Sour Cream Rhubarb Cake

At the moment Hubby & I are training for the Yorkshire 3-Peak Challenge, I was coerced into doing it by a good friend. One of my lifetime ambitions has been to complete a marathon and considering there is no chance you'll get me running a marathon the next best thing is to walk the equivalent distance of a marathon while taking climbing 3 peaks along the way...oh and all in 12 hours. Thinking about it, running the London Marathon is becoming more appealing.

Back in me youth I would have had no problem but now I'm a 20-something I need to get my fitness back and prepare myself mentally for it. We've been doing quite a lot of walks recently and am slowly trying to increase the distances. This bank holiday We headed to Calke Abbey to do a 12 mile walk while taking in the bluebells and Foremark Reservoir with of course the obligatory ice-cream stop. The one thing I like about walking is seeing the seasons change and I'm getting better at spotting wild food.

The other task for the bank holiday was to find something to do with the rhubarb that was beginning to take over the raised beds. Now, rhubarb is my most hated veg, yes to me it's a veg as it grows up from the ground rather than from a tree/bush/plant. It doesn't help that I've never had much luck cooking with rhubarb. I've tried making crumble with it and roasting it, but nothing could make me like it...until now. Ok I lie the Rhubarb Bellini I drank at River Cottage began to convert me.



In time honoured tradition of having surplus veg and not having a clue what to do with it I put it in a cake. Think back to the Beetroot Brownies & Squash Honey Drizzle Cake (though I have Hugh to thank for both of these recipes). While surfing the web for a recipe that took my fancy I stumbled across a recipe for Sour Cream Rhubarb Squares on the Good Food website. I did alter the recipe somewhat as many of the comments mentioned it was too sweet and I overestimated how much of the rhubarb int he garden was ready to be picked. I was really pleased with the result. It made a beautifully moist and light cake with the nuts on top giving a nice contrasting texture. It also worked well hot with a custard just as well as it did cold with a cup of tea. I imagine it would also work with apple instead of rhubarb.

Sour Cream Rhubarb Cake
12 slices

100g unsalted butter, softened
50g golden caster sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
100g of mixed nuts, roughly chopped (I used brazils, almonds & walnuts)
200g soft dark brown sugar
1 egg
225g plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
300ml soured cream
150g rhubarb, chopped into 1cm pieces

1) Melt 15g of the butter then stir in caster sugar, cinnamon and nuts. Put to one side while you make the cake batter.

2) Preheat the oven to 180oc then line a 33x23x5cm baking tin. Cream together the remaining butter with the soft dark brown sugar and egg. Then fold in flour, bicarb, soured cream and rhubarb. Pour into tin.

3)Sprinkle the cake with the sugary nut mix. Bake for 35 min.

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