delicious brown sugar cake with seasonal fruit accompanied by a complimentary compote
- 1 cup unsalted butter plus 2 T, room temperature (1 cup = 2 sticks, 2 T is for buttering pan)
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar, plus 1 T for the top of the cake
- 2 eggs room temperature
- pinch salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 cup buttermilk do not use low fat, use whole buttermilk
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds or slivered, plus 1 T for top of cake optional
- 1 1/2 cups rhubarb cut in pieces about the size of a nickel,
- 1 1/2 T decorative sparkling sugar gives the cake a sparkly sheen
Butter (with the 2 T of butter or less) and flour a 9 " cake pan with 3" high sides. Place a parchment circle in the bottom of the cake before doing. This will help the cake come out easier. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.
In a mixer or by hand, beat the 1 cup of butter and brown sugar till combined Mix in one egg at a time, beating well between each egg. Add the pinch of salt, mix in. In a separate bowl, siift the flour, baking soda, and baking powder together. Add the buttermilk to the moist mixture. Lightly stir. Add in the dry ingredients along with the sliced almonds. Before you start mixing, put the rhubarb on top of the flour. The flour coats the rhubarb so it doesn't just sink to the bottom. (I like to use the same concept for mixing when making muffins.) Mix everything together.
Place batter in the cake pan. Give the pan a few taps on the counter to settle the batter. Sprinkle with the 1 T of sliced almonds and 1 T of light brown sugar. Sprinkle the decorative sugar over the cake or you could just use regular sugar but the decorative stands out more. Bake for 55 minutes. Check with a toothpick, which should come out clean. If the center is a little wet, the cake needs another 5 to 6 minutes. Let cool completely, and run a thin offset spatula around the whole cake before flipping out on a a serving plate. Flip the cake again so the decorative sugar is on the top, ad serve topped with compote and whip cream.
COMPOTE - 1 T of unsalted butter. 3 cups of rhubarb, cut a little larger than you did for the cake. 1/2 cup of sugar in the raw (or granulated sugar). Juice of 1/2 lemon. 4 ounces sweet white wine (I like to use Gewurtrazminer) and 2 cups of strawberries, hulled and halved. If small leave whole.
In a large sauté pan, melt the butter. Add the rhubarb and sprinkle the sugar all over the rhubarb. Add the lemon juice and the wine. Bring this to a simmer and let cook for 8-10 minutes, until the sugar has melted and the sauce is thick. Remove from the heat and stir in the strawberries. Serve with the cake. You could also add a little dollop of whipped cream with along with the cake.