Rhubarb crumble cake

This is the promised vegan rhubarb crumble cake post.

My partner’s Nanna gave us some rhubarb to use recently. I’ve never cooked with rhubarb before, and in a fit of creativity I decided to make something up, rather than turn to the internet for help.

The result was delicious crumble cake, with a layer of vanilla pear cake, a layer of stewed rhubarb and apples, and a layer of crumble. Yum.

Vegan Apple and Rhubarb Crumble Cake

It turned into a recipe worth sharing, so here it is.

Rhubarb Crumble Cake

Cake layer

• 2 pears, peeled and diced
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp rose water
• 125g strawberry soy yoghurt
• 2 cups white flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• soy milk (about 1/3 cup, maybe more)

Stew layer

• 8-10 rhubarb stalks washed and chopped
• 1 apple (I used fuji)
• 1 cup raw sugar
• 1 tsp rosewater
• water to cover
• 4 tbs jam (i used strawberry and apple)

Crumble

• 1/3 cup whole oats
• 1 cup ground oats (ground in a coffee grinder)
• 3/4 cup flour of your choice
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup raw sugar
• 3 tbsp vegan margarine

1. Pre-heat the oven to 160, and line a 28cm square cake tin with baking paper*.
2. Add rhubarb, apple, sugar and just enough water to cover to a small saucepan. Bring to the boil, then simmer, stirring occasionally until the rhubarb falls apart (about 15 minutes).
3. In the meantime prepare the cake batter. in a large bowl, beat oil, essences, sugar and yoghurt with a wooden spoon until thoroughly mixed and homogenous-looking. Add the flour and baking powder, and beat until a thick batter forms. Fold in the diced pear. Add the milk, and stir until smooth. It may require a little more milk (I didn’t measure it), and should end up looking like, well, cake batter. Pourable but not runny.
4. Pour the batter evenly into the cake tin, and back for about 30 minutes, or until a skewer poked in the middle comes out clean.
5. While the cake is baking, remove the rhubarb mixture from heat, and taste. Add enough jam to sweeten to your taste (this was a LOT of jam in my house). Leave to cool.
6. To prepare the crumble, add all fry ingredients to a mixing bowl, and mix thoroughly with hands. Continuing with your hands, rub in the butter until the mixture resembles very fine crumbs.
7. Once the cake is ready, top immediately with the rhubarb mixture, tapping the tin to ensure an even spread. Top with the crumble, and place it back in the oven to bake for 15 minutes.
8. Remove from the oven, and let it settle for at least 20 minutes. Serve warm or cold.

* I want to be more resource friendly, but just can’t part with baking paper, so we now wash it and reuse it. If you use it, give it a try. It just needs a quick wipe down with a warm sponge.

Hope you enjoy it!

It will be a few days before there is any Azeri cooking, but look out for something mid to late next week.