As a big fan of Laura Ingalls Wilder, I first read about the pie plant in her book The First Four Years, when she wrote about forgetting to put sugar in her pie. I had no idea what a pie plant was until years later, when I learned it was rhubarb. Rhubarb has always been one of my favorites, and when we were kids, we would sit on the back steps dipping stalks of rhubarb into little paper cups of sugar and eat until our bellies hurt. Rhubarb doesn’t grow in Florida, but sometimes I would buy it in the grocery store just for old times sake. Yes, buy it. I know you Minnesota people are shaking your heads wondering why anybody would ever pay for RHUBARB, but I paid about $2.95/pound. That is a small price to pay to combat homesickness. In Minnesota, almost every yard in the country, town, or city has a thriving rhubarb plant growing somewhere. Nobody has to do much to it, because it just grows and grows and grows. Everyone cooks with it, freezes it, gives it away, then just ignores it until the next year because they are tired of it. That is, everyone except me. When we first moved to our little farm, I was excited to see a rhubarb patch in the front yard. The rhubarb was pretty small, but I thought it was just early in the season, so I waited with eager anticipation. It stayed small, with skinny, spindly stalks that weren’t worth harvesting. The next year I dug up part of the patch and fertilized everything with compost and waited with eager anticipation. It stayed small and spindly. I sent off for new rhubarb roots, dug them in, fertilized them with compost and waited with eager anticipation. Even the new plants were small with skinny, spindly stalks that went to seed about the time it came out of the ground. This year, I have three different rhubarb patches, and I finally got a harvest. I am very happy to report that I spent a little time peeling and chopping yesterday and got three cups. Well, almost three cups. Enough to make one cake. I know the rest of you have made pies, jam and sauce, plus have gallon bags of it in your freezer. Please don’t tell me about it because I feel bad enough already. I would feel even worse if the cake hadn’t turned out so well. I thought I would pass along the recipe for those of you who have plenty of rhubarb. Be sure you have ice cream in the freezer so you don’t have to run out in your gardening clothes, only to find out that there are 17 people in the Bowstring Store when you thought you could slip in and out without being seen. That’s another story altogether.
Oatmeal Rhubarb Cake
(A Farm Woman original recipe)
Cake: 1/4 cup butter, softened 1 cup sugar 2 eggs 2 tsp. pure vanilla 1/2 cup quick cooking oats
1 1/2 cups flour 2 tsp. cinnamon 1/2 tsp. allspice 1 tsp. cardamom (optional) 1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. baking soda 3/4 cup milk 3 cups rhubarb, peeled and diced
Topping: 1/2 cup quick cooking oats 1/4 cup flour 1/4 cup butter, softened 2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped 1/4 tsp. salt 1/2 cup brown sugar
Combine butter and sugar, mix until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, beating for one minute each. Add vanilla. Mix together dry ingredients, alternate adding milk and dry ingredients, mixing after each. Fold in chopped rhubarb. Pour into greased 13 x 9 inch pan. Put topping ingredients in small bowl, mix with spoon until well combined. Sprinkle on top of batter in pan. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes, done when a cake tester comes out clean. Serve warm with ice cream or cold as a snack cake.
Yum ! I am a Yankee transplanted to the South and get so excited any time I see rhubarb here a the grocery store. I buy all they have – and the clerk NEVER knows how to ring it up ! My usual is strawberry rhubarb pie but I will try this recipe next time I see rhubarb for sale.
And yes, my grandmother grew it and we used to bring a cup of sugar outside to her patch and eat the stalks by dipping the end into the sugar and then crunching it all up.
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Yes! They would look at it and say “Chard?” Hahaha! Thanks for reading and for commenting!
Chris
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Love rhubarb! And I saw the sad slightly browned “fresh” rhubarb at the store just yesterday at my Florida store and strolled down memory lane. Can you believe I chewed on mine without even the sugar!
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You’re crazy, Girl!
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One more comment. I’m going to try gluten free oat flour in place of the regular flour and make it gluten free. I’ll let you know how it is!
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I too love rhubarb. We had it in our old farmhouse when I was a teen. We moved to a new (to us) home in 2010 and I was so surprised to see it come up here last year! I couldn’t wait to make pies and jam. The stalks were kind of spindly, and there wasn’t that much to harvest. I decided to make an citrus-rhubarb marmalade instead. It was amazing! The funny part was that the rhubarb stayed crisp. Even months later when I opened the last jar, that stuff was still crunchy. I just found out today that I was mistaken. I’ve been harvesting burdock. Looks so much like rhubarb- I was totally fooled! It tastes so good, I might just make some more of that stuff!
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Haha! I didn’t know that was edible….will have to check it out, as I think I have that growing all over the place. Thanks for reading, and for commenting!
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Our little neighbor girls come over and ask if they can pick some rhubarb and eat it raw…..
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We used to, also….just to say we did it!
Thanks for reading!
chris
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I can’t wait to try this! Wish you had a picture of it so I could pin it to my Pinerest board. 🙂
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I didn’t even think to take a picture. I was so pleased it turned out well! Thanks for reading.
Chris
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I enjoyed this post very much. I live in rhubarb country but have moved into an apartment so no garden for me! I’m always so grateful when a friend shares their wealth. I can’t imagine springtime without rhubarb.
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Thank you!
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I could not resist commenting. Very welpl written!
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Thank you!
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