Individual Rhubarb Pudding Cakes

Are you as excited as I am when your local farmers' market opens in the Spring?  On opening day I make a beeline for my friend's booth where I will find heaping baskets of gorgeous crimson rhubarb stalks and baskets of the first strawberries of the season.  I have strawberry rhubarb pie on the brain and can't wait to get home to roll out the pie crust and assemble this luscious pie. My friend Ann, at Thibeault's Table, make the best rhubarb pie, and you can check out the recipe and visit her wonderful blog by clicking this link. Ann has several great rhubarb recipes plus the best pie crust you will ever taste so  be sure to stop by for a visit.  When you prepare rhubarb use the stalks only.  The sometimes gigantic leaves of this plant are poisonous.

Rhubarb season is short but you can enjoy this delicious fruit (actually it is a vegetable) year around because it  freezes so well.  It can be prepared either in a dry pack or in a sweetened fruit syrup, using either sugar or artificial sweetener like Splenda. The added sugar helps retain color and shape and it improves the rhubarb's flavor.  You will find excellent freezing directions here if you want to stash some of this delicious  fruit vegetable so you can enjoy it through the long winter months when fresh Spring fruits are just a memory. I think freezing rhubarb in a light sugar syrup in vacuum sealed bags is the way to go and there are excellent instructions on how to do this at the above link.

If you like to give homemade gifts at the holiday now is the time to think about making rhubarb liqueur.  One of my long time market customers gave me this recipe for Danish Rhubarb Liqueur that has been passed down through her family and it has become a holiday tradition in my home too.  A little bottle of this is beautiful tucked into a gift basket for family and friends and is the perfect cordial to serve after a special holiday meal.

I have several excellent rhubarb recipes (check my sidebar for some of my favorites) that I use over and over (not much creativity going on here)  but when I found this recipe for individual rhubarb pudding cakes at Eggs on Sunday  I was pretty excited about it because it reminded me of a recipe my Grandmother used to make every Spring. What is it about individual servings that is so appealing?  Is it that we think somebody made something especially for us, that what is on our plate is for us and nobody else? What I do know is that everybody loves them.  My Grandma's cakes were a little more custardy, but these cakes have a wonderful texture and soak up the syrupy rhubarb liquid perfectly. I like them best warm out of the oven so if you plan for them to be done baking about half and hour before dinner is served your timing should be just right.

Individual Rhubarb Pudding Cakes
Printable Recipe


1/4 cup water
1-1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 cup sugar, divided
3 cups fresh chopped rhubarb stalks
1 cup all purpose flour
1-3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 teaspoon vanilla extract.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F with the rack in the middle.  Butter 4 individual 1-cup ramekins (or an 8 inch square baking dish).

Mix together the water, cornstarch, and 1/2 cup sugar in a small saucepan, then add the 3 cups rhubarb.  Bring to a simmer, stirring constantly, and simmer for 4-5 minutes.  Remove from heat.

In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and remaining 1/2 cup sugar.

In another bowl whisk together the egg, milk, melted butter and vanilla.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk just until combined - you will have a thick batter.

Reserve 1/2 cup of the rhubarb syrup mixture.  Divide the remaining rhubarb mixture among the dishes, then spoon the batter evenly into each ramekin over the rhubarb.  Drizzle the remaining rhubarb mixture over the top of the batter in each ramekin.  Bake (I usually put my ramekins on a small sheet pan) until a tester inserted into the middle of the cakes comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes.

Cool slightly on a rack before serving.   I topped my cakes with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  I have a sad weakness for vanilla soft serve ice cream from Dairy Queen so that's what I used as a topper.  The melting ice cream mixed with the rhubarb syrup and the result was....heaven in a bowl.

It's Foodie Friday again.  I hope you will visit Michael Lee at Designs by Gollum.