Recipe of the week: rhubarb and almond cake
If rhubarb isn’t in season, you can use raspberries, blackberries or even blueberries for this versatile cake

The idea of throwing chopped rhubarb into cake batter, raw, like little sticks of Brighton rock, came to me via my friend Sarah Standing, says Skye McAlpine. And it is sheer genius. When rhubarb isn’t in season, you could use raspberries (frozen or fresh), blackberries or even blueberries.
Ingredients: serves ten people
- 370g salted butter softened, plus more for the tin
- 370g caster sugar
- 370g ground almonds
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 5 eggs
- 3 tbsp milk
- 190g polenta
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- 300g rhubarb, chopped into 2cm pieces
- sea salt flakes
Method
- Heat the oven to 190°C. Butter a 23cm springform cake tin and line it with baking parchment.
- Beat the butter and sugar together until pale and light. Stir in the ground almonds and vanilla. Now beat in the eggs, one at a time, followed by the milk. Lastly, fold in the polenta, baking powder and ½ tsp salt.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared cake tin, then drop in the chunks of rhubarb, scattering them evenly through the cake.
- Bake in the oven for 70-80 minutes, until the cake is set and golden brown on the top. Let it cook a little more in the tin, then turn the cake out onto a dish or stand.
Taken from A Table Full of Love by Skye McAlpine, published by Bloomsbury at £26. To buy from The Week Bookshop for £20.99, call 020-3176 3835 or visit theweekbookshop.co.uk.
Sign up for the Food & Drink newsletter for recipes, reviews and recommendations
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Nashville dining: Far more than barbecue and hot chicken
Feature A modern approach to fine-dining, a daily-changing menu, and more
-
Music Reviews: Coco Jones and Viagra Boys
Feature "Why Not More?" and "Viagr Aboys"
-
Art review: "Wayne Thiebaud: Art Comes From Art"
Feature At the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, through Aug. 17
-
Laurence Leamer's 6 favorite books that took courage to write
Feature The author recommends works by George Orwell, Truman Capote and more
-
Taz Sarhane's mallard with pine nut sauce and boulangère potatoes
The Week Recommends Bold duck, crispy potatoes and silky pine-nut sauce come together in this earthy yet refined dish
-
Cambodian pork and rice recipe
The Week Recommends This street-food dish is traditionally eaten for breakfast, but makes a delicious dinner, too
-
One great cookbook: 'I Dream of Dinner (so you don't have to)'
The Week Recommends The endless ease and versatility of a painless dinner
-
Book reviews: 'America, América: A New History of the New World' and 'Sister, Sinner: The Miraculous Life and Mysterious Disappearance of Aimee Semple McPherson'
Feature A historian tells a new story of the Americas and the forgotten story of a pioneering preacher