rhub, rhub, rhub.

last summer i found the hidden gardener in myself. let's make it clear that my minute internal green thumb truly is tiny and easily ignored, but can be woken up if necessary. i still am very much an urban being.

one of the perks of being finnish is the tradition of summer cottages. my sweetie and i share two summer houses: one by the sea and one with a green garden. we experiment with a variety of veggies at the latter in addition to always growing potatoes, onions, tomatoes, carrots and grapes.

most of early spring is spent waiting for sprouts and all sorts of development (of which i understand very little, i might add...), but there are culinary perks early in the spring, as well. anna wrote about all kinds of young wild leaves which i don't recognize, but there is something i definitely do: it is rhubarb time!

here's a recipe for a large, simple rhubarb cake, best enjoyed with vanilla cream, custard or ice-cream.

5dl all purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ginger
2 tsp vanilla sugar
125 g butter
2.5 dl sugar
2 eggs (room temp)
2.5 dl sourmilk, sour cream or yogurt
5-6 dl chopped rhubarb (remember to peel!)

crumble:

2.5 dl all purpose flour
1.75 dl brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla sugar
125 g butter cubed

preheat the ovet to 175 celcius.

mix dry ingredients. mix soft butter with sugar. add the eggs one by one and mix for about two minutes. add dry ingredients and sourmilk/sour cream/yogurt in three batches and mix quickly until smooth. pour the batter into a greased, loose based cake tin. add the rhubarb pieces on top, and press lightly into the batter.

prepare the crumble topping. mix the flour, brown sugar and butter until crumbly (about 2min). add on top of the rhubarb.

bake on the lowest level of the oven for 45-60min, until the middle rises and the cake feels solid when the tin is shaken lightly.

enjoy!

(i made this yesterday for the family and will add a pic later once i have all my gear...)