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Springtime Flavors
If you had to choose one fruit or flavor that reminded you of the start of spring, what would it be? For me, nothing screams sunshine and springtime more than rhubarb. That may sound strange to you, but in Denmark, we grew up eating a lot of it while it was in season, which is from about May through the end of summer. Plus, I tend to associate rhubarb with strawberries, since that is a classic flavor combination, so it really reminds me of summertime! Super fresh, sweet, a bit sour, and surprisingly flavorful, rhubarb is definitely an underused and underrated addition to your baked goods. Give it a try this year!
Rhubarb…Fruit or Vegetable?
Rhubarb is a reasonably easy plant to grow, and when it is really thriving, you get a lot of it. So, you have to use it up somehow! Technically, it is a vegetable, a bit reminiscent of celery in the way it looks but luckily not in the way it tastes. However, people tend to use it in recipes as more of a fruit. It has a tart and quite sour taste, so it is usually combined with sugar to make it more palatable. Personally, I love the tartness of raw rhubarb, but cooking it down with sugar brings out the flavor a lot more. The best way to use rhubarb is in baked goods, like rhubarb pie or cake, or in jams/preserves.
Today’s Recipe
Last summer, we posted a recipe for rabarbertærte (rhubarb pie). This turned out to be one of our absolute favorite recipes of the summer, so this year, we wanted to share another rhubarb recipe. Our rhubarb cake is so delicious; it is super moist, fluffy, sweet, and with lovely bits of tart rhubarb scattered throughout. The fruit cooks in the cake as it bakes, so it gives the cake an amazing flavor while still retaining a bit of crunch. Best of all, it’s a seriously simple recipe to make and is definitely going to become one of our go-tos! Try it out and leave us a comment and rating below.
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Rabarberkage (Rhubarb Cake)
A delicious, fluffy rhubarb cake absolutely perfect for the spring or summer months! The tartness and bite of each piece of rhubarb is a delicious contrast to the sweet vanilla sponge – it doesn't get any better!
Ingredients
CAKE
- 200 grams chopped fresh rhubarb (2-3 stalks)
- 1 1/2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs (room temperature)
- 200 grams (1 cup) granulated sugar
- 250 grams (~2 cups) all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 120 ml (1/2 cup) vegetable oil
- 120 ml (1/2 cup) milk
TOPPING
- Demarara sugar (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
- Butter/oil a baking tin (we used a 9-inch round tin) and cut out a sheet of parchment paper in a circle to cover the bottom.
- Mix together the chopped fresh rhubarb and 1.5 tbsp of granulated sugar. Let this marinate while you mix the rest of the cake batter.
- Beat eggs and granulated sugar together until light in color and doubled or tripled in size. Use a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, or an electric hand mixer – it will be more difficult to whisk by hand, but it can be done!
- Meanwhile, mix together dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt) in a separate bowl.
- Mix together vanilla extract, milk, and oil in a liquid measuring cup to make it easier to pour.
- Alternate adding in wet ingredients and dry ingredients, adding half of each at a time.
- Fold into the mixture with a rubber spatula or mix on low speed in the stand mixer.
- Add most of the chopped rhubarb and sugar to the cake batter, reserving a small amount that you will add on top. Fold the batter a few times to make sure the rhubarb is evenly distributed, but try not to overmix at this point.
- Pour the batter into your baking tin.
- Sprinkle the remaining rhubarb over the top of the cake. You can also sprinkle some demarara sugar for a bit of crunch, but that is totally optional!
- Bake for 40-45 mins, or until a cake tester emerges clean from the center of the cake. (Baking time will depend on your baking tin and oven. A shallower, larger cake tin will take less time, while a smaller but deeper tin may take longer. Glass tins also tend to take longer than dark, nonstick ones. Ovens range, so keep an eye on the cake!)
- Remove from cake tin after about 5 minutes and let cool (we let ours cool on a wire rack). Slice and enjoy!
Looks simple and delicious. What size cake pan did you use for this cake? Thanks.
Hi! This was a 9 inch cake pan!
Simple as advertised. Makes a great coffee cake. I topped mine with crystal sugar.
Happy to hear that you enjoyed it 🙂 This is one of my favorites in the summertime!
Virkelig lækker rabarberkage, der er nem at lave. Kan varmt anbefales!
Tusind tak! 🥰
I’m glad I found this recipe! I’ve been making hot milk cakes and was hoping for an easy way to incorporate rhubarb (it’s that time of the year!).
I had to modify a little based on pantry availability – coconut milk instead of cow milk, melted butter instead of vegetable oil.
The cake was delicious out of the oven and has a nice firmness when refrigerated overnight.
I’m going to try baking into a cupcake tin next for easy-to-share at work.
Glad you enjoyed it – coconut milk sounds like it would be really good! Thank you for the comment!
Just made this for my partner and it’s delicious
Yay, so happy to hear it! Thanks for your comment 🙂 This is one of my favorite bakes when I can find rhubarb.
Excellent cake! Moist and fluffy at the same time as I like. I used frozen diced rhubarb from my garden that I coated lightly with a bit of flour and it worked very well. A little taste of spring when Canada’s winter is not over yet 🙂 Thanks for the recipe!
Amazing! Extra happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe because it’s one of my favorites! I was just thinking today how excited I am to find rhubarb in the grocery stores again soon 😊 Thank you so much for your comment and for using our recipe 💕
Truly lovely cake. I had 2 ideas, one wasn’t so good. I know I’ll dye the cake pink that’ll look cutsie; looks like a crispy my little pony. Second idea that really worked; made the cake in 2 smaller tins & sandwiched it together with lemon & elderflower icing. A match made in heaven if you ask me.
Oh wow – lemon and elderflower icing sounds incredible! Might have to try that. So glad you enjoyed and thanks for leaving a comment 😊
Lovely summer cake. We like a combo of rhubarb and ginger, so i added 2 finely diced knobs of crystallised ginger and 2 tablespoons of syrup to the mix. Delicious!
Ooooh wow that is a great addition! I’ll have to try that, love rhubarb and ginger together too. So glad you enjoyed it! And thank you for your comment 😊
Does vanilla sugar work the same as vanilla extract?
Yes! Just add a little bit extra vanilla sugar, I’d say about 2 teaspoons instead of 1.5. Then add an extra 1 teaspoon of milk just to make sure there’s enough liquid in there! Although tbh it’s a very forgiving cake so I’m sure it’ll be delicious even if you don’t adjust everything perfectly! Hope that helps – let us know how it turns out 🙂
Does vanilla sugar work the same as vanilla extract?
Yes! Just add a little bit extra vanilla sugar, I’d say about 2 teaspoons instead of 1.5. Then add an extra 1 teaspoon of milk just to make sure there’s enough liquid in there! Although tbh it’s a very forgiving cake so I’m sure it’ll be delicious even if you don’t adjust everything perfectly! Hope that helps – let us know how it turns out 🙂
Great way to use excess rhubarb instead of the usual crumble. Really easy to follow instructions, served with vanilla ice cream. Mmmmm
Yesss, agreed! Crumble is definitely delish too but makes a nice difference with a cake! So glad you enjoyed it, thanks for using our recipe 😊
This cake is delicious… exactly how you described
Could you use other fruit in place of rhubarb when that’s not in season? Thank you
Glad you liked it! Yes, for sure – we actually have recipes for cherry cake (https://skandibaking.com/kirsebaerkage-cherry-cake/) and apple cake (https://skandibaking.com/aeblekage-apple-cake/) that use a really similar base cake recipe, with small tweaks in flavor and ingredient quantities. You can definitely just use this as a base recipe and add a different fruit!
Just made it. Looks lovely. Looking forward to eating it. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for your comment – hope you enjoy the cake!!
made this as a cake and it was great, then tried it as cupcakes with a shorter cooking time and added pistachios and it was so yummy
Yummm that sounds so good!! Thank you for using our recipe and leaving a comment 🙂 So happy you loved it!
Made this today and oh! I think this is one of my favourites. I had a slightly warm piece with vanilla ice cream – heaven. As I live alone I am going to pre cut and freeze. I hope it freezes well.
Yum, that sounds so delicious, I wish I had a piece right now 😆 Really glad you love it and thank you so much for using our recipe! Yes, it should freeze well, and you can easily thaw and then quickly heat it up in the microwave.
What a yummy cake! I used the rhubarb from our allotment. This recipe has made the recipe box to make over and over again! Thanks ☺️
Amazing!! Glad you loved it, and thank you for the comment!
Great cake! I happened to have quite a lot of fresh strawberries around so I added them and lessened the rhubarb. I loved how it came out. My glass pan did take longer to bake (an extra 20 mins), so really appreciate you mentioning it. Thank you for sharing your recipe. Looking forward to baking another one soon!
Wonderful – happy to hear it! Strawberry-rhubarb is one of the best combos 😊
This is a terrible recipe. The merengue method for sugar and eggs makes no sense for a cake. Don’t do it. It makes the cake spongy instead of crumbly.
I think many other comments here would beg to differ… but that’s your opinion! Also, beating eggs and sugar together until they reach ribbon stage is a very normal way to make a fluffy cake. Perhaps you are looking for more of a tender pound cake texture, which you can find here: https://skandibaking.com/paskekage-lemon-bundt-easter-cake/ and in many other recipes up on this blog.
Clearly you are not a baker. Ever heard of Genoise, chiffon or sponge cakes? They all rely on ribbon stage. Its not meringue method if it has egg yolks.
This is a fantastic rhubarb sponge. Light, fluffy and moist. Back under your bridge now….
Lovely cake, very tasty. Recipe very straightforward and unusually for me the timings worked. I was concerned that my batter was a bit thick but it turned out fine.Thank you
Yay, glad you enjoyed! Thanks for leaving a comment 😊
This cake is moist, sweet, but not too sweet and takes me back to my childhood of baked goods in the Czech Republic. Thank you for a wonderful recipe that helps me use up an abundance of summer rhubarb.
Aww yay so glad you liked it 🙂 Thank you for using our recipe and for your very kind comment!
Looking forward to making this! Please can I ask if the cake would freeze or if I make in advance would it keep refrigerated? Thanks
You can definitely freeze it! It also keeps in the fridge for probably 5 or 6 days.
Yummy cake turned out lovely.im a man that’s not to good in the kitchen but found this easy
Thanks
Greg
We love that feedback, yay! So happy it was easy to make and that you enjoyed it. Thanks for the comment, Greg! 😊
Hello, when testing for doneness, does the toothpick have to be bone dry, or can it be slightly moist? I am afraid of over-baking the cake.
Slightly moist is fine! It keeps baking for a bit once it’s out of the oven, as it cools. As long as you don’t see any raw batter on the toothpick, you’re good.
Can I use frozen rhubarb that I have thawed? Do I need to make any adjustments? Can’t wait to try this cake.
Yes! And no, you shouldn’t have to make any adjustments to the recipe. If the rhubarb is really wet and the batter seems too runny because of it, then you could add a bit more flour, but I can’t imagine the thawed rhubarb will make that much of a difference! Hope you enjoy 🙂
This is a great recipe, and easy too. I use whatever is at its peak in the orchard or garden. I divide the batter into five 75mm silicone baking cups, then add 40 grams of fruit to each. Baking time is about the same. I make several batches at a time and sell them in our weekend farm stand. Thanks for the metric measurements.
So happy you love it and make it so often! Good to know it can easily be adapted to make cupcakes/muffins. Yum! Thanks for your review.
Oops- should have said 100 mm cups!
Love this cake. I have made it twice. The first time I followed the recipe exactly and the fruit sunk to the bottom. The second time I coated the fruit in flour instead of sugar and the fruit still sunk to the bottom. It has also taken much longer to cook than your recipe suggests. The cake was still delicious but do you have any suggestions as to why fruit is sinking x
Hmmm I wonder if your batter is too liquidy? Even if you followed the recipe exactly, your eggs could be different sizes to ours, or who knows what other small things might be impacting the batter. I would first try adding slightly less of the milk and oil, and maybe an extra tablespoon or two of flour. A thicker batter will help support the fruit better. But if that doesn’t work, what you can try instead is adding the rhubarb when you pour the batter into the tin. So, add about 1/3 of the batter, sprinkle some rhubarb on top of that, another 1/3 of batter, more rhubarb, another 1/3 of batter, and then the rest of the rhubarb. Hopefully one of these two tips is helpful! Let us know how it turns out next time.
Thank you so much for your advice. I’ve just taken my cake out of the oven and it is perfect. I make the mixture slightly thicker by adding 2g extra flour but also I noticed from your photos that I had previously made my rhubarb pieces bigger than yours so this time I cut smaller and it has worked a treat. It has still taken 70 minutes to cook. Thank you. We grow far more rhubarb than we can eat each year and this recipe has given me a good reason to eat cake and use up the rhubarb. The family love it. Xxx
Amazing, yay! So happy those tips worked! And yes, the rhubarb size also is a good tip, that should’ve been my first thought haha. 70 minutes is a lot, but if that’s how long it takes, that’s how long it takes, I suppose…Perhaps your oven is at a lower temperature (you could use an oven thermometer to check this) or maybe your pan is deeper – that could be why it’s taking so much longer. But if it’s tasty, that’s all that matters!
Amazing cake! Perfect outcome. I made this for Easter and doubled the batch so I had two 9” round cakes. Wonderful balance of sweet and tart, and the texture is excellent. Had to stop my husband from eating the whole thing and he normally doesn’t like cake. Will happily make again! Thank you 🙂
Ahh wonderful to hear that!! Glad you enjoyed. Thank you for the kind words!
Fantastic recipe, brilliant textured cake and very yummy.
Brilliant whisking the eggs and sugar first.
Definitely a melt in the mouth cake and ideal for using the excess rhubarb in the garden
Thank you! Yes, mixing the eggs and sugar helps the cake get fluffy, definitely our preferred method for oil-based cakes. Really happy to hear that you loved it!
Quick. Easy. Tastes fab. What more could you ask of a recipe?
Love to hear it!! That is the goal! Thank you 😊
I made this recipe gluten free by substituting gkuten free self raising flour and increasing the baking powder to 1 and a half teaspoons. Also lactose free by using lactose free milk but you could easily use something like oat milk to make it dairy free too. Honestly can’t tell the difference but need to eat it that day or the next day.
Great – good to know! Glad it was good 😊 thank you for the comment!
So fluffy and delicious and still perfect the next day. I did not add the rhubarb “juice” to the cake but I used it in my kefir and it was so delicious. Thank you so much for sharing the recipe. I can’t wait to try it with gooseberries and with red currants ☺️
Ahh amazing! Yum, loveee the idea of making this with gooseberries or red currants! Both are so nostalgic for us because we always ate them in Denmark in the summer growing up 😊 So glad you loved it and thank you for leaving a comment!
I chose this recipe quite haphazardly because I wanted to make a very quick cake for a friend and I happened to have all the ingredients in the house. What a delight, therefore, that it turned out to be so delicious, and for such low effort. A recipe I’ll come back to again and again.
It’s so simple to make, right? Definitely one of the many reasons we love this cake too – it’s a go-to when rhubarb is in season. So happy to hear you enjoyed it as well, thank you for leaving a comment!
Oh my goodness, don’t think I’ve had a cake so soft, moist and melt in your mouth! It’s that whisking the eggs and sugar I think that creates the magic. Can’t wait to try it with other summer fruit esp. Plums and strawberries. Mange tak fra Danmark!
That’s such high praise haha thank you so much! We love using this as a base for other fruits as well and definitely agree that whisking the eggs and sugar is part of what makes it sooo fluffy and delicious. Thank you for your comment!
Have made this twice, once with fresh rhubarb and once with frozen. Fresh was noticeably better. I coated the frozen rhubarb in flour but still had to cook longer. Topped mine with powdered sugar at the end. I agree with other commenters – it’s nice to have a delicious rhubarb recipe that’s not just the typical crumble. And I also love how easy this is to make. Thank you for the clear instructions and for sharing this masterpiece with us!
Amazing, so happy you enjoyed it!! Thank you for your lovely comment.
Truly enjoyed this recipe it’s a winner! Husband loved it as well. I did top with a tiny bit of sparkling sugar.
Thank you!! Glad it was a hit!
If you use frozen rhubarb, will it work? Can you explain how to make this recipe if frozen rhubarb is used.
Yes! You can use it the same as the regular rhubarb, just make sure it’s thawed first.
As a person who’s a stickler for directions, this recipe is extremely difficult to follow. All the large photos had me scrolling from the top and back down to the bottom OVER and OVER and OVER again. Although the recipe was tasty, I won’t be making it again. And, nope, I’m unable to print it as I don’t have a printer.
Hi – thanks for the feedback! We like to include the photos so it helps as many people as possible understand the steps. You can actually click the camera button next to where it says “Instructions” and it will hide the process photos. Also, if you click “print recipe”, it takes you through to a simplified version of the recipe without any photos – you don’t have to print it and can just use it instead of our blog page. Hopefully that helps. Thank you for leaving a comment and really happy you enjoyed the cake!
Hi, I have been picking my rhubarb, chopping and freezing it, Will it be ok to use frozen fruit for this cake?
Yes! If you thaw it before using, you can just use it the same as the fresh rhubarb in the recipe. If you don’t want to thaw it, then just bear in mind that the rhubarb pieces might sink to the bottom, and the cake might need a longer baking time. Hope that’s helpful to you – enjoy the cake!