This is the ultimate Rhubarb cake recipe, the simplest and most delicious spring cake to try to celebrate rhubarb season. Super moist yogurt and brown sugar cake loaded with rhubarb and topped with a super simple strawberry rhubarb compote, you will love it!
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🌟 Why this is the best recipe
- It is rather easy – As fancy as it looks, making this Rhubarb cake is extremely easy! Both the rhubarb sponge cake, as well as the strawberry rhubarb topping comes together really easily and quickly using a handful of easily accessible ingredients
- It is super delicious – I never compromise on taste! Super moist brown sugar yogurt cake with tangy rhubarb topping will blow your mind! The cake has the ultimate melt-in-your-mouth texture with just the right sweetness! It is so super refreshing, you will love it
- It is an honest, detailed tutorial – While this Rhubarb mousse cake recipe might look a bit long, all the information I have written here, every tip and trick will help you achieve the perfect results without any issues on the way. Remember, baking is science, and every little detail written here is to help YOU
- It is super pretty - The rhubarb topping makes this cake super pretty and a touch of gold glitter does not hurt either
- No special equipment is needed – All you need is a round cake tin to bake and assemble the cake
📝 Ingredient notes
For the rhubarb sponge cake
- Oil: this is an oil-based cake (no butter) that keeps the cake super moist, soft, and fluffy. Butter-based cakes tend to harden a lot in the fridge, with oil we won’t have this issue. Use no flavor vegetable oil
- Sugar: I am using a combination of granulated white and brown sugar. I absolutely love the brown sugar deep molasses flavor and regularly use it in fruity yogurt cakes. If you want to learn about the different types of sugar and how to use them in baking, please read my sugar guide
- Egg: Room temperature as always
- Yogurt: Use high-fat content Greek or Turkish style thick yogurt. Its creaminess helps keep to keep this yogurt cake so moist that you won´t be able to stop just after one slice
- Flour: I am using pasty flour but all purpose works too, they are so-called “soft flour” which are low on protein resulting in a delicate, tender texture. If you want to be a Pro when it comes to deciding what type of flour to use in your baking, please read my flour guide
- Baking powder + Baking soda: Makes the cake tender and helps the rise
- Salt: We always need at least a pinch of salt in any cake batter to balance the flavors
- Rhubarb: Cut rhubarb into small pieces. You might feel tempted to add more however too much rhubarb makes the cake too wet and difficult to bake so please stick to the quantity stated in the recipe
🛒 You’ll find detailed measurements for all Ingredients in the printable version of the Recipe Card at the bottom of this post
For the rhubarb-strawberry topping
- Fruit: You will need some rhubarb and strawberry to make the compote topping. I find it looks better if the compote is a mixture of rhubarb and strawberry puree plus rhubarb pieces. I will give instructions on this in the recipe card on how to make it
- Sugar: Simple white granulated sugar is working perfectly fine
- Lemon juice: Juice of lemon, freshly squeezed. Remember, lemon juice balances the flavors in the topping, just like the salt in the cake
- Gelatine sheet: It´s an odorless, tasteless, and colorless thickening agent, very often used in mousse cakes like this Rhubarb cake. Powder or sheet versions are available, in my recipes I always use gelatin sheet (1,7 g gelatin/sheet), which I found easier to handle. Powder gelatin can be used 1:1 so when I state 1 gelatin sheet that means 1,7 g gelatin powder. For more info on gelatin, how to substitute gelatin, how to boom gelatin etc. please read my gelatin guide
🛒 You’ll find detailed measurements for all Ingredients in the printable version of the Recipe Card at the bottom of this post
👩🍳 How to make this recipe
1. How to make moist rhubarb sponge
This is a wonderful and easy Yogurt based cake recipe you can use with various fruits eg. apple, pear, cherry, strawberry, etc. A super moist, fluffy cake with velvety crumbs and wonderful brown sugar notes, incredibly delicious. It is also easy to prepare, the key is not to overwork the batter.
- Ingredients must be all measured with a Digital scale
- Prepare a 15 cm (6 inch) round cake pan with parchment paper
- Pre-heat oven to 180 C / 356 F (no fan)
- Whisk oil, room temp egg, room temp yogurt, granulated and brown sugar just until combined
- Sift dry ingredients together (flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt) before adding to the mixture, then fold just until combined
- Then fold in rhubarb pieces
- Pour cake batter into the prepared baking pan and bake for 30 minutes. Do not open the oven door during baking
- After 30 minutes check the middle of the cake with a toothpick. Bake until the toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let it cool on a cooling rack
💡 Top Tip: Eggs as well yogurt must be at room temperature for the proper emulsification. Yogurt can form lumps easily if used cold
2. How to easily release the cake from the cake pan
There is nothing worst than a beautiful cake stuck in the cake pan! Never again!
How to avoid it? With the help of a pastry brush, brush the inside of the cake pan with a tiny bit of oil then use parchment paper on the bottom and side as well. The oil is only needed for the parchment to stick to the pan. What I love about this pan preparation is that no matter what cake I bake, with the help of the parchment paper it is always incredibly easy to release the cake from the pan.
💡 Top Tip: Make sure you do the cake pan preparation before starting to mix the ingredients!
3. How to make the Rhubarb & strawberry topping
I love making this cake topping, it is sweet and tangy at the same time and gives a perfect addition to your Yogurt cake!
- Roast rhubarb chunks in the oven for 15 minutes at 180C / 356F
- In the meantime prepare rhubarb and strawberry puree
- Soak gelatine sheets in cold water
- Cook the rhubarb and strawberry puree, sugar, and lemon juice in a saucepan over medium heat for 5 minutes
- Remove the saucepan from heat, squeeze excess water from gelatine sheets and stir them into the compote
I am using a 15cm / 6 inch tin, make sure to adjust the quantity of the apple compote and other ingredients if you are using a larger cake tin.
💡 Top Tip: Gelatin can be substituted with agar agar. Check the substitution ratios on the packaging or read my gelatin substitution guide
4. How to assemble the cake
First and foremost make sure your cake is cooled even chilled in the fridge for half an hour. Place the chilled cake into a Mousse cake ring (adjustable in size) set to 15cm / 6 inch. Alternatively, use a spring form.
Pour warm but not hot compote over the cake and smooth the top with an Offset spatula. Chill the cake for 4 hours, then carefully remove the mousse ring and acetate cake collar.
💡 Top Tip: Use acetate cake collar around the ring inside for neat-looking end results.
🎓 Expert tips
- While making the sponge, make sure all ingredients are at room temperature for proper emulsification
- Do not over-bake your sponge as that would result in a dry texture
- Rhubarb can be easily substituted in the recipe with peach, plum, apricot, etc.
- Feel free to experiment with flavor pairings rhubarb goes super well with eg. pear, ginger, orange, vanilla bean
❓Recipe FAQs
Yes, you can use traditional equipment (eg. springform pan), but the mousse ring is adjustable in size so you can use it no matter the size of the cake
Yes of course you can, this recipe works no matter what size or shape of cake you want to bake, however, you will need to adjust the baking time and ingredients accordingly
Yes, most probably you can, however, you can´t just replace ingredients without reformulating the recipe. When one ingredient changes, some other ingredients need to be changed too in order to keep the balance in the texture and flavor. Sadly, I am not able to provide substitutes for all sorts of allergies and diets
Yes, you can, however, you will need to use another thickening agent eg. agar-agar. For exact substitution ratios please check the package of your product
The topping is quite runny when assembling this cake, however, the gelatin will make it set in the fridge. If your topping has not set, maybe it needs more time in the fridge, or perhaps your measurement was off eg. you used less gelatin than stated in the recipe
Once you assemble the Rhubarb cake, it should be stored in the fridge. I suggest you cover the cake to make sure it does not absorb any smell from the fridge. Leftover cake - if there is any - should be stored in the fridge for 1-2 days in an air-tight container.
I do not recommend freezing this cake as the texture might change after thawing
🍰 More Cake recipes
Easy Rhubarb cake
Equipment
Ingredients
For the cake
- 60 g (⅓ cups) Vegetable oil
- 50 g (¼ cups) Granulated sugar
- 50 g (¼ cups) Brown sugar
- 1 Egg room temp
- 1 Egg yolk room temp
- 60 g (¼ cups) Yogurt Thick, Greek or Turkish style use on room temp
- 100 g (¾ cups) Pastry flour AP works too
- ½ teaspoon Baking powder
- ½ teaspoon Baking soda
- Pinch of salt
- 90 g (¾ cups) Rhubarb cut into small pieces
For the topping
- 250 g (2 cups) Rhubarb Cut into small pieces
- 140 g (½ cups) Fruit puree half rhubarb half strawberry
- 75 g (⅓ cups) Granulated sugar
- 10 g (¾ tablespoon) lemon juice
- 3 Gelatine sheets 1.7g gelatin per sheet
US customary cup measurement is an indicative figure only. Measure the ingredients with a digital scale by weight (gram). Baking is art but also science which requires precision and accuracy.
Instructions
Start with making the cake
- Heat oven to 180 C / 356°F (no fan)
- Prepare a 15 cm (6 inch) round cake pan with parchment paper
- Whisk together wet ingredients: yogurt, egg, sugar, oil
- Sift dry ingredients together: flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda then fold dry ingredients into the wet ingredients with the help of a Rubber spatula. Mix just until combined
- Fold rhubarb pieces in just until combined. Pour cake batter into cake pan
- Bake for 30 min or until skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean
- Cool the cake on Cooling rack
Prepare the fruit compote topping
- Roast rhubarb in the oven for 15 min at 180 C / 356°F
- Soak gelatine sheets into cold water
- Cook rhubarb and strawperrby puree, sugar, lemon juice in a saucepan over medium heat for 5 minutes
- Remove saucepan from heat, squeeze excess water from gelatine sheets and stir them into the compote
- Assemble the Mousse cake ring (adjustable in size) and set it to the size of the cake that is 15cm / 6inch. For a neat looking, smooth side surface use Acetate cake collar within the mousse ring. Alternatively use a spring form tin
- Place chilled cake into the mousse ring and pour warm but not hot compote over. Place roasted rhubarb pieces on top. Smooth the top with an Offset spatula
- Chill cake in the fridge for 4 hours for the topping to set
- Carefully remove the mousse ring and cake collar
- Decorate with edible golden leaves
- Store in the fridge
Notes
- Measure your ingredients with a Digital scale for accuracy
- For the sponge, room temperature ingredients will emulsify the best
- 3 sheets of gelatin sheets equal to 5g of gelatin. You can easily substitute the gelatin sheets by using the same amount of gelatin powder. For agar-agar, follow conversions according to the package instructions
- Make sure you read my Expert tips section above to maximize your success. A short recipe alone is not able to cover all the necessary details, and science behind baking.
- While baking the sponge layer, remember not to overbake it. Over-baked sponge cake can become too dry
- For a neat-looking, smooth side surface, consider using Acetate cake collar within the cake ring
- Make sure you do not open the cake tin before the cake actually sets, respect the chilling time
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