Our #FlavourFocus this month is Rhubarb, and we recently published a Rhubarb & Strawberry Truffle Recipe – as we were creating this, we realised that some of the components from the truffles would make a delicious cake filling! So we’ve come up with a simple sponge cake recipe that is filled with delightful Rhubarb flavours…
This is our final Rhubarb recipe for this month – so enjoy! Be sure to kill two birds with one stone with this recipe – perhaps you could make both our truffles and sponge cake on the same day!
Rhubarb Sponge Cake
MAKES 1 CAKE // TIME: 1 HOUR 30 MINUTES // MODERATE
Ingredients
For the fruit pulp:
- 225g Fresh Strawberries
- 150g Fresh Rhubarb
- 135g Granulated Sugar
For the ganache filling:
- 300g White Chocolate
- 85g Whipping Cream
- 85g of the pre-made fruit pulp
For the sponge:
- 225g Caster Sugar
- 225g Margarine
- 225g Self Raising Flour
- 4 Free Range Eggs
Method
- Roughly chop the strawberries and rhubarb and pop into a pan. Stir the sugar into the fruit and leave for about 20 minutes, so the juice starts to extract from the fruit. Bring to the boil (stirring all the time), then reduce the heat and simmer gently with the pan uncovered. You need to stir this every so often until the fruit has reduced to a very thick pulp. The smell thoughout the cooking stage is just delicious, with the fruity flavours combining incredibly well, to create a real summery infusion.
- Transfer the pulp into a bowl or dish to allow the fruit mixture to cool completely before proceeding (I popped mine into the fridge to hurry this stage along).
- Finely chop the white chocolate into a bowl and set aside. Now – with the cream, I should be tellling you to using a heat proof bowl over a pan of boiling water… but this is something I rarely do (as life always seems a little too hectic & I’m looking for ways to save time); so, into a bowl the cream goes, and then into the microwave, where I heat it with very short bursts of 15 -20 seconds at a time, bringing it to a short boil. As soon as it boils (so keep a close eye), pour it over the finely chopped chocolate and stir until the chocolate is completely melted. Stir in the cooled fruit pulp, cover and chill in the fridge until little firmer – not too firm, as you need to spread this onto your cake!
- Whilst your filling is cooling, cream together the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add the eggs, and combine. You can then sift in the flour, and fold in until the mixture becomes smooth.
- Line two cake tins (or one large cake tin), and divide the mixture into the tins. Bake in the oven at 180 degrees celsius for 20 minutes – check your cake, and if needed, continue to bake for another 5-10 minutes. Be sure not to over bake your cake, as this will give you crispy edges, and we want a lovely, soft edge.
- Remove your cake from the oven, and allow to cool. Once cool, spread the two fillings into the middle of the cake, and sandwich together. Finish with a dusting of icing sugar, and enjoy!