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Sunday, May 25, 2008

Rhubarb Sour Cream Cake

Yesterday I picked some stalks from my rhubarb patch and tried a new recipe from Savoring the Seasons of the Northern Heartland (University of Minnesota Press), a cookbook by Beth Dooley and Lucia Watson, local chef of Lucia's Restaurant in Minneapolis. This recipe makes a thick, sticky batter that helps control the juiciness of the rhubarb as it bakes. It's a moist, rich cake that's perfect with a just a cup of coffee but would be especially good served with fresh strawberries or vanilla ice cream.

Rhubarb Sour Cream Cake
Savoring the Seasons of the Northern Heartland

6 Tablespoons of butter
2 ¼ cups brown sugar, light or dark
2 eggs
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
3 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 ½ cups sour cream
6 cups chopped rhubarb

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Sift together the dry ingredients and fold them into the wet ingredients alternately with the sour cream. Fold in the rhubarb. Turn the batter into a greased bundt pan or two greased 9 x 3-inch loaf pans. Bake in a preheated 350° F oven for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes for the bundt cake, and 50 minutes to an hour for the loaf cakes. Remove the cake(s) from the oven and allow to cool 15 minutes on wire racks before removing from the pans.

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