Rhubarb is not easy to grow in the south. The high heat and humidity make it challenging for this Siberian transplant. Some of the varieties can survive in our area, Nashville zone 7a, such as Victoria, Canada Red, Cherry Red or Valentine, but afternoon shade is the key. Plant the crowns on a Northern slope or in an area that gets shade in the afternoon so that the soil temperatures stay cooler, be sure it gets plenty of water too. In my garden, I have four Victoria crowns growing, the most commonly found variety here in Nashville, and I use large, plastic bread racks to provide shade for the plants during the hottest periods of summer.
This year, I was surprised at how quickly all of the crowns grew and I was able to harvest some stalks to both make this cake and to freeze for later. One of my favorite cakes to bake is an upside-down cake. Being able to turn a fully decorated cake out of a pan is so much better than having to frost and decorate layers. As beautiful as it is, the stalks made me think of celery-luckily, it didn’t taste like celery!
This recipe is a work in progress and I am not posting it here but it is based on a Persian Love cake made with pistachios, lemon zest, cardamom and rosewater. To decorate it a little after turning it out of the pan, I sprinkled chopped pistachios and rose petals around the edges. Because this was a large cake, 9″x13″, I took it to a Master Gardener meeting and potluck dinner, I came home with a very small piece; I ate it for breakfast the next day.
Rhubarb is not commonly found in southern gardens. The intense heat and humidity just do not suit the plant well. In the demonstration garden, we have learned that the best way to grow it is to plant it in an area that does not see the intense light and heat of afternoon sun. In the back of our vegetable garden, we have a shady area and in it are two rhubarb plants that are a green variety which seem to be better suited to our growing conditions.
Color is not generally an indication of sweetness in rhubarb but the manner in which it was grown can be. Hot house rhubarbs that have been forced are generally sweeter than those grown outdoors naturally. This crop was pretty tart and I decided to let it macerate in sugar before adding it to the cake.
Having chickens in our own garden has been a wonderful experience. When we moved into the new house, we added a few more and the littles have begun laying! We have one Americauna hen who has been laying tiny green eggs. We haven’t had the heart to crack them yet, but at the rate we are going, we will have to or run the risk of being buried in a pile of eggs.
Buckles are one of my favorite summer fruit cakes. This particular recipe is so versatile that by making simple substitutions, you can have a completely different cake each time! This time though, I kept it pretty simple and just substituted rhubarb for the usual sour red cherries.
The name “buckle” comes from the manner in which some of the fruit sinking while some of the batter rises up during the baking and this can give the cake a “buckled” appearance.
With the final addition of a walnut crumb topping, the cake was ready to go into the oven.
The buckling I was hoping for was not as pronounced and I suspect that it may have needed to macerate longer or I may need to increase the amount of rhubarb in the recipe. Looks like I will have to make another soon to test the theory! Despite that, it did make a nice sweet-tart layer of filling between the cake and the crumbs, the perfect treat after spending several hours digging and pulling weeds.
Fresh Rhubarb Buckle
will garden for cake 