recipe: rhubarb cake

one of the best things about visiting my husband's family (among the many, many good things) is my mother-in-law's cooking. we're always trying to get her to stop making so much food, because we want to go easy on her, but in my heart i'm hoping she continues to get carried away forever. everything she makes is soooo good. (ahem! almond butter pancakes)!  she loves to use fresh organic ingredients which are half the time pulled from her own massive kitchen garden.

one of her specialties is rhubarb cake. i'd be lying if i said i didn't look forward to it when we head home every fourth of july. this year she made it for me twice. (i say "for me" because i'm pretty sure i ate three times more than anyone else). score. her homemade whipped cream with coconut sugar makes it even more amazing. and now that i'm home, i have a solid nine fourth-of-july pounds i need to start losing. hah, you think i exaggerate. no i do not.

// rhubarb cake with coconut sugar whipped cream //


ingredients:

cake:

1-1/2 cups brown sugar
1 stick of butter
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup sour milk or buttermilk
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups flour
2 cups chopped rhubarb

topping:

1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

whipped cream (optional):

coconut sugar (to taste)
heavy whipping cream


preparation:

1. mix together brown sugar, butter, egg and vanilla.

2. mix together (in separate bowl) sour milk or buttermilk, baking soda, and flour.

3. combine ingredients. fold in rhubarb.

4. pour batter into 9 x 13 pan.

5. mix cinnamon and sugar together.

6. sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on top of cake before baking.

7. bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes until deep golden brown.

just before serving:

pour heavy whipping cream into a kitchenaid and beat on high (or beat with a hand mixer). add coconut sugar as you mix until desired sweetness is achieved. whipped cream is done when it is thick and fluffy. (you know, like, the consistency of whipped cream). serve a dollop on top of each piece of cake.

this is what rhubarb looks like in its plant form. the hot pink stalks are the part you chop up for the cake. the football hanging out among the leaves is how you can tell this is a grandma's garden.

isn't my in-laws kitchen garden idyllic? just outside this shot their grandsons are lovingly watering these plants with their squirt guns. (actually they're trying to decimate an ant hill).

you may be wondering why i have no photos of the actual cake. well, i was too busy eating it to take any. and i'm not going to make it anytime soon (reference the part above about me needing to lose nine pounds), so you'll just have to trust me and go for it.

and if you want enough to go around for your guests, be sure to keep it out of sight of your daughter-in-law.