Rhubarb belongs to spring baking like Badi‘s fur belongs on our floor. You can try to eradicate it if you are not a fan, but there is simply no point. There has to be at least one rhubarb cake per season or I would not be a proper Polish girl. And from my understanding Austrians also have strong feelings towards these weird stalks. Or petioles, if we want to be proper and correct.
This weird vegetable (yes it is a vegetable!) has been already known couple thousands years ago in China, although mostly for medicinal purposes. And it has its dark side: don‘t eat the leaves – they are poisonous.
This cake is a small step to a side from standard rhubarb cake my mom used to bake whenever first stalks appeared on market stalls. It sounds cheeky but I loved watching it rise in the oven and then I watched mesmerised how it got sprinkled with powdered sugar on top. I had very little interest in baking or cooking in general so this was big deal for me.
You might wonder how is marzipan involved in this whole thing since it is not December and Stollen time is far gone. The truth is: I had to finally use up my Christmas supply. But bear with me. This arranged marriage actually worked out really well – marzipan, almonds and rhubarb create a threesome not many people can refuse. Not even Piers, wildly known for his dislike for fruit cakes. Well, I proved him wrong, he ate a quarter of a cake in one sitting. But I can‘t blame him: very almond-y cake with islands of marzipan could have been a tad too sweet. That‘s where rhubarb comes in, all in white, and saves the party with its sourness. Don‘t use it sparingly, you need it.
No one needs an essay, you came here for the recipe, so without further ado let me introduce you to Rhubarb marzipan cake with an almond background.
Ingredients
- 220 grams of butter in room temperature
- ¾ cup sugar
- 3 stalks of rhubarb
- 80 grams of marzipan
- 1 tbsp powdered sugar
- 1 cup flour
- ¾ cup ground almonds
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- generous pinch of salt
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup Greek yogurt or sour cream
- 3 tbsp brown sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 175°C. Line your form (I used 20x20cm) with baking paper. (Hot tip: crumble it in your hands into a ball - it gets softer then and cooperates much better while trying to fit it into a form).
- Slice 1 rhubarb in half lengthwise and then one of the halves in half. Chop the rest of the rhubarb in thin (0,5 cm) slices.
- Cut marzipan in small dice, transfer to a small bowl, add powdered sugar and then throw marzipan around so it is covered in sugar.
- Mix flour, almonds, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl
- Place butter and sugar in a large bowl. Use an electric mixer on high speed to beat it until light and fluffy - this can take up to 5 minutes so do not get discouraged. Add eggs, one at a time - previous one has to blend it before you add another.
- Once you get a light and fluffy mixture, reduce the speed to low and start adding dry ingredients. Once this is done, add yoghurt. Remember to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Beat just to combine. Batter will be thick at this point.
- Fold in chopped rhubarb and marzipan and transfer into a prepared pan. Smooth batter, arrange pretty rhubarb on top. Sprinkle with brown sugar.
- Transfer into oven and bake 60-70 minutes. Let it cool before cutting and removing from the pan.
