Let them eat cake ...and let it be rhubarb!

    Spring is great – or is it summer? Nevermind what you call it, it’s the best!! The world is so green I call it “hurt your eyes green”, everything is fresh and making a new start. I had a bad illness this winter and am recuperating each day with new feelings of my old strength returning. We’re at the end of our early spring routine of being open 7-days-a-week. With customers and employees all day, everyday, (though we love the customers and the employees) it’s hard to find personal space so its great when the time comes for us to back off to being open for Summer Hours (Oh, I guess  that must mean it’s summer?) of Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday (10am-5pm).

   It’s been a crazy fabulous spring. The weather warmed and beautifulled up for long periods in April and May this year, so we could be fully ready for our biggest event of the year, Mother’s Day Art in the Garden. We were sent an angel again, a young man who briefly appeared to lend extra hands in all directions of the things required to get a festival of that magnitude together. Then, he appeared with a great handful of helpers after, to take down the whole event in one day – a project that is usually a week long. Then, he disappeared from our life. We have been lucky to have been sent many angels in our projects!

   But, I digress….we are now in early luncheon season (on our “days off”) and having a great time. We love to feature seasonal produce and herbs in our meals, so with the plentitude of rhubarb, we had to serve up my luscious rhubarb cake. It stands on its own as a fine food – but to add a little decadence, we topped it with sliced strawberries and freshly whipped cream with a touch of naturally sweet angelica in it. Mmmmmmmm, the ladies (and occasional gentleman) are eating good! I've already received a phone call asking for the recipe, which somehow was not included in our new third edition cookbook, Many More Good Thymes in the Kitchen, so am sharing it now with everyone! You're welcome!

   Our personal food garden comes alive first with rhubarb (surrounded by wire to keep the chickens from eating it all) and horseradish. We let the chickens roam the garden all winter contributing mulch and eating weed seeds. These two plants are big and showy and try to help distract from the emptiness of the resting  garden. We first must tend the display gardens, and by early June are squeezing in time for our own food plantings.  There is nothing like pulling off the rhubarb sticks and heading off to wash and cook them! The plant seems to love giving up its produce and continues to be a lovely addition to the garden. This year the strawberry patch is resting – didn’t get to the weeding of it in time and have decided to raise the beds and save the backs by next spring season, so that’s an exciting new project on the list.

And, finally I stop my “talk” and here’s my recipe for this time:

RHUBARB CAKE

7x11 pan.

350 degrees. 40-50 minutes

1-1/2 cup sugar

½ cup margarine or butter

2 eggs

1 tsp soda

¼ tsp allspice

½ tsp cinnamon

½ tsp salt

½ cup milk

2 cup flour

2 cups fresh rhubarb, cut in small pieces

TOPPING

¼ cup sugar

½ tsp cinnamon

DIRECTIONS: Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add spices and salt and beat in. Alternately add the flour and milk, mixing. Fold in rhubarb. Bake in greased 7 X 11 pan. Mix sugar and cinnamon topping and sprinkle over all. Bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes. Serve warm or cool. Delicious while still warm but gains moistness if it sits.  You can’t go wrong!! 


- Posted by Janet