RHUBARB AND STRAWBERRY CAKE STACKERS
RHUBARB AND STRAWBERRY CAKE STACKERS
Recipe
Even though tart rhubarb and sweet strawberries aren’t grown in the same season, they taste exceptional together (and you could use a frozen version of either to make this recipe come to life). These little stackers are decadent while being not overly sweet or heavy.
For the cake:
200g butter, softened
200g caster sugar
4 free-range eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
200g ground almonds
50g spelt or plain all-purpose flour
Pinch sea salt
For the compote:
3 stems of fresh rhubarb, cut into 1cm cubes or 150g frozen rhubarb
150g strawberries, green parts removed and cut into quarters
60ml orange juice
85g honey
Peel of half an orange
Seeds scraped from ½ a vanilla bean
For the assembly:
1 cup mascarpone
- First, make the cake layers. Preheat the oven to 180C fan bake. Line a 30cm x 20cm baking tray with baking paper.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until pale, light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, along with the vanilla.
- Gradually fold in the ground almonds, flour and salt. Mix until just combined.
- Pour the batter into the baking tray and spread out so it’s smooth. The cake should be about 2cm deep.
- Bake for approximately 10-15 minutes. The cake is ready when golden in colour and springy to the touch.
- Allow the cake to cool for about 10 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack.
- Meanwhile make the compote. Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir occasionally until the fruit has softened - this will take about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool completely.
- Once the cake and compote are completely cool, cut the cake into 5cm x 5cm squares. You should end up with 24 squares. You can adjust the squares to your size preference!
- Next, assemble the stackers. First use a cake square. Using a piping bag or resealable bag with one corner cut off, pipe about 2 tbsp worth of mascarpone onto it. Next, spoon 2 tsp of the compote over the mascarpone and press another cake square on top. Top with more mascarpone and compote.
- Repeat with the remaining components until you have used all the slices of cake cubes.
- Serve immediately.
- Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 24 hours.