• 1 large egg (60g)
• 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract (6g)
• 2 ¼ c unbleached all purpose flour (280g)
• 2 tsp baking powder (9.5g)
• 1 tsp salt (8g)
• 2 c thinly sliced rhubarb = 8.5oz + 1Tbs flour (241g)

How to make this recipe:

1. Preheat + Prepare: Set oven to 350F lightly butter a 9x9 square baking pan. l prefer to line my pans with parchment paper to easily lift out the cooled cake, and for easy cleaning.
2. Cream + Lemon: Stir the fresh squeezed lemon juice into the 40% cream and set aside to thicken.
3. Butter + Sugar: Cream the soft butter and sugar together until fluffy and light in color.
4. Egg + Vanilla: Whisk egg and vanilla with a fork.
5. Zest + Lemon Cream: Add lemon cream mixture and zest to the egg and vanilla
6. Flour the Fruit: Toss 1 tablespoon of the flour + 1 Tbs sugar with the rhubarb.
7. Dry Goods: Whisk together dry ingredients - flour, baking powder, and salt.
8. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients by mixing half of the dry goods, and then half again, until mixed. Batter will be thick.
9. Fold in Fruit: with a spatula or wooden spoon gently fold in rhubarb. (rhubarb is actually a vegetable, in this recipe I am treating it as a “fruit”)
10. Spread + Sprinkle: place cake mix into the prepared pan, sprinkle top evenly with sugar. An offset spatula helps with spreading, or push in with the back of a spoon.
11. Bake 350°F/180°C for about 40-43 minutes in an 9x9 light metal pan. You can also use a 9x9 ceramic dish, which takes a bit longer to heat (40-45 minutes). Bake until cake turns golden, and when a toothpick poked in center comes out clean. Let the cake cool sufficiently before cutting.

Notes + Substitutions:

• Cream can be substituted with: buttermilk or greek yogurt.
• Other fruits like blueberries, raspberries, blackberries are wonderful too! They are more tender, so be gentle when tossing in flour, presentation will be more organic, but very tasty. Skip the addition of sugar when tossing tender berries so the berries do not bleed juice.
• I prefer a light metal pan, however, a ceramic dish works as well. Make sure to extend the bake time a few minutes since ceramic takes longer to heat than light colored metal. Dark metal pans will bake faster, be sure to toothpick test a few minutes early.
• Stainless steel binder clips are handy to hold down parchment paper, see link in the equipment list.

Here's another yummy rhubarb cake to consider:

Equipment:

• Zester
• 9"x9" light metal pan
• Parchment
• Binder Clips - stainless steel clips are perfect for holding down parchment
• Medium Mixing Bowl
• Rubber Spatula by Thermoworks

Handy Rhubarb Facts:

Is rhubarb a fruit or a vegetable?

• Rhubarb is a tart vegetable that looks like red celery and grows in long leafy stalks. Since the introduction of sugar, we treat as a fruit in cooking. Be aware: rhubarb leaves are not an edible green like many other vegetable greens, in fact, they are poisonous.

When is Rhubarb season?

• Rhubarb season is early May through June. You will see it sooner or later in season depending on your growing region.

Why is my rhubarb green?

• Rhubarb varies in color from deep crimson red to pale green. Red is typically sweeter and green is typically more tart.

How to cook rhubarb?

• Rhubarb is usually used in desserts such as pies, and often combined with other fruits like strawberries. Slice the stalks and cook them down with a little water and sugar until the fruit starts to break down. It can be made into sauces, compotes, jams, or pie fillings, or tossed in flour and added to cakes and breads.

Do you grow rhubarb? You can freeze it!

• Rhubarb freezes beautifully. Slice it and lay it out on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Put the pan in the freezer and freeze until solid. Transfer frozen rhubarb to an airtight container, or for best longevity, vacuum seal in a food saver bag for use throughout the year. Frozen rhubarb can be placed directly into baked goods.

Find more rhubarb history here