Mostly my blogs start with ‘It has been a while…’ these days and today is no exception. Despite Photography being on my mind pretty much all the time at the moment with Weddings and other commissions, I haven’t had the chance to actually blog about it and share some of the work we have been undertaking. If you’re following my Facebook Page – Kathryn Dawson Photography – you’ll see a lot of updates there. In the meantime there will be blogs – when possible! So today was one of those Sunday’s where I put down the photo editing, sat back from the Brides, Grooms and other subjects, and baked. I’d wanted to try something called a ‘Rhubarb Buckle Cake’ – and so had a fair bit of Rhubarb to use up which ended up with a couple of loaf cakes too. But to start with, the Buckle Cake…
A Buckle cake is sturdily topped, and is a bit like a strong crumble. Buckle can mean any number of things. In Italy some say it’s the sign of an insult if you ‘Buckle’ your seatbelt because essentially you are saying you don’t trust the driver. In other areas, it’s just the law and we do it without thinking. In cake terms, it’s used to describe the cake ‘Buckling up’ through the fruit and the fruit breaking down and sinking. The Buckle cake that I made was a layer cake. You had your cake base, then your fruit mix and then your ‘Crumble’ topping. It’s delicious, looks quirky and is simple to make. So here’s the recipe…
Rhubarb Buckle Cake
Sweet and sharp with just the right balance, this dessert inspired cake is perfect for all occasions. The cake will keep well for up to three days although the topping will become less crisp.
Ingredients
The Crumble Topping Ingredients
- 50g Plain Flour
- 50g Golden Caster sugar
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 50g unsalted butter (chilled)
- 25g Porridge Oats
The Rhubarb Filling Ingredients
- 225g thin rhubarb cut into 2.5 cm pieces
- 50g Golden Caster Sugar
The Cake Ingredients
- 100g unsalted butter, room temp
- 200g Golden Caster sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 200g Plain flour
- 2tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 125ml soured cream
Method
1. Heat the oven to 180c/160c. Grease a deep round cake tin and line the base with parchment.
2. To make the crumble topping, put the flour, sugar and ginger in a bowl and mix together. Add the butter and rub together until breadcrumbs. Stir in the oats, bring the mixture into a dough, wrap in cling film and chill.
3. Put the rhubarb pieces in a bowl with the sugar, mix together and set aside.
4. Put the butter and sugar in a large bowl and using an electric whisk, beat together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until combined.
5. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, vanilla essence and pinch of salt together and in two additions, fld into the butter mixture, alternating with the soured cream. Tip into the cake tin, top with the rhubarb mixture once level and then finish by breaking the chilled crumble into small pieces and scattering over the top.
6. Bake in the oven for approximately 1 hour or until the crumble is golden and a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
Leave for a while to allow time to cool – If the topping appears to be browning too quickly, pop some foil on top and then allow it to bake for a further ten minutes. Enjoy with a cup of tea or a glass of Rhubarb Cordial…receipe for that one to follow soon!
Kathryn Dawson Photography 