Rhubarb and strawberry cake

A simple rhubarb and strawberry cake. Simple, yet incredibly delicious – rhubarb and strawberries are a classic pairing that always works beautifully together. This cake can be served warm with ice cream or whipped cream, and it tastes just as good the following day. In fact, it works well with almost any fruit, but during rhubarb season it’s an absolute must-bake!

Ingredients for the cake:

• 225 g butter
• 220 g caster sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 375 g plain flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• a pinch of salt

All ingredients should be at room temperature.

Place the butter and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs and mix until fully incorporated. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt directly into the mixture, then mix until combined. The dough will be soft and slightly sticky because of the butter, with a texture somewhat similar to shortcrust pastry.

Chill the dough in the refrigerator for 1–1½ hours. This will make it much easier to handle and spread into the tin.

Grease a 23 x 30 cm baking tin and line it with baking parchment. Transfer half of the chilled dough into the tin and spread evenly over the base. At this stage, you may optionally pre-bake the base until lightly golden. Spread the rhubarb and strawberry filling evenly over the dough. Cover with the remaining dough.

Bake at 180°C for approximately 40–45 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly, or serve warm if preferred.

Dust with icing sugar before serving, if desired.

Ingredients for the rhubarb and strawberry filling:

• 400 g rhubarb
• 500 g strawberries
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 3 tablespoons potato starch

Cut the rhubarb into 3 cm pieces (do not peel the stalks). Hull the strawberries and cut them into smaller pieces. Just before adding the filling to the cake, mix the fruit with the sugar and potato starch.

Enjoy!

Recipe source: New Zealand Woman’s Weekly.