Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Strawberry Rhubarb Cake




I have one of these really REALLY old recipe boxes made of hard plastic jammed with hand written recipes, many of which are in what one might think is a foreign language. Some have shorthand scratchings while others are written diagonally with things like 2 cups flour written 2 c f and 1 tsp cinnamon would be 1 t cin. I'm sure most cooks or bakers would figure it out but since the whole idea of our blog is to create a living cookbook - something that can be a heritage thing to pass down for generations to come, it's a good thing that I'm pulling out the old recipes and making them accessible. Here's one of them that in original form would probably need an experienced ancient scribe to figure it out.

Just looking at that recipe brought a smile to my face because I could actually remember the day I wrote it. In the day, my mother's contemporaries would get together on Saturday night for what they called "The Poker Game". As kids, (all four of us), we would hate it when my parents were the hosts. All their friends would sit around this round poker table that my dad crafted, speak very loudly and smoked like crazy. I guess it was just cool in those days to have a cigarette hanging out of your mouth. My mother would prepare a literal feast for when they took a break for what they called "snacks and coffee". One of these snacks was the famous Strawberry Rhubarb cake. So, when I saw this recipe it brought back memories of "check to the aces" and how hard my mother worked to please.



So tell me this isn't perfect for a walk down memory lane!! This event was a great trigger for me to submit this cake to Chef Jeena's Kitchen event. The idea is to cook a recipe that reminds you of a person or event from the past and state why.

And...psst...if you've never visited Chef Jeena's blog and you like pictures - you'll find a plentiful supply of pic by pic tutorials for the recipes on her blog. She just makes it all look so easy.

Strawberry Rhubarb Cake

Ingredients

4 cups diced fresh rhubarb
3 oz. package strawberry jello (I use the sugar free)
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar (I use 1 cup)
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream (yogurt would work too)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp white sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts)

Directions

1. Cut rhubarb into small dice and mix with jello powder, set aside.

2. Make a batter of the next 8 ingredients.

3. Spread 1/2 of the batter into a greased 13 x 9 pan

4. Spead rhubarb over the batter.

5. Combine the last 4 ingredients to make a streusel mix

6. Sprinkle half of the streusel mix over the rhubarb.

7. Spread remaining half of the batter over rhubarb and sprinkle remaining streusel mix on top of it all.

8. Bake 350 F oven for 60 minutes or until done.

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22 comments:

That Girl said...

Frankly, I'm surprised rhubarb plants don't grow their own strawberries

Anonymous said...

Ooohhh, I just love the combo of strawberries and rhubarb.

We HAD 2 rhubarb plants until our dog ate them all! Ugh! She's worse than our possum, tomato eating problem!

NĂºria said...

What a delicious Cake! Did the smell of its baking bring you back the scene of your parents and friends too? Smells are so powerful when evoquing memories...

We also had this kind of "meetings" at home when I was a kid... and smoking was cool back then ;-D

There's something for you in my blog, darling!

OhioMom said...

My parents didn't have a Poker game, they played pinochle (sp?) and Mom and her lady friends also had a "sewing club", where they ladies would sit around and gossip and mend items .. while they snacked on homemade baked treats. Funny when you read a blog like yours, it brings back memories of childhood.

The cake sounds delicious!

Bunny said...

this looks wonderful!! nice and moist and yummy. is'nt it funny how we all have those recipe boxes in one form or another, mine is a binder with hand written recipes i've had for 30 yrs, the pages are yellow !

Anonymous said...

Are you sure you weren't writing about MY parents' house?? My mom had the same plastic box w/ recipes and my parents also played poker on weekends--though my mom served chiffon cake most of the time. Your cake looks wonderful!

How To Eat A Cupcake said...

I don't have a Barefoot Contessa book. It's a BC cake mix I bought from TJ Maxx! :) :)

Anonymous said...

One of my favorite flavor combos...love it.

grace said...

streusel rules. 'nuf said. :)

Jersey Girl Cooks said...

Yummy! Nice recipe for the memory event!

Ivy said...

What a wonderful event. Hope I will prepare something for Jeena. Your rhubarb and strawberry cake is fantastic.

Susan from Food Blogga said...

Strawberry rhubarb always makes me think of my mom's pie. She would make it every year around my birthday in May. I haven't had cake yet, so I can't wait to try this!

Anonymous said...

I've got one of those old boxes, too, from my earliest cooking days. I also have my mother's AND my grandmother's! They are the best.

Your cake looks just delicious - must try the recipe!

Mama Mia said...

perfect post for the event! this cake sounds sooooo comforting and yummY!

Elle said...

Love the memories...and the recipe. It does seem strange now that smoking was such a normal and popular part of socializing...glad we all know better now. Think how much better this great cake would have tasted with unsmoked taste buds...they never would have gone home. :)

Ruth Strong said...

Oh wow! Fantastic cake! I love rhubarb and strawberry together, its no wonder you have great memories of this!

Dee said...

I'd have to take out a personal loan to afford rhubarb in Malaysia :( My mother in law (who's Welsh) says Rhubarb used to grow wild outside her home. If only... She'd love your cake, so maybe I'll splurge on some as a surprise.

Elle said...

ooooh, oh, oh. That looks so good and summery! And what cool memories it brought back for you.

Deborah said...

I love recipes that bring back memories, and this looks like a tasty one!

Chef Jeena said...

This looks such a comforting cake. Thank you for the great entry. It looks delicious and it was great to read about why you baked it. :-)

test it comm said...

That looks so good!

Lucy..♥ said...

Absolutely a favorite combination of mine, just love strawberry & rhubarb together... yummy

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