How to bake Colm O'Gorman's roasted rhubarb and orange spoon cake

A simple but delicious sponge batter topped with lots of fruit and baked in a shallow dish

Colm O'Gorman's Roasted Rhubarb and Orange Spoon Cake

This lovely dessert is a bit of a cross between a cake and a pudding; a simple but delicious sponge batter topped with lots of fruit and baked in a shallow casserole, skillet, or ovenproof dish and served with a big spoon directly from the pan — hence the name. It has a fabulous texture, cookie-like around the edges, moving to a light sponge and then a luscious, moist, fruit-laden centre. It is heavenly.

Rhubarb is now fully in season and locally grown is widely available. I adore rhubarb, most particularly when it is simply roasted with the zest and juice of an orange, some star anise and a little honey. My roasted rhubarb is fabulous served over creamy yoghurt or with pancakes for breakfast and it is divine with this cake. I part-roast the rhubarb when using it for this recipe as it will finish cooking when the cake is baking in the oven. I always roast more rhubarb than I need for the top of the cake and use the extra fruit when serving the dessert or for breakfast the next day.

If strawberries were in season, I would add some of those to the top of the cake along with the roasted rhubarb. Rhubarb and strawberries are a fabulous pairing, but it will be another few weeks before the first Wexford strawberries of the season are available. At this time of year I cannot countenance anything other than locally grown strawberries, so I will wait for those to become available and then bake this cake again, adding a mix of fresh strawberries and my roasted rhubarb to the top of the cake before it goes in the oven.

If, for some unfathomable reason, you do not like rhubarb, then you can use just strawberries or another soft fruit such as blueberries or raspberries or any combination of seasonal berries that you wish.

I use coconut sugar when baking this cake as it has a beautiful toasted caramel flavour. You will find it in most health food stores and in many supermarkets. Lidl stocks a great value organic version, but if you cannot find any, soft brown sugar will also work perfectly well.

I bake this cake in a shallow cast iron casserole dish, leaving off the lid of course. If you do not have one of those, then a skillet or a ceramic baking dish works equally well. Just make sure to grease the pan with melted butter before you add the batter so that the cake does not stick to the pan and is easy to spoon out and serve.

Roasted Rhubarb and Orange Spoon Cake

recipe by:Colm O'Gorman

If, for some unfathomable reason, you do not like rhubarb, then you can use just strawberries or another soft fruit such as blueberries or raspberries or any combination of seasonal berries that you wish.

Servings

6

Preparation Time

 15 mins

Cooking Time

 35 mins

Total Time

 50 mins

Course

 Dessert

Ingredients

• 400g fresh rhubarb

• 1 orange

• 2 tbsp honey

• 2 star anise

• 100g butter

• 125ml milk

• 225g coconut or soft brown sugar

• 1 tsp vanilla essence

• 225g plain flour

• 2 tsp baking powder

• Handful toasted flaked almonds

• To serve:

• Creamy Greek yoghurt or vanilla ice cream

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 175 Celsius. Wash and trim the rhubarb, discarding the leaves and the ends of the stalks. Cut the rhubarb into four to five centimeter long pieces. Pop it into a bowl, add the zest and juice of an orange, the star anise and two tablespoons of honey. Toss to combine everything well and tip the contents onto a shallow baking tray and arrange the rhubarb in a single layer. Bake for ten minutes and then remove the tray from the oven.

2. While the rhubarb is roasting, make the cake batter. Melt the butter, set aside two tablespoons, and add the rest to a big mixing bowl along with the milk, and the vanilla essence. Add the sugar, retaining a few tablespoons that you will scatter over the cake before you put it in the oven. Whisk to combine.

3. Next, add the flour and the baking powder. Whisk until you get a smooth batter. You can do this by hand, there is no need to mix this batter in a food mixer. Just whisk it for a few minutes until the batter is smooth with no clumps of dry flour remaining.

4. If you are baking your cake in a cast iron casserole dish or skillet, warm that in the oven for a few minutes. Brush the pan or baking tray with the two tablespoons of melted butter that you set aside earlier.

5. Pour in the cake batter, spreading it evenly across the pan. Add about two thirds of the roasted rhubarb to the top of the batter and scatter it with the last of coconut or brown sugar. Pop the pan into the oven and bake for thirty to thirty-five minutes until the center of the cake is just set.

6. When the cake has about ten minutes left to go, pop the remaining rhubarb back into the oven to finish roasting.

7. When your cake is done, remove it from the oven and let it cool for about ten minutes before serving. Finish it with a scattering of toasted flaked almonds and some fine strips of orange zest. Serve the cake in the middle of the table with lots of creamy Greek yoghurt or some vanilla ice cream and the rest of the roasted rhubarb on the side and let everyone help themselves.