Rhubarb Cake - Mom and Gram

This cake officially comes from Gram LuVerne, Mom's copy of the recipe is in Gram's handwriting.  My rhubarb memories are so tightly tied to my Mom and it is my Mom who I remember making this cake.  I don't think many people grow up with rhubarb memories, none of my childhood friends did, more than once I had to identify the plants for them.  I can remember the rhubarb plants being contained by old tires behind the greenhouse and their massively huge frilly leaves on their primitive stalks made me think they should have belonged in a jungle not our back yard.

As with all garden items in my childhood, rhubarb came with chores and there were a few days every summer that were spent cutting mountains of rhubarb into chunks to be bagged and frozen.  But there was also the treat of being given a stick of rhubarb and unlimited access to the sugar bowl to dip and chomp away.  Rhubarb mostly went into pies and this cake, a few times I can remember it being made into jam and at least once it became wine.  It's a funny fruit but I'm glad it featured in my childhood, that sour pink and green stalk is an acquired taste and I don't have to miss out on it because I do know what to do with it.

The recipe makes mention of chopped nuts, just that a few would be nice, but Mom has confirmed that they never made an appearance in her version of the cake.

Rhubarb Cake

Pre-heat the oven to 350^F (177^C)
Grease and flour a 9 x 13 inch rectangular cake pan

In your mixer beat together
1/2 cup of butter (the recipe says margerine or oil but Mom uses butter)
1 1/2 cups sugar

When fluffy add in and mix well
1 egg

While that is mixing, measure out your wet and dry ingredients and prep your rhubarb

Dry
2 cups all purpose flour (plain flour)
1 tsp baking soda

Wet
1 cup soured milk
     - or 1 cup fresh milk with 1 tsp vinegar to sour it

Rhubarb
2 cups chopped rhubarb, tossed with a dusting of
1 tbsp flour

Alternately add in half your dry ingredients, then milk, then the rest of the dry ingredients, be careful not to over mix.

Stir in by hand the chopped rhubarb and pour the batter into your cake pan.

Mix up the topping
3/4 cup brown sugar
3 tsp ground cinnamon (be generous)

Sprinkle the topping over the batter and bake for 45 - 50 minutes
     My cake pan is smaller than 9 x 13 so my cake needed to bake for 60 min

It's not much to look at but the flavours are beautiful, when you slice into it, the cinnamon sugar topping just crumbles and dredges the whole of the cut side and drags the flavour all the way down the slice.

Edit - Gram sent me an email about this cake, she checked her recipe and noticed that she got it from (my Great) Aunt Eva, and most likely came from Aunt Eva's mother my Great Grandma Pierce.  She also said that my Mom commented she thinks this is a prairie cake.  Thanks for sharing the heritage Gram!  It's a yummy cake.