Rhubarb & Ginger Streusel Traybake by Jo Pratt

 

From Jo Pratt's newest book, The Flexible Baker.

This irresistible traybake has just the right balance of softness from the polenta sponge cake base, tartness from the chunks of juicy rhubarb, bites of ginger throughout and sweet crunch from the topping. Tuck into a piece with a morning coffee, afternoon cuppa, dessert with a dollop of soured cream or packed in a lunch box.

Prep 40 minutes, plus 30 minutes cooling / Cooking 50 minutes / Makes 20 squares

Ingredients

For the filling

650/1lb 4 oz Rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 2.5cm/1 inch pieces

60g/2 oz/generous ¼ cup caster (superfine) sugar

finely grated zest of ½ orange

For the topping

125g/4½ oz 1 cup porridge (oatmeal) oats (gluten-free)

100g/3½ oz/1 cup ground almonds

100g/3½ oz/½ cup butter, diced

50g/1¾ oz/¼ cup caster (superfine) sugar

1 tsp ground ginger

For the base

175g/6 oz/¾ cup butter, softened, plus extra for greasing

200g/8 oz/1 cup caster (superfine) sugar

5 eggs

100g/3½ oz/1 cup ground almonds

100g/3½ oz/²⁄³ cup polenta (cornmeal)

1 tsp baking powder (gluten-free)

¼ tsp fine sea salt

75g/2¾ oz stem ginger, finely chopped

Method

Heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/gas 4. Lightly grease a 23 x 30cm/9 x 12 inch deep baking tin and line the base with baking parchment.

For the filling, toss the rhubarb in the sugar and orange zest, and tip onto a baking tray. Bake for 15 minutes until it’s tender and a little juicy. Set aside to cool while you make the other layers.

To make the streusel topping, put all the ingredients in a food processor and briefly blitz to give you a breadcrumb consistency.

For the base, using an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugar for a few minutes until it is light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then beat in the ground almonds, polenta, baking powder, salt and ginger. Spread the batter into the prepared tin and spoon over the rhubarb in an even layer on top.

Scatter over the streusel topping and bake for 50 minutes until golden and the centre feels firm when lightly pressed. Cool in the tin for about 30 minutes before serving warm or turning out to cool completely on a wire rack

Flexible

Flavour swap: for a blackberry and lemon streusel traybake, omit the ground ginger in the streusel topping, swap the diced stem ginger for the grated zest of 2 lemons in the cake base, and use 400g/14 oz/3 cups fresh or frozen blackberries instead of the rhubarb, which can be scattered straight into the cake batter.