Rhubarb, thyme & almond traybake

Two 'mother' recipes with endless potential for variation and a(nother) cake for the rhubarb glut.

This may be in danger of becoming a rhubarb newsletter

Perhaps I should rebrand – Tales From the Rhubarb Bed. But it’s growing like the clappers so when life gives you lemons…

I am inundated.

There is a small, novice rhubarb patch in my garden which has taken a Humphrey-sized pounding this year (tips for keeping dogs off beds welcome, please) but is still producing a little. Then there’s the rhubarb I discovered under a thicket of weeds in my new allotment which is a sturdy and steady cropper. Finally, a neighbour offered me unfettered access to his rhubarb patch which is so prolific it makes me green with envy, and of course I couldn’t resist.

Hence all the rhubarb recipes

If your rhubarb is similarly abundant, you might also like these ideas which are terrific for main crop gluts:

Rhubarb, almond & rosemary galette for the rhubarb's final fling

Rhubarb, ginger & honey flapjack

Rhubarb, Mackerel & Fennel Salad

In the meantime, I have picked armfuls of rhubarb from my three sources, poached them as described below, then tubbed them up and put them in the freezer for delicious deployment in custard, cakes or dolloped on breakfast yogurt at a later date.

But first, cake:

Rhubarb, thyme & almond traybake

This looks like one recipe but in fact contains within it the potential for many more. The poached rhubarb is a happy addition to yogurt, ice-cream or custard; and, made without sugar, it goes well with a pork chop. And, once you’ve made the cake with thyme, swap that out for rosemary, saffron or cardamom. Either way, this traybake is a doer: easy to make, easy to transport, winner in the freezer.

Serves 12-16

For the rhubarb:

• 200g caster sugar

• 300g rhubarb, cut into 3cm batons