Most of you know my passion for following the food seasons ... right now gardens are producing watercress, spinach, asparagus, strawberries, new potatoes and rhubarb. Soft crabs and spring lamb are also coming into the mix about this time and are available locally in and around our area.
I created our Easter dinner menu based around all these wonderful foods that celebrate this glorious season. I’ve included one of the recipes featured on the menu, rhubarb cake, a recipe I’m always anxious to prepare once these stalks come in season. Hope you have the chance to prepare it, share it and enjoy it as much as we have over the years.
Happy Easter readers!
Easter Dinner Menu
To Start
Creamy Watercress Soup Shooters
Sautéed Soft Crabs with Caper Cream
Dinner
Leg of Lamb Roast Stuffed with Spinach, Feta Cheese and Pine Nuts
Asparagus and Strawberry Salad with Crostini
Roasted Garlic Potatoes with Mint
Dessert
Rhubarb Cake
When we were taste-testing this cake, I had to hide it from Nick because after his second helping he confessed he would have consumed the entire cake in one sitting! It is extraordinarily moist and if I hadn’t been the person assembling the ingredients, I would never guess that tart-tasting rhubarb (a description for which it is commonly known) was one of the primary ingredients.
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
⅛ teaspoon salt
½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
½ cup sugar
½ cup brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups (about ½ pound) rhubarb, finely diced
½ cup walnuts, chopped
¼ cup brown sugar, packed
1½ teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
⅛ teaspoon salt
½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
½ cup sugar
½ cup brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups (about ½ pound) rhubarb, finely diced
½ cup walnuts, chopped
¼ cup brown sugar, packed
1½ teaspoons cinnamon
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- Lightly oil a 13 x 9-inch baking pan.
- In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
- In a large bowl, beat butter with white and brown sugar. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until slightly fluffy. Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk, beat until well combined. Fold in rhubarb. Transfer cake batter to baking pan, spreading evenly.
- In a small bowl, toss walnuts, brown sugar and cinnamon. Distribute topping evenly over cake.
- Bake for 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
About 15 servings
