Rhubarb Snack Cake

From: Christi Jardine -Stake Provident Living Leader (8th Ward)

This is a fun and easy cake. It is great for a Memorial Day potluck!

Cake:

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 cup of firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup of butter or margarine softened

1 t. vanilla

1 egg

1 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

1 cup buttermilk

 2 1/2 cups flour

Topping:

2 cups chopped rhubarb (or 1 c. strawberries/1 c. rhubarb)

2 T. sugar

1/2 t. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 13" x 9" cake pan. 

In a large bowl, cream sugar, brown sugar and butter. Add vanilla and egg, mix thoroughly. Mix in soda and salt. Add buttermilk and flour alternately, mixing until a smooth batter is formed. 

Pour into cake pan and spread evenly. Spread rhubarb evenly over cake. Mix sugar and cinnamon together and sprinkle over cake. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 min. or until toothpick comes out clean. 

Serve with whipped cream or ice cream! Yum!

Serves: 15

Rhubarb-Strawberry Jam

From the kitchen of: Michele Higginson- Stake Provident Living Leader (2nd Ward)

This is great on whole wheat waffles! I also has about 1/4th of the sugar of regular jam!

5 to 6 cups rhubarb

1 cup water 

1 -15oz. can crushed pineapple.

5 cups crushed strawberries

2-3 cups sugar (to taste)

1 -6 oz., package strawberry jello

Cut up rhubarb. Place rhubarb and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil.  Rhubarb will be juicy once it cooks down.  

When in juice form add crushed pineapple.  Then add crushed strawberries, sugar and strawberry jello. Stir as jam is brought to boil. Boil for 25 to 30 minutes.  Place in freezer containers, let cool and freeze. 

*To bottle fill jam jars, cover with lids and bands and while still hot, water bath. Once water is at a rolling boil, time for 15 min. Remove from canner and let cool. Check lids for seal, and store.

Growing Rhubarb

April 6, 2011 - Rhubarb emerging.

May 1, 2011- Rhubarb about 2 feet tall.

by Christi Jardine- Stake Provident Living Leader

Rhubarb is easy to grow and has a tangy, zippy flavor when used in cooking. You can have a neighbor share a start with you or invest in a plant from a garden center. Either way you will have oodles of rhubarb for years to come.
Rhubarb loves sun so plant it in a sunny location. Once it is established with water and sun it will take off. As you can see in the top picture I have a drip line to my rhubarb and it is great! I just cut rhubarb when I need it. Other than that I completely ignore it until the fall when it is time to remove the dead stems that have died back.


The large (usually a foot or two across) leaves are a beautiful green and the stems are variegated green and red or bright red depending on the variety. This great plant adds variety of size, leaf texture and color  to your landscape.  It can be planted by itself in an otherwise hard to use space that just grows weeds, among the flowers in a bed or in your vegetable garden. Any way you plant it, rhubarb adds to the beauty of your yard and to your edible landscape! Plant some today!

By the middle to end of May rhubarb is ready to eat. It is often the first harvest from your backyard garden. Start a new Memorial Day tradition by making a great rhubarb recipe.

May 15, 2011- Rhubarb is about 3 ft. tall and about 4 ft. across.

Rhubarb is really classified as a vegetable, because it is the stem of the plant but it is used in cooking more like a fruit. If you buy rhubarb in the store it is usually several dollars a pound. For the limited work it takes, home grown rhubarb is a great deal!

The rhubarb in this picture to the left is ready to use. I made my first rhubarb cake yesterday.It was great!