Rhubarb Marzipan Cake

Rhubarb Marzipan Cake

This rhubarb marzipan cake has a light, moist vanilla sponge with tender rhubarb throughout and a layer of delicious sweet marzipan in the centre.



As a kid we often had rhubarb desserts as it grew in abundance in the garden. Not one of my favourite fruits as a child because of its tangy sour taste and I don’t think I was alone. It has slowly become more popular, combining it with strawberries in pies has become a big hit and my strawberry rhubarb crumble is one of the family favourites. This time I am paring it with marzipan, store bought or home-made it adds a sweet caramel flavour, blending beautifully with the sourness of the rhubarb and creating a moist cake.  

If you want to add some further flavour twists, take a look at my variations section.

If you decide to give this recipe a try, let me know! Leave a comment below and rate it – it’s really helpful to me and the other readers. And don’t forget to take a picture and tag it #thegourmetlarder on Instagram. I love seeing what you come up with! 🙂


RECIPE HIGHLIGHTS

  • EASE: easy.
  • FREE FROM: options available in the substitutions section.
  • GREAT FOR: everyday dessert, weekend baking, friends and family visiting.
  • TASTE & TEXTURE: a light, moist vanilla sponge, tender, tangy rhubarb and sweet marzipan.
  • SERVING: delicious just served on its own or with a cup of tea or coffee.


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    © THE GOURMET LARDER. All images and content are copyright protected. If you want to share this recipe, please do so using the share buttons provided. Please do not republish the recipe or its content in full instead, include a link to this post for the recipe. Further information can be found in my FAQ’s.


    INGREDIENTS

    For this recipe all you need are these ingredients:

    • Plain or all-purpose flour – to build structure.
    • Baking powder – is a chemical leavening which increases the volume of the ingredients, helping to create a nice light texture.
    • Caster or granulated sugar – sweetens the cake.
    • Vanilla extract or paste – adds flavour and enhances the other ingredient flavours.

    Vanilla recommendations: pure vanilla extract or vanilla paste or vanilla pods.

    • Eggs – add structure. Make sure they are at room temperature before using.
    • Neutral-tasting oil (coconut, vegetable or sunflower oil) – creates moisture, makes the cake light and lengthens the cake’s life span.
    • Rhubarb – the star of this cake, gives it that tangy flavour, which is absolutely delicious and moist.
    • Marzipan (bought or home-made) – adds sweetness and notes of caramel to the cake.
    • Icing sugar – for rolling out the marzipan and dusting the finished cake.
    • Flaked almonds – gives a little texture and adds decoration to the top of the cake.

    TIP:

    I highly recommend adding a good pinch of salt to your cakes. It might seem counterproductive, but it’s not. Salt helps balance out the sweetness and richness. It also elevates the other ingredients, bringing out the best characteristics of any recipe. In a seemingly absurd or contradictory way, salt intensifies the mouth’s ability to taste sweetness. It is the sodium that sends signals to move glucose into the sweet taste receptor cells in our tongue, triggering the cells to register sweetness. The result is that salt not only alerts our ‘salt sensitivity’, but also our ‘sweet sensitive’ taste buds.
    I recommend Maldon Sea salt flakes or Cornish sea salt for baking.




    SUBSTITUTIONS

    While I am making recommendations for alternative ingredients, I haven’t necessarily tried them. If you try making any adaptions, I would love to know how you get on and share it with the other readers.

    SUGAR-FREE AND LOW-CALORIE OPTIONS

    • Brown sugar suggestions: Pure Via Baker’s soft brown sugar or Sukrin Gold’s natural brown sugar alternative.

    GLUTEN-FREE OPTION


    WHAT VARIATIONS CAN I MAKE?

    Try some of these flavour twists.

    • Spices – add an exotic twist, by adding 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon or a 1/4 tsp of ground cardamom to the cake batter. Both go really well with rhubarb.
    • Citrus fruit – for a bit more zing, add the finely grated zest of 1 lemon.
    • Oil vs butter – I use oil in this cake to give it that light, moist texture. If you don’t want to use oil it can be replaced with an equal amount of butter. Simply beat the sugar and butter together first until pale and fluffy, continue mixing adding the eggs one at a time. Finally, add the baking powder and flour.
    • Try different fruits – this recipe works well with many other fruits. I particularly like glacier cherries or mixed peel. Fresh apricots, apple or pear also work perfectly.

    If you experiment, I would love to know how you get on and share it with the other readers.


    NUTRITION

    Serving: one slice

    Nutrition information can vary for a recipe based on factors such as precision of measurements, brands, ingredient freshness, or the source of nutrition data.

    I strive to keep the information as accurate as possible but make no warranties regarding its accuracy.

    I encourage you to make your own calculations based on the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.

    Rhubarb Marzipan Cake

    STORAGE AND FREEZING

    This cake will keep well for up to 5 days in an airtight container.

    Freezing: This cake will freeze well, wrapped in clingfilm for up to 3 months.

    © THE GOURMET LARDER. All images and content are copyright protected. If you want to share this recipe, please do so using the share buttons provided. Please do not republish the recipe or its content in full instead, include a link to this post for the recipe. Further information can be found in my FAQ’s.


    TOOLS YOU’LL NEED

    Here is a list of some kitchen equipment that I use and recommend for this recipe.

    I like the sturdiness of this bowl and its 4 litre capacity means I can use it for mixing just about everything in the kitchen. It is also microwave, freezer and dishwasher safe.

    These different size mixing bowls are really useful depending on the amount of food you are preparing. They also have airtight lids that fit snugly to seal and keep food fresh, so this set can be used as dry storage bowls with lids on. The plastic lid of the largest bowl has a removable centre. Where one of 3 graters can be used.

    I do own a plastic mixing bowl but I am personally not a big fan of them. These 3 bowls are on the smaller size but good for the odd cake making.

    These spatulas are so useful for baking. I use them everyday and not just for baking. Good rigid handles, excellent for scraping out bowls, dishes and frying pans. The large spatula is not flat, it has a raised centre, which makes it very strong.

    I like this model of electric hand mixer because it comes with a large stand, meaning you don’t have to always hold it.

    These springform pans make removing cakes from them after baking a doddle. I personally tend to line them as often as possible to ensure that my cakes don’t break for added security.

    The Gourmet Larder is an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

    TIP: I highly recommend using metric measurements and a digital kitchen scale, rather than cup measurements. If you have ever ended up with dry, dense or crumbly baked goods, it might be because of inaccurate volume measurements, not all measuring cups are made equally. All my recipes on this blog are carefully developed so that you can easily recreate them in your own kitchen with success, using metric measurements. It is also a lot easier, less messy and you will get far better, consistent results. 🙂
    If you are interested in understanding conversions, here you will find the best conversion chart.


    RECIPE TIPS

    Make sure to cover the cake with foil for the first hour, this will help avoid it over browning.

    A little marzipan may stick to the skewer when testing the cake to see if it has baked through. making it hard to check if it has fully cooked. Try testing in a couple of places and make sure you leave it for at least 1 hour 20 minutes as a minimum baking time.

    Rhubarb Marzipan Cake

    Rhubarb Marzipan Cake

    Preparation:12 minutes
    Baking:1 hour 30 minutes
    Total:1 hour 42 minutes
    Servings: 12
    Tools you’ll need:
    • 20cm springform pan
    This rhubarb marzipan cake has a light, moist vanilla sponge with tender rhubarb studded throughout and a layer of delicious sweet marzipan in the centre.

    INGREDIENTS LIST
     

    Cake

    • 200 g plain flour (all-purpose)
    • 1.5 tsp baking powder
    • 200 g caster sugar
    • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract or 1/2 tsp of vanilla paste
    • 3 medium eggs (150g total)
    • 200 g neutral-tasting oil (or butter)
    • 350 g rhubarb (trimmed and cut into roughly 2cm / ¾ inch lengths)

    Marzipan and decoration

    • 225 g marzipan (bought or home-made)
    • 2 tbsp icing sugar (to help roll out the marzipan and dusting the cake)
    • 20 g flaked almonds

    Preparation
     

    • If you are using store bought marzipan you can move on to the next step. For a really good cake I recommend making half of my home-made marzipan recipe, you can find the recipe here.
    • Pre-heat the oven to 180°C fan / 400°F / Gas 6.
    • Line a 20cm springform pan with baking paper.
    • In a large bowl or food processor add all the dry ingredients for the cake. Start mixing and finally add the liquids (egg, oil and vanilla). Continue mixing until you have a nice smooth batter.
    • Sprinkle some icing sugar on the worktop and roll out the marzipan into a circle, roughly the same size as the pan.
    • Spoon half the cake batter into the prepared pan and even out the top. Scatter over half of the prepared rhubarb.
      Rhubarb Marzipan Cake
    • Lay the marzipan on top of the cake batter in the cake pan then add the other half of the batter and even out the top.
    • Scatter over the remaining rhubarb and the flaked almonds.
      Rhubarb Marzipan Cake
    • Baking: Place the cake on the middle shelf and bake for 1 hour 20-30 minutes, covered with kitchen foil for the first 60 minutes.
      Test the cake to see if it has fully baked with a skewer or toothpick inserted into the centre. Be aware, a little marzipan may stick to the skewer meaning it doesn’t come out clean, even when the cake is fully baked through.
    • Once baked, remove from the oven and leave to cool in the pan for about 30 minutes, then remove from the pan and transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool.
    • Once cooled dust with some icing sugar and serve.
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    KEYWORDS cake recipes, fruit recipes, marzipan

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    PLEASE LET ME KNOW HOW IT TURNED OUT FOR YOU!

    If you tried this Lemon Drizzle Cake or any other recipe on my website, please let me know how you got on in the comments below. I love hearing from you. Also, please leave a star rating whilst you’re there!

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    If you liked this vegan rhubarb marzipan cake recipe,

    take a look at my inspirational recipe collection for more ideas.

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    HAPPY BAKING!

    Nigel sig




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