Prep time:

Cooking time: 1 hour

Total time:

Serves: 8

175g Softened Butter

175g Caster Sugar

3 Medium Sized Eggs, beaten

225g Self Raising Flour

75ml Milk

1tsp Vanilla Essnece

Stewed, Tender Pink Rhubarb

This is a sensible grown-up cake – an antidote to all the chocolate. Madeira is somehow more refined and ‘cakey’ than bouncy sponge cake and this one goes very well with just a hint of the first tender shoots of the pinkest rhubarb marbled through it (please note: this cake has been tested on some lifelong rhubarbaphobes and they both asked for another slice…)

  1. Grease and line a 1lb loaf tin and preheat the oven to gas 3/150°C (ie cooler than for the cupcakes)
  2. Beat the butter and sugar together for 5-10 minutes until the mixture is white and fluffy, then gradually add the eggs as you continue beating (I tend to add a little flour as I go to stop the mixture curdling).
  3. Carefully fold in the flour and vanilla essence, adding the milk until you have a thick, but dropping consistency.
  4. Spoon in the rhubarb (make sure it’s smooth with no lumps) and swirl around a little to make a marbled effect, but don’t over mix.
  5. Pour into the loaf tin and bake for around an hour, depending on your oven (check with a skewer near the end of the cooking time – if it comes out clean, the cake is ready). This cake will keep well in a tin for several days.

  • words:
  • pictures: David Merewether

You may also like

Sausage & apple rolls

Apples go so well with pork and with pastry. Choose a good cooking variety and some high quality sausage meat for these deliciously simple-to-make sausage rolls – perfect to serve at Halloween or Bonfire Night.

Apple, cauliflower & Stilton salad

This crunchy salad is ideal for the autumn – whatever the weather. It is hearty enough to serve for a light lunch or supper on its own, but equally good as a side dish. Use firm, tangy dessert apples like...

Hedgerow harvest cake

Celebrate the season with a delicious combination of fruits and nuts gathered from the hedgerows (or the supermarket). Apple is a very useful ingredient in general for cakes, either grated or as apple purée, as it will help to keep...