Norwegian Rhubarb Cake with Cardamom

April 8, 2014 by Laura Haugen 48 Comments

I started daydreaming about this Norwegian Rhubarb Cake, or rabarbrakake, the moment I saw it on Outside Oslo, a lovely Scandinavian food blog. The beautiful photos drew me in, and the description of its simplicity had me hooked. Norwegian? Rhubarb? Cake? Sounds like a perfect treat to celebrate the homecoming of my part-Norwegian husband who loves rhubarb. I love that this is not overly sweet, and the cake stays moist and buttery on the inside, with little jewels of tart, soft rhubarb, and a golden, slightly crisp edge. I added my own touch of cardamom to the batter, because I usually associate Scandinavian baking with a good excuse for a dash of my favorite spice, and have to say this cake lived up to my daydreams. Maybe too much so, because, waking from my reveries, I realized the cake was half gone before the hubby came home… Oops! Welcome Home, Honey!

Norwegian Rhubarb Cake with Cardamom

• Time: 1 hour total
• Difficulty: easy
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Adapted slightly from Outside Oslo’s Norwegian Rhubarb Cake (Rabarbrakake) recipe and based on Norwegian National Recipes

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter = 1/2 U.S. stick = roughly 57 g., plus more for buttering pan
• 1/3 cup whole milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 and 1/4 cup self-rising flour
• 1/2 teaspoon cardamom (or up to one teaspoon, according to taste)
• pinch of salt
• fresh rhubarb, cut diagonally into 1/4-inch-thick pieces. I used two smallish stalks (150 g., or roughly 5 oz.) but would use more next time – maybe 200 g./7 oz.
• confectioner’s sugar for dusting

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F/180 C and butter a 9-inch spring-form baking pan.
2. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat, then add the milk, stir, and set aside to cool slightly.
3. Beat eggs and most of the sugar (reserve a little sugar for sprinkling on top) on high (I used an immersion blender) until light and fluffy. Turn speed to low as you carefully drizzle in the butter/milk mixture while continuing to blend.
4. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and cardamom and salt, then add the blended wet ingredients and mix with a spatula. Pour the batter into the buttered pan and then add the chopped rhubarb, scattering evenly over the cake (it’s prettiest if you can keep them buoyed on the top of the batter). Sprinkle the reserved granulated sugar on top.
5. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Remove from the oven to a cooling rack and after a few minutes, release & remove the side of the pan to let the cake cool more.
6. When cooled and ready to serve, sprinkle with confectioners sugar.

 

Note: this cake is best eaten within the same day! By the second day, it gets very, very moist.