Forced rhubarb is beginning to appear in the shops here in England; it is an unexpected treat to brighten up even the most dismal of January days. Today is apparently ' blue monday', supposedly the most depressing day of the year. The festive period is now just a hangover of broken resolutions. The first week or so of January has passed in a haze of excitement for the new year but by the time you hit week three, that has faded and been replaced with the realisation that it's a long hard slog until Easter.
It it, of course, little more than pseudo-science and I doubt it is even worthy of that much credit but it is true that this time of year can often be difficult. I have to say that my January is immeasurably better now that it's not my busiest month of the year at work. I'm sure anyone who has had much to do with a business' financial accounts can sympathise and will have their own horror stories of having to work 16 hour days, every day, in order to meet various deadlines. In my old job, I used to spend most of January in a windowless room, locked in a battle with a spreadsheet. I don't miss those days much.
I think at this time of year, it's important to take your victories where you can get them. The few minutes more of lingering light that we seem to get each day. The promise of a crisp blue sky. A slice of cake, a cup of tea and a good book.
Although we are only a few weeks in to the year, I think this cake is going to be one of the cakes that best describes 2012.
I had been playing with a new recipe for whoopie pies that I'd been working on in an attempt, honestly, to get myself to like them. My main problem with whoopie pies is that they seem to be less than the sum of their parts. When I sneak tastes from the bowl, the uncooked mixture tastes wonderful. The end result never quite delivers on this promise. This time, even the addition of a salted butterscotch filling didn't do anything for me other than give me a fairly intense sugar high. The experience left me with nothing more than a headache. And half a pint of buttermilk.
I put the buttermilk to much better use in this cake. The tang works so well with the tartness of the rhubarb and the mellowness of the the vanilla. The proverbial icing on the cake is a scattering of brown sugar that gives a rich sweet crunch.
I realised as soon as I took a bite that this cake is what I'd been craving. I didn't want the heavy, cloying sweetness of a mound of buttercream and a dry little cake. They had far less appeal after the excesses of Christmas than something bright and fresh like rhubarb. If you can't get rhubarb then feel free to substitute whatever fruit you want. Cranberries would work well. Frozen rhubarb is also fine. Whatever you need to get you through these January days. ~
Rhubarb and buttermilk loaf
Yield: Fills a 2lb loaf tin From Taste of Home
Ingredients
- 100g rhubarb
- 25g + 150g caster sugar
- 115g unsalted butter, softened
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- 175g plain/all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda/baking soda
- 180ml buttermilk
- Brown sugar for the topping
Cooking Directions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Grease and line a 2lb loaf tin.
- Put the rhubarb in a bowl with 25g of sugar and set aside.
- Cream together the butter and the rest of the sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs one at a time while continuing the beat the mixture. Add the vanilla bean paste.
- Sift all the dry ingredients together into a big bowl. Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients and fold into the batter. Follow with half the buttermilk, another 1/3 of the dry ingredients, the rest of the buttermilk and the rest of the dry ingredients. Fold to incorporate after each addition but don't over mix. Finally fold in the rhubarb.
- Pour into your loaf tin, sprinkle the top with brown sugar and bake for 30 - 40 minutes until the cake has shrunk away from the sides and a skewer comes out clean when you insert it.
- Allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack.