Rhubarb and custard is one of those desserts, like butterscotch Angel Delight and Arctic Roll , that if you were brought up in 1970’s Britain you will probably remember rather fondly. Although the rhubarb tended to be so sour it made your teeth hurt, the over sweet custard made up for it, well in my mind anyhow. This rhubarb custard cake is a nod to that dessert. It has the same sweet, sour combination and is really rather good.
Yesterday, I was watching Masterchef and one of the contestants was making a set custard and rhubarb dessert and it got me thinking about putting this flavour combination into cake form. I did a bit of a search of the internet and found a number of rhubarb custard cakes from Australian bloggers and magazines. This recipe is adapted from one in Australian women’s weekly magazine. I think it looks pretty with the bright pink of the rhubarb next to the yellow sponge and it definitely has the taste combination that I remember from my childhood.
Whilst making this cake I was quietly humming away to myself but it wasn’t until I sat down to write this up that it dawned on me what I had been humming. If you grew up in 1970’s Britain you will remember the Roobarb & Custard cartoon and I reckon that a lot of you will remember the theme tune quite well too 
. If you don’t remember, here is a reminder
I hope that you try this recipe and that you enjoy it as much as i did!
Recipe
Rhubarb Custard Cake
Ingredients
For the custard
- 2 tablespoons Birds custard powder (heaped)
- 2 tablespoons sugar (heaped)
- 1 cup milk (240ml)
Cake
- 1 3/4 stick of butter (200g) - softened
- 1/2 cup superfine sugar (110g)
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (180g)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla paste
- 2 tablespoons milk
To decorate
- 2 stalks of rhubarb
- 2 tablespoons melted butter
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°c (Fan 160°c). Grease a 20 cm cake tin and line the bottom with parchment paper - set aside.
- Place the custard powder and sugar in a saucepan and add a little milk to make a paste. Continue to add the milk little by little until it has all been added. Place over a medium heat and bring to the boil, whilst stirring continuously. When the custard thickens, remove it from the heat and set aside to cool.
- To make the cake, cream the sugar and the softened butter together until light and fluffy. Add one egg at a time, beating well between each addition. If the mixture starts to split, add a tablespoon of the flour to the mix.
- Add the two tablespoons of milk and mix, then add the flour, baking powder and vanilla paste and mix well.
- Spread half of the cake mix on the bottom of the cake tin, making sure that you spread it right to the edges of the tin. Top with the cooled custard. Now add spoonfuls of the remaining cake mix on top. Spread the mixture over the top of the custard, trying to cover it as best as you can (as the cake mixture is thick, this may be a little tricky so don't worry too much if it isn't completely covered).
- Chop up the rhubarb into bits about 8 cm long and about 1 cm thick. Dip the pieces of rhubarb into the melted butter and then into the brown sugar before laying the pieces of rhubarb around the top of the cake. Sprinkle any left over sugar on top of the cake.
- Bake in the centre of the oven for 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours until golden brown. Remove from the tin and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
- Dust with powdered sugar prior to serving.
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