This moist rhubarb cake is made with ground almonds, orange zest and a hint of rose. Pre-roasting the rhubarb for just 10 minutes keeps the cake soft, naturally flavourful and lower in sugar than most rhubarb cake recipes.
Perfect for spring dessert, teatime or even breakfast with rhubarb compote.
Why This Moist Rhubarb Cake Works
This easy rhubarb cake takes inspiration from old fashioned rhubarb cake recipes but uses ground almonds and less sugar for a softer texture and fresher flavour. We love this as it's:
- extra moist from pre-roasted rhubarb
- reduced sugar
- easy to make ahead
- also great with frozen rhubarb
Should Rhubarb Be Cooked Before Baking?
Not always - but for this moist rhubarb cake, I prefer roasting the rhubarb first for 10 minutes. It gives the cake:
- more flavour
- better texture
- brighter colour
- and a natural syrup to brush over afterwards.
Roasting also works better with frozen rhubarb, which can otherwise make cakes heavy and wet.
How to Make Rhubarb Cake
This rhubarb cake recipe is simple and no need for any fancy toppings or fillings as it's so moist. Prepare and measure your ingredients in advance and you're all set to go.
How do you line a cake tin?
See my easy instructions in FAQs and Baking Chat.
Roast the Rhubarb First
Toss the rhubarb with orange juice, zest, rose water and a little sugar. Roast uncovered for just 10 minutes.
This keeps the rhubarb bright in colour and prevents the cake becoming soggy.
Make the Almond Cake Batter
Cream the butter and sugar until pale, then mix in the eggs, egg whites, almonds and orange zest.
The batter will look thicker than a classic sponge cake because ground almonds keep it naturally moist.
Assemble and Bake
Spread half the batter into the tin, add some rhubarb, then cover with the remaining batter and top with more rhubarb and flaked almonds.
Bake until golden and lightly springy in the centre. (Note that different baking tin sizes require different baking times).
Moist Rhubarb Cake with Almonds
This rhubarb almond cake is inspired by my French financier cake and gluten free lemon and almond cake using extra egg whites and ground almonds for a softer texture.
Roasting the fresh rhubarb in orange juice also adds moisture naturally, so the cake needs far less sugar than most rhubarb cakes.
Common Mistakes When Making Rhubarb Cake
Rhubarb doesn't need drowning in sugar. Orange zest and rose help balance the tartness naturally.
Frozen rhubarb releases too much liquid unless thawed or pre-cooked first.
Ground almonds keep this cake moist, but baking too long dries it out quickly.
Steam dulls the colour. Roast uncovered for brighter pink rhubarb rather than cover in aluminium foil.
How to Serve
This rhubarb cake with the orange and rose is delicious served at room temperature with:
- rhubarb compote (stewed). Like this cake, it's reduced in sugar. Add a dollop of it on the side or some Greek yogurt, crème fraîche or sour cream. Great for breakfast or brunch.
- rhubarb sorbet with rose - served for dessert, it brings out the rose in the cake.
- with rose macarons, lemon or almond macarons (recipes were in my books - but coming soon...)
For much more on rhubarb with more recipes,
see the rhubarb guide.
More Rhubarb Recipes
Growing up in Scotland, rhubarb and custard was always my Grandpa's favourite pudding. Here are more rhubarb recipes if you have extra stalks to use up:
- Rhubarb Fool with Ginger
- Rhubarb and Almond Tart
- Rhubarb Crumble Ice Cream
- Rhubarb & Gin Jam
- Rhubarb & Ginger Chutney
- Rhubarb and Custard Cheesecake
- Rhubarb Chips - great for topping on this rhubarb cake or just on vanilla ice cream.
Rhubarb Cake
Equipment
- 24cm / 9 inch cake tin non-stick
Ingredients
Roasted Rhubarb with Rose and Orange
- 2-3 sticks / 500g rhubarb cut into small chunks
- 1 orange, juice and 1 teaspoon zest unwaxed (keep aside remaining zest for cake below)
- 2 tsp rose water see notes
- 2 tablespoon brown sugar (or cane sugar)
Almond Cake with Orange
- 110 g (4oz/ 1 stick) butter, softened (unsalted)
- 100 g (3.5oz/ ½ cup) sugar
- 1 tablespoon zest from remaining orange
- 2 large eggs organic
- 120 g (4oz) egg whites (from 4 eggs)
- 200 g (7oz/ 2 cups) ground almonds (almond flour)
- 35 g (1.5oz/½ cup) plain flour (all-purpose)
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon slivered almonds for topping
Instructions
Roasted Rhubarb
- Preheat oven to 180°C/360°F (160°C fan/Gas 4). Line the cake tin with parchment paper.
- Wash rhubarb, cutting off the extremities and cut into 5cm sticks. Place in a non-stick roasting dish with 1tsp of the orange zest and all the juice. Add rose water and sprinkle over rhubarb with cane sugar. Roast until soft for 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.
Almond and Orange Cake
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy - either using a wooden spoon or mix together in a mixer.
- Gradually whisk in the orange zest, eggs, egg whites, ground almonds, flour, baking powder until mixed together.
- Place half the batter on the bottom of the tin, add some roasted rhubarb and top with the rest of the mixture. Top with remaining rhubarb and slivered almonds. Bake for about 40-60 minutes or until golden and a knife inserted comes out clean.
- Leave to cool in the cake tin for 10 minutes then remove and cool on a wire rack. Brush over the rhubarb, orange and rose juices from the roasting tin onto the cake.
Notes
This recipe was first published 11 May 2019 but is now completely updated.
The Dysfunctional Kitchen
This recipe was a major hit with my family! I’ve never baked using rose water before so this was a new experience for me. Would definitely make again, although I would say that it needed a longer bake than originally stated (fifty minutes).
Jill Colonna
So happy to hear this cake was a major hit and thanks for sharing your lovely photo on Instagram! Thanks also for alerting me to oven time, as I had made a mistake in the overall cooking time on the recipe card (I said it was 35 minutes!). It is now corrected. Just for the record, I only need to bake this 35-40 minutes in a fan oven but I have now added that it may need longer depending on your oven. Hope next time I get your 5 stars next time you make this. Thanks for your review. Jx
Cassia
This tastes divine but even after 50 minutes mine was still raw in the middle and I had to abandon all hope of taking it on my picnic. I noted afterwards that all the reviews are from people excited by the recipe and not from people who have tried to cook it. Such a shame.
Jill Colonna
Hello Cassia,
This isn't right - there must be a reason for this. We had this only last week again and I have checked the recipe many times. Was it the size of mould you used? I use 23cm/9 inches like I state in the recipe and only needs 35 minutes. It's important not to overcook it either, so that the flavours are good and the cake is still moist. A raw cake after as long as 50 minutes?
Either you used a smaller but deeper cake tin or your oven wasn't at the same setting as indicated.
Please let me know so we can work this out. I stand by this recipe and hope you try it again with the same oven temp and/size of tin. I'll add inches to the recipe just to make sure this is clear.
Best,
Jill