Rhubarb Cake with Creme Anglaise
I’m a huge fan of desserts! It doesn’t matter if they’re chocolate, vanilla or fruit. I don’t care if they’re cookies, bars or cakes. If there’s a sweet thing on a table I’ll absolutely indulge.
While I’ll never turn down chocolate, during the spring and summer I tend to lean more toward fruit. I don’t know what it is, but the sweet/tart flavors of lemon bars, peach pies and cherry cakes just make me think of summer in all its warm glory. I think it’s because so much more fruit is available when the weather warms up, and those fruity desserts just seem lighter, which means I can indulge even more.
Common choices for fruit desserts are bars and pies, but cakes are also a popular choice. I’ve made strawberry cakes, cherry cakes, even peach. While it’s true cakes aren’t the ideal finger food, they brighten up a table unlike anything else. Sometimes I’ll make a cake just so it can be the centerpiece of my whole dessert bar, and I’d do that with this cake in a heartbeat. That little drizzle of crème anglaise brings the elegance up a notch with barely any effort. True, it’s not a layer cake, so it won’t tower over your other desserts, but put it on a cake stand and it’ll definitely stand out.
This cake is the perfect spring confection. When it comes to produce, the first hint that spring has sprung is when you start seeing rhubarb and strawberries at the farmer’s markets. I love these two. They’re delicious on their own, but when you put them together… magic! I was brought up drizzling my mom’s strawberry rhubarb sauce over everything. It wasn’t until I was out on my own that I discovered rhubarb was great all by itself. Unlike strawberries, I wouldn’t eat the rhubarb raw, straight off the stock like a piece of celery. But chop it up and add it to muffins or cakes, and you have a wonderful pop of tartness that you can’t get from any other piece of produce.
Jackie Bruchez knows what I’m talking about because she has not one, not two, but three different rhubarb recipes in her new cookbook, Decadent Fruit Desserts. It’s inside this beautiful book that I found this simple, stunning recipe. I know a rhubarb cake doesn’t seem all that special, but add a drizzle of sweet crème anglaise and it looks amazing. And the flavor… wow! The first bite gets you that sweet creamy drizzle, while the second bite is full of sweet and sour thanks to the chunks of rhubarb that are sprinkled throughout. These two flavors make this a hit for any spring soirée. Serve it at Easter brunch, serve it to Mom for Mother’s Day, serve it at your girls only jewelry party. Wherever you decide to serve it, I guarantee it’ll be a hit.
There’s really only one downside to this cake: rhubarb is only around from April through June. That means you only have two months (maybe less) to whip it up. But considering how easy it is to make, there’s no reason you couldn’t whip it up two, three, even four times before the season’s over. Considering how yummy it is, you may want to make it for no reason at all. I mean, I have. It’s that good. And if all the recipes in Bruchez’s book are this scrumptious, something tells me I’ll be whipping up these desserts all summer long.
Notes
Adapted from Decadent Fruit Desserts
Ingredients
- 1 cup pastry flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 large eggs
- 2/3 cup + 3 tablespoons sugar, divided
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons milk, divided
- 2 teaspoons vanilla, divided
- 2 cups rhubarb, diced
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 3 egg yolks
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8 or 9-inch cake pan and set aside.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
- Beat the eggs and 2/3 cup of sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add the butter, 2 tablespoons of milk and 1 teaspoon of vanilla and mix together.
- Gradually stir in the flour mixture until just combined. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan.
- Sprinkle the chopped rhubarb all over the top of the batter. Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick, when inserted, comes out clean.
- While the cake bakes, make the creme anglaise: combine the remaining milk and heavy cream in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and remove.
- While the milk simmers, whisk the egg yolks and remaining sugar together in medium bowl until it's pale in color. Gradually whisk small amounts of the hot milk mixture into the yolk mixture until combined.
- Return the custard to the saucepan. Stir it over low heat until the custard thickens and coats the back of a spoon, about 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the remaining vanilla. Cover and chill until ready to use.
- Once ready to serve the cake, drizzle the creme anglaise over the entire cake, slice and serve.
