Experience the sweet and tangy taste of Irish Country Rhubarb Cake! This traditional Irish dessert is made with tender rhubarb and an easy scone pastry. Our easy-to-follow recipe guide will show you how to create this delicious dessert in the comfort of your own home. Perfect for any occasion, this cake is a great way to showcase the bright and bold flavors of fresh rhubarb. Check out our recipe and indulge in the ultimate taste of Ireland today!
Ireland being an island nation is one where the locals would utilize all the food they have available on their shores and so stumbling upon this recipe made sense for the type of hardy vegetable rhubarb is and the fact it likes a wet environment to grow, with cold not really deterring it too much from sprouting back again in the spring making it perfect for this traditional Irish cake recipe.
Why you'll love this
Scone pastry
For anyone who feels a little overwhelmed by homemade pie pastry this one is the most forgiving one to work with. You don't need to stress about wrapping and refrigerating before you get to rolling it out. This also means you can make this pie quickly!
Unique and Traditional
Irish Country Rhubarb Cake is a unique and traditional dessert that's not often seen on dessert menus. It's a great way to try something new and embrace the flavors of Ireland.
Easy to Make
Despite its impressive flavor, this cake is actually quite easy to make. Our step-by-step recipe guide will walk you through every step, so you can create this delicious dessert with confidence. It's a great option for anyone looking for a simple but impressive dessert to share with friends and family.
How to prepare your Irish Country Rhubarb Cake
- Prepare the pastry: Ensure your buttermilk and butter is as chilled as possible before adding to your dry ingredients.
- Halving the dough: Use a scale to halve evenly, it is also best to refrigerate your dough halves whilst you prepare each portion ahead of baking.
- Rolling out the pastry: Simple roll out each half, pressing the bottom portion into your pie dish and allowing for ¼ inch overhang over the edges.
- Prepare your rhubarb: You can prepare your rhubarb just before you are ready to bake and top with pastry.
- Preparing the top pastry layer: Crimp the edges tightly, slice slits into the top.
- Baking the cake: The pie will be perfectly baked when you can see bubbling from inside the pie and the pastry looks perfectly golden all over.
Ingredients and substitutions for Irish Country Rhubarb Cake
- Butter: Plain unsalted was used here, though you could definitely replace with salted. Cold and cubed helps us incorporate into the flour easiest.
- Buttermilk: Storebought buttermilk was used here thanks to it's consistent texture that you can help you recreate this dish in your own home. It's best to use storebought due to the acidity being balanced perfectly. The buttermilk also helps create a really forgiving texture in our pastry.
- Flour: Plain or all purpose flour is best to create a nice light crumb to our pastry.
- Baking powder: The baking powder helps give our pastry a nice rise which makes this lighter than more traditional pastry you might have tried before. It is best not to omit or replace this as the overall texture would likely be completely changed.
- Rhubarb: Fresh rhubarb is best here as it soaks up the sugar and gives us the perfect sweet interior. You could use strawberries, blackberries or even cherries instead, if you prefer.
- Sugar: Superfine or caster sugar is best here thanks to it's fine texture that will help draw out the moisture in our rhubarb whilst also dissolving perfectly helping give us a smooth filling.
See recipe card for quantities.
FAQ's for the best Irish Country Rhubarb Cake
Does the scone pastry need to be refrigerated?
The scone pastry is not like regular pie dough so if it has been sitting on your kitchen counter for 15 or 20 minutes this cake will still turn out beautifully, however, to make sure the dough is easy to handle, you should ensure to place in the refrigerator, if you are not intending to handle or bake it within the 15 minutes of making it.
How should the rhubarb be best prepared for pie?
You want fresh rhubarb for this recipe and approximately 6 stalks of medium rhubarb (500 grams or 1 pound) will be perfect here. It's best to slice your rhubarb to be no longer than 1 inch in length so the sugar can draw the moisture out of the rhubarb and ensure a nice juicy result.
How is it best to keep the Irish Rhubarb cake?
You can leave this out and covered for 1 day, any longer you will want to place the cake in the fridge.
Can I reheat the rhubarb pie?
Definitely! If you want to freshen it up and it was baked 2-3 days ago, simply preheat your oven to 100C/210F and place your slices in a heatproof dish, baking until the pastry feels warm to the touch, approximately 7 minutes. It should be almost as good as the day you baked it.
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How to make Irish Country Rhubarb Cake:
Preheat your oven to 180C/350F and greaseproof a pie dish.
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl, adding your sugar and stirring through to combine.
Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs and make a well in the center.
Beat the egg and buttermilk in a small bowl until well combined and pour into the dry mixture.
Carefully stir together until a dough has formed, and turn onto place on a lightly floured surface.
Halve the dough, setting one aside.
With the remaining half, roll out until it is approximately ¼ inch thickness, adding more flour to your working surface as needed to ensure it doesn’t stick.
Press into your pie dish, allowing for at least ½ inch overhang.
Place the sliced rhubarb into the base and spread out evenly.
Pour the sugar over the top evenly, tapping to let it sink within the layers of rhubarb.
Roll out the remaining half of dough and carefully place on top.
Slice off any overhang beyond ½ inch and press the edges together.
Slice slits into the top of the pastry.
Place in the oven and bake for 50 minutes or until golden and bubbling.
Remove and allow to cool to room temperature.
Slice and serve with pouring cream or ice cream.
Irish Country Rhubarb Cake
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: Serves 8
- Category: Pie and Tart
- Cuisine: Irish
Description
Blissful rhubarb is the shinning star in this Irish Country Rhubarb Cake recipe which is actually a pie and that crust quick and you might want to keep the recipe for other occasions, as it's incredibly easy and forgiving.
Ingredients
Scone pastry
340 grams / 2 ⅔ cups plain flour
4 grams / 1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon sea or kosher salt
100 grams / ½ cup superfine/caster sugar
80 grams / 2.8 ounces butter, cold and cubed
1 egg
175 milliliters / ¾ cup buttermilk
Rhubarb filling
500 grams / 1 pound rhubarb, roughly chopped
150 grams / ¾ cup superfine/caster sugar
Instructions
Scone pastry
- Preheat your oven to 180C/350F and greaseproof a pie dish.
- Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl, adding your sugar and stirring through to combine.
- Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs and make a well in the center.
- Beat the egg and buttermilk in a small bowl until well combined and pour into the dry mixture.
- Carefully stir together until a dough has formed, and turn onto place on a lightly floured surface.
- Halve the dough, setting one aside.
- With the remaining half, roll out until it is approximately ¼ inch thickness, adding more flour to your working surface as needed to ensure it doesn’t stick.
- Press into your pie dish, allowing for at least ½ inch overhang.
Rhubarb filling
- Place the sliced rhubarb into the base and spread out evenly.
- Pour the sugar over the top evenly, tapping to let it sink within the layers of rhubarb.
- Roll out the remaining half of dough and carefully place on top.
- Slice off any overhang beyond ½ inch and press the edges together.
- Slice slits into the top of the pastry.
- Place in the oven and bake for 50 minutes or until golden and bubbling.
- Remove and allow to cool to room temperature.
- Slice and serve with pouring cream or ice cream.
Notes
Adapted from irelandseye.com
Nutrition
- Calories: 374 calories per serve
Keywords: rhubarb pie, irish baking, rhubarb recipe
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