Rhubarb and Buckwheat Crumble Cake
A nutty, golden and hot pink cake, plus 20% off my upcoming gluten-free baking and pastry class, join us??
Before we crack on with this week’s newsletter, a PSA to say that I’m teaching another Gluten-Free Baking and Pastry class at Brighton Community Kitchen on Sunday 2nd March and there are a few spots left! You can get 20% off the ticket price with the code EMMAGF20 and we’d so love to have you there!! My sold-out bread class in January was a total joy as always and in this one we’ll be making a gorgeous seasonal fruit-filled crème patisserie tart, my favourite fail-safe gluten-free shortcrust pastry AND my go-to gluten-free choux pastry for profiteroles and eclairs and anything else your heart desires.
A lovely baker on my bread class left a note to say that the class had changed her life!! If that doesn’t persuade you that you need to come and spend a Sunday afternoon baking with us, then I don’t know what will.
Wishing you a love-filled week ahead,
Emma x
Hi lovely people, happy Sunday. No Sunday scaries here, because we’re making/talking/dreaming cake!
The recipe I’m sharing this week is for a Rhubarb and Buckwheat Crumble number. It involves a fluffy gluten-free yogurt cake base spiced with a little ground ginger and speckled with orange zest, topped with slender hot pink forced rhubarb chunks (‘tis the season) and sprinkled with a nutty buckwheat crumble top. It involves three elements that each take no more than five minutes to prep, but that come together to create something pretty gorgeous.
Because I know you’ll all have run out to the shops to pick up some buckwheat groats to include in last week’s granola (recipe here if you missed it)!! I wanted to show you another way that I like to use them in gluten-free bakes - instead of oats in a golden crumble top.
*If you don’t have any buckwheat groats, or can’t get your hands on any, you can use rolled oats (gluten-free if needed), in their place, for the crumble topping here instead. Use what works for you! But know that the buckwheat-rhubarb combo is sublime and I urge you to find them if you can!*
What are buckwheat groats?
Just in case you need a quick refresher: buckwheat groats act like a grain but are actually a gluten-free hulled seed, packed with nutrients. They’re toasty and nutty and crunchy and delicious baked in a homemade granola OR cooked like a grain to make a creamy risotto. You can find them in your local supermarket in the grain aisle.
I especially love baking and cooking with buckwheat groats/flour at the start of the year because their savoury, slightly-bitter notes pair so beautifully with all of the zingy, tart fruits like blood oranges and passion fruits and earthy vegetables in disguise like rhubarb, in season right now.
Recipe development thoughts!
When baking with buckwheat flour, there’s always a balance to be had between taste and texture. Using all buckwheat flour in any cake recipe is not only pretty heavy taste-wise, but also texture wise - on the denser, chewier side. 200g gluten-free plain flour blend to 75g light buckwheat flour is just right here. However, after a few trials I really wanted to up the buckwheat flavour overall.
The crumble top was my answer! Crushing buckwheat groats until semi-fine in a pestle and mortar reduced their hard crunch (obviously) and made for a great rolled oat sub-in. They provide a sandy cornmeal type texture that really hits to elevate the tart juicy fruit.
A Buckwheat and Blood Orange Self-Saucing Pudding recipe (starting a petition to name self-saucing puddings something different because I think we can do better!) — is coming to paid subscribers later this week!
Three more reasons this cake is great and it’s worth finding those groats!
Because this cake is oil based, the batter is really quick and simple to make. You simply whisk together the dry ingredients in one bowl, the wet in another and combine
This cake doesn’t have a tonne of sugar in it, but I don’t think it needs it. There’s just enough to balance out the slightly savoury rhubarb and nutty buckwheat and it being on the less sweet side really makes both ingredients shine
As far as cakes go, this one is slightly on the more nutritious side - if ever there was a cake that felt more acceptable to eat for breakfast, this is it!
Rhubarb and Buckwheat Crumble Cake - the recipe
Serves 12
50 minutes
Bright pink rhubarb chunks and a nutty buckwheat crumble top a fluffy yogurt cake base spiced with a little ginger and speckled with orange zest. This one’s a gooden.
For the buckwheat crumble:
3 tablespoons buckwheat groats
4 tablespoons gluten-free plain flour blend
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 tablespoons olive oil
For the cake:
200g gluten-free plain flour blend
75g light buckwheat flour
50g light brown sugar
30g caster sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
75ml olive oil, plus extra for greasing the tin
200g thick Greek yogurt (can be lactose or diary free)
Grated zest and juice of 1 orange
2 medium free-range eggs
For the rhubarb:
250g rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 5cm chunks
25g caster sugar
Heat the oven to 180℃, 160℃ fan and grease and line a 20x30cm baking tin with olive oil and baking paper. Crush the buckwheat groats in a pestle and mortar to the size of breadcrumbs and then tip into a small bowl. Add the rest of the crumble topping ingredients and mix until combined.
To make the cake, add the flours, sugars, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, ginger and salt to a large bowl and whisk together. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the olive oil, followed by the Greek yogurt and orange zest and juice. Crack in the eggs and whisk together just until you have a smooth batter.
Pour into the prepared tin and level out the top. Toss the rhubarb in a bowl with the sugar and spoon it over the cake batter in an even layer. Sprinkle over the buckwheat crumble and bake for 35 minutes, or until risen and golden and a skewer inserted comes out clean. Let cool slightly before cutting into squares and serve with a dollop of yogurt or custard.
A note on yogurt — Don’t have any? Sour cream would make for an extra rich and delicious sub in
Dairy-free? — As this cake is oil based, all you’d need to do it switch out the yogurt for a dairy-free/plant-based version
That sounds amazing. Is there any other fruit that you have tried with it?