Baking secrets: Balancing rhubarb with apples and chocolate

What cake to bake for a May gathering? For me, the choice is obvious—with rhubarb. I love its taste, but my guests don't necessarily. So, I decided to compromise. I didn't stop using rhubarb but added ingredients that softened its sour flavour. It turned out fantastic!

The season for desserts with rhubarb starts in spring and lasts all summer. Its sweet-tart flavour is excellent for warm days. Moreover, it goes well with any cake, even cheesecakes. However, as it happens, not everyone is convinced by this vegetable.

Rhubarb is a healthy addition to baked goods. During baking, valuable polyphenols are formed, which have anti-cancer properties. It is also a rich source of fibre and vitamin C. It positively affects intestinal peristalsis. It contains many vitamins, especially A and E, potassium and magnesium. One can list the benefits of rhubarb for a long time, but if someone doesn't like its taste, nothing will persuade them. Unless we cleverly combine rhubarb in the cake.

However, I found a way to balance its flavour with other ingredients.

Rhubarb pairs great with sweet fruits like strawberries or raspberries. Wild rose jam is also an interesting addition to rhubarb. However, this time, for the first time, I tried apples and dark chocolate. Pieces of apples made the cake even moister. The chocolate gave it a bit of dryness, a pleasant bitterness. With these additions, the sour note of the rhubarb was less noticeable. Even those against rhubarb in baked goods were satisfied. The flavours were perfectly balanced.

Ingredients:

• 120 grams soft butter,
• 2 eggs,
• 260 grams of wheat flour,
• 80 grams sour cream (18%),
• 120 grams powdered sugar, plus optionally more for serving
• 1 pack of vanilla sugar or natural vanilla,
• 1 tsp baking powder,
• half tsp baking soda,
• 1 apple,
• 200 grams rhubarb,
• 100 grams dark chocolate.

Preparation:

1. Peel the apple, remove the seed core, and cut it into small cubes. Cut the rhubarb into pieces approximately 2 cm long. Finely chop the chocolate.
2. Mix the flour with the baking powder and soda. Beat the butter with the powdered sugar and vanilla sugar until fluffy. While mixing, add the eggs and sour cream. Do not mix for too long, just until the ingredients combine.
3. Sift the flour, baking powder, and soda into the mixture and mix. Add the prepared apples, rhubarb, and chocolate.
4. Put the batter into a greased form. Bake for about 45-55 minutes at 180°C.
5. When the cake cools down, you can sprinkle it with powdered sugar.