perfect partners

I am always looking for new ways to enjoy rhubarb, and particularly love it with ginger. It’s like chicken and tarragon, or pears and chocolate – the two flavours seem to have been made for each other. So I was grateful to Cornflower for pointing out this delicious recipe (it’s a little way down the page) for spelt and rhubarb cake. At first I thought it wouldn’t be gingery enough, but you slosh over some syrup from a jar of the crystallised stuff when the cake is just baked and still hot from the oven and that lovely spicy flavour permeates the whole. It gets better after a couple of days, too – and perhaps it carries on improving over time, but ours didn’t last long enough for us to find out. I had to buy the spelt flour specially, but I think it’s worth it for the distinctive, nutty taste. The rhubarb is placed on top of the cake mixture and it reminded me of making toad in the hole.

I used the 400g stipulated in the recipe but shall increase it next time – have to make the most of this yummy pink stuff while it’s still around. Incidentally, I was delighted to find that the EU has awarded Yorkshire forced rhubarb protected status, putting it on a par with Roquefort cheese and champagne, which is absolutely where it belongs.

Advertisement