Self-Saucing Rhubarb Pudding Cake

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R is for rhubarb, which seems to have a love it or leave it reputation.  I grew up with it and so I love it.  Give me a full on 100% rhubarb pie, no strawberries necessary!  I guess it makes sense since I love tart things and all things lemon.  Oh, I love it mixed into things too, bumbleberry pie loves its punch of rhubarb.  I have even heard of people dipping the fresh stalks in sugar and crunching on them raw.  That would be a literal nature's sour patch candy experience with a crunch!  Rhubarb looks like red skinned celery and though some people have said there are hints of celery in the flavor, I never observed that myself.  Perhaps it's just psychological because of the resemblance of the stalks.  It's just really tart and tangy, maybe like a combination of super sour unripe fruits and lemon.


I planted my first rhubarb last spring and had to watch it grow up large and gorgeous without harvesting any.  The second year you can harvest up to one third of the leaves and the third year on you can harvest up to two thirds.  Rhubarb has a beautiful giant, dark green leaf, almost like wide lacinato kale, however, the leaf is toxic and not edible due to the high concentration of oxalic acid.  Just the stalk is used in cooking, both savory and sweet.  I never knew rhubarb was used in savory cooking until I started cooking with an international community!

Don't be too worried about the amount sugar in this recipe, the cake is a standard cobbler sweetness and rhubarb is so sour that the sauce and filling is still plenty tart.  This is also very filling and tempting to cut into 9 pieces but more manageable when portioned for 12-16.  I actually love it just plain but it is good with whipped cream or a little scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Self-Saucing Rhubarb Pudding Cake
makes one 8-9" cake

2 cups fresh rhubarb, diced
2 tbsp lemon juice
1½ cups sugar, divided
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
3 tbsp butter, cold
1 tsp vanilla
½ cup milk
1 tbsp cornstarch or arrowroot starch
½ tsp cinnamon
1 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Butter an 8 or 9" square pan.  

Spread the chopped rhubarb evenly over the bottom of the dish and sprinkle with the lemon juice.  

In a mixing bowl combine half the sugar (¾ cup), flour, and baking powder.  

Cut the butter into small chunks and work into the flour mixture with a pastry blender, a fork, or your fingers, until the butter is roughly mixed in down to small pieces.  (Between lentil and pea sized).

Combine the milk and vanilla and mix into the flour just enough to moisten and you can still see the small pieces of butter.  

Scrape the batter out over the rhubarb and gently spread close to the edges as evenly as possible.

Combine the remaining ¾ cup sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon and mix well.

Sprinkle evenly over the batter.

Carefully pour the boiling water over the top of everything.  (Trust the process!)

Very carefully transfer the pan to the oven and bake for 50-60 minutes until the top is golden brown and crispy and the sauce has thickened and is bubble up around the edges like a fruit pie does.

Cool slightly and serve warm, or cool fully and reheat.  The sauce will thicken up more after fully cooling but is also delicious still warm from the oven. 


Here are some more letter R recipes:

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