Strawberry & Rhubarb Spoon Cake
Sweet buttery sponge meets jammy roasted fruit - designed to be spooned, not sliced.
Designed to be spooned instead of sliced, this dessert sits somewhere between an after-dinner pudding and a tea-time cake!
We’ve roasted in-season rhubarb and strawberries, creating tender fruit in a sweet-sour (drinkable!) syrup made from their own juices. And the delicious part – instead of conventionally spooning the fruit out then back over the cake mixture, or spreading the cake mixture over the fruit, we fold and swirl it all together, creating ribbons, so that the light, buttery sponge mingles with the syrupy, jammy fruit in every mouthful.
With the help of a little sugar, rhubarb’s sharp, sour taste pairs perfectly with sweet strawberries. The riper the strawberries, the better for this recipe. The remainder of that punnet sitting in the back of your fridge, starting to soften in places, are ideal for a dessert like this. Their ripeness intensifies the flavour of the syrup.
Serve with anything creamy, but we particularly enjoy it served slightly warm, with thin, cold cream generously poured over every spoonful.
STRAWBERRY & RHUBARB SPOON CAKE
Cut 200g trimmed rhubarb into 1cm pieces and place into a ceramic baking dish (something about 24cm wide and 4cm deep will work nicely). Hull and halve 150g strawberries. Add to the rhubarb with 60g raw caster sugar and 60ml freshly squeezed orange juice. Stir the fruit until well coated. Roast fruit at 200°C for 25 minutes or until tender, syrupy and the edges are beginning to caramelise.
In the last 5 minutes of roasting, whisk 120g very soft unsalted butter, 120g raw caster sugar and a squeeze of vanilla bean paste until light and creamy. Whisk in one egg. Sift over 150g plain flour with 2 tsp baking powder. Pour in 80ml milk. Whisk everything together until just combined.
Remove the dish of roasted fruit from the oven. Spoon the cake mixture over the fruit. Using your spoon, fold and swirl the fruit into the batter. Don’t overdo it, about 4 folds is enough. Lightly smooth over the top. Reduce oven to 180°C and return the dish back to the oven. Bake for 25 minutes or until cooked through and golden brown all over. Remove and sprinkle the top with a little extra raw caster sugar.
Allow the cake to mostly cool before enjoying spoonfuls served with thin, cold cream poured over.
Enjoy.