Rhubarb Frangipane Cake
Frangipane tart and cake meet halfway in a Rhubarb Frangipane Cake. This simple rhubarb cake will quickly become a favorite for rhubarb season!
Frangipane tart and cake meet halfway in a Rhubarb Frangipane Cake. This simple rhubarb cake will quickly become a favorite for rhubarb season!
On more occasions than I can count, I have found that purchasing rhubarb can be quite the conversation starter at the checkout counter.
“Hmm, rhubarb. How do you cook with this?” is one typical question. “Is it for sweet or savory recipes?” is another.
To which the floodgate of replies opens, and I begin to gush about the virtue of rhubarb. From sweet rhubarb empanadas to a savory rhubarb-wine barbecue sauce, and of course, the cake that made me fall in love with rhubarb in the first place, I have to control myself. And I need to remind myself to pack business cards when I go to the store for rhubarb, haha.
If you’re looking for a new cake to try – or if you’ve never had rhubarb before – run to the market for some stalks! This Rhubarb Frangipane Cake is one that I have been working on the last couple of months — I was inspired by the idea of a frangipane tart, and its first iterations were probably a little more complicated than it needed to be. I paired it down to this.
This cake is simple, moist from a combination of almond flour and all-purpose, lending its lightly nutty flavor to the tang of rhubarb. It’s the perfect snack cake to serve with tea or coffee and is the kind of homestyle dessert I like best. Not fussy, no-nonsense, just slices of summer, with virtually no effort at all.
Rhubarb Frangipane Cake
Ingredients
- 9 tablespoons unsalted butter (at room temperature)
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 cups chopped rhubarb
- powdered sugar (for serving)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F with a rack placed in the center of the oven. Butter a 9-inch cake pan.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until fluffy, scraping down the sides periodically, for about 5 minutes.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until fully mixed with each addition.
- Add the vanilla and mix completely.
- In a small bowl, mix together the almond flour, all-purpose flour, and baking powder. Add to the batter, mixing until just combined. Do not over mix.
- Stir in the rhubarb. Transfer the batter to the prepared cake pan and spread until the top is smooth.
- Bake the cake for about 35 minutes, or until golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let it cool completely.
- Serve with a sprinkling of powdered sugar.
Nutrition
Comments
COOKBOOK
This cake is both light and moist. It was a hit with the family. My only criticism would be that the almond flavor I associated with anything “frangipane” was lacking. I will make this again, but add a tsp of almond extract. This recipe would also work well with fresh cherries, plums or blackberries.
Thank you, Beth! I love that recommendation and will try it again with the almond extract!
Is there supposed to be any salt in this recipe?
Hi Ali! I didn’t develop the recipe with salt, but adding about a 1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt will definitely enhance the cake!
Are there any types of fruit to substitute the rhubarb?
You could certainly substitute your favorite berries for the rhubarb in this recipe!
Was that a 9-in. flower-shaped tart pan that you used in your photos? I was curious to know how it is baked as a cake.
Hi Mari! I used a 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom in the photos!
Can you use regular flour instead of almond flour – there are nut allergies in the house.
Hi Kallah, yes, you can substitute with regular flour!
Hi, I have 2 kids with nut allergy’s. Can I use just all purpose flour for this? Thanks!
I love eating baking with almonds including ground almond flour, and my garden is brimming over with Spring rhubarb. Therefore I was very excited to find this recipe. I was disappointed however as it is quite bland. Just Ok, and no Wow factor. Perhaps there should be some additional spice, or orange zest or something to perk it up.
Hi Den, you’re so lucky to have a garden brimming with rhubarb, what a treat! I’m sorry to hear that you were disappointed with this recipe — it’s meant to be a very simple cake, but truly, it would be very amenable to any extra flavors you may wish to add!
Hi, does anyone know if you could use ground almonds instead of almond flour in this recipe?
Hi Jess, this can work, I would just make sure to grind your almonds as finely as possible! Please let me know how it works out if you try it!
Yum, I’ll try it this week, looks so delicious and I have plenty of rhubarb growing in the garden!
I hope you love it! I hope to grow some rhubarb next year, how lucky you are to have them in your garden!
Looks delicious!
Keep it up!
Can you make the cake batter ahead of time, refrigerate it in the pan and then bake later? It would make dessert so much easier for company if you could do the prep work ahead of time.
Hi Erin,
I would actually just recommend that you bake the entire cake ahead of time — it is easily made the day before and will be perfectly delicious served the following day. I hope that helps!