The delightful pinks and greens of rhubarb make this cake a beauty. The creaminess of almond flour and zippy tartness of rhubarb keep you coming back for more. We started this photo shoot with eight pieces. 😉

Happily, we are the recipients of the Farm Lodge produce boxes again. Every week we receive a mystery box packed with their latest ripened crops. The most recent box of vegetables we received was picked the same morning we received them! Most people probably would not find this remarkable, but we live very far away from sources of fresh fruits and veggies and so these Farm Lodge boxes serve as our Farmers’ Market. With the nearest grocery store hundreds of miles away, our fresh produce usually is limited to items which can withstand several days in a box while traveling through the U.S. Postal system to our home on the Alaska Peninsula. Thus, the veggie drawers of our fridge are usually stocked with carrots, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, onions, potatoes and the like. Being able to cook with freshly picked zucchini, tomatoes, cucumbers, and herbs is a summertime treat we relish.

One thing we’ve come to enjoy about the Farm Lodge produce is the surprise factor. The last box included a bright pink bunch of rhubarb stalks. Last summer, I really fell in love with this vegetable. Tartness is a flavor I adore. This ingredient has tartness in spades which compliments sweetness perfectly…it’s like a lemon’s brother from another mother. Our favorite rhubarb creation from last year was a sauce which we used to drizzle on top of warm brie and on grilled salmon fillets.

Wanting to do something different with this bunch, I looked back on recipe ideas I never got to try last year. On my list was a rhubarb custard pie. Jack loves custard and he loves pie, so I knew this one would be a winner. The problem was that one of the key ingredients I needed, heavy whipping cream, was not going to happen. Back to square one. I had seen a recipe of an almond cake made with almond flour. The almond paste-marzipan type flavor and dense texture sounded like a great pairing for the tart stems. With a bit of tinkering, I came up with a winner.

The finished cake was lighter than I had expected it would be. The almond and rhubarb flavors complemented each other very well. And the rhubarb kept its lovely pink hue, making for a stunning presentation. What did Jack think? He’s not usually a cake guy. This one got high marks. “Kind of like a custard pie,” he said between big bites of his second piece. Seeing how he is my main customer, I’ll put this one in the keeper section.

Rhubarb Almond Cake

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup almond flour
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar, divided
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
• pinch salt
• 1/2 cut butter, melted
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 2 cups sliced or chopped rhubarb

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Grease a 9-inch springform pan. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, mix together almond flour and 1/4 cup sugar.
4. Remove 1/4 cup of the mixture and set aside.
5. Add flour, baking powder, and salt to the original large bowl.
6. Mix butter, eggs, and almond extract into flour mixture.
7. Pour batter into prepared springform pan.
8. Sprinkle half of the reserved almond-sugar mixture over batter.
9. Evenly place rhubarb atop batter.
10. Sprinkle remainder of reserved almond-sugar mixture on rhubarb.
11. Bake cake for 50 minutes. A wooden pick inserted to middle of the cake will come out clean when cake is done.
12. Cool cake in pan on wire rack. Let cool to room temperature before serving.