Method

• Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease and line a 20cm deep sided springform cake tin.
• Place the trimmed rhubarb in a single layer in a heatproof dish, squeeze over the orange juice and sprinkle with the zest and 20g sugar. Cover with foil and bake for 10 minutes, remove the foil and give the rhubarb a further 5 minutes. Then leave to cool.
• Beat the butter and sugar in a stand mixer or with an electric hand mixer in a large mixing bowl for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy and well combined. In a separate bowl combine the flour, almonds, baking powder, salt and ginger.
• Add a tablespoon of that mixture to the butter and sugar then beat in the eggs one at a time, alternating each egg with a further spoonful of the flour to stop the mixture curdling.
• Fold in the rest of the dry ingredients and then stir through the yoghurt.
• Tip half the mixture into the cake tin and arrange half the rhubarb over it. Spoon in the rest of the cake batter and spread carefully over the rhubarb. Arrange the rest of the rhubarb in a decorative pattern on the top of the cake.
• Bake for 1 hr - 1 hr 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
• Cover the cake with foil after the first 40 minutes to stop it browning too quickly.
• Pour the syrupy juices from the rhubarb cooking dish into a small pan and add the ginger preserve and melt over a gentle heat. Brush this glaze over the cake and decorate with chopped pistachios and rose petals – if using.

First published in the JC in April 2021