Easy rhubarb and ginger cake, sweet and tart with hidden crystalized ginger pieces to increase the pleasure. A delicious cake perfect for the afternoon tea.
Rhubarb is a must every spring. Anything made with rhubarb… From a simple loaf cake like today’s Rhubarb and Ginger Cake to Rhubarb Meringue Pie or tart Rhubarb Crumb Cake.
And we have it in a savory manner; check out this fantastic Rhubarb Chicken or this delicious Rhubarb Soup with Bacon Omelet. Or read this article to learn What to Do with Rhubarb and make a delicious rhubarb ginger jam (bonus recipe at the end of the article).
Expert Tips
- Rhubarb leaves are poisonous; please discard them!
- Scale: Always use a digital kitchen scale in baking; it guarantees for best results (Amazon affiliate link). Measuring by volume can produce such different results, especially when trying to measure flour or butter. And if you use those inaccurate results, you are more likely to get inaccurate baking results.
- Room temperature: Make sure that the ingredients (butter, eggs, yogurt) are at room temperature. When you beat them together, they will create a smooth emulsion that traps the air in the batter. This air will expand during baking, making the baked goods light and fluffy.
- Immediate baking: Preheat the oven, grease, and line the tin before making the cake batter; you should bake the cake as soon as you stir it. If the batter waits for the oven to preheat, the baking powder will lose its power, and the ginger loaf cake won't rise nicely.
- Mixer: An electric mixer works perfectly. However, a stand mixer with a paddle attachment is better. You will have to beat the batter for quite a few minutes, and the stand mixer just makes life easier in this case.
Recipe ingredients
- Rhubarb: About 250 g/ 9 oz fresh stalks.
- It’s difficult to say how many stalks that would be because they can be really long and thick, or they can be very slim. It’s always best to use a scale.
- However, if you have 200 g/ 7 oz or 300 g/ 10.5 oz, don’t stress about it; a little bit more or less will not matter in this case. As long as you don’t go overboard and use too much of it
- Ginger: Crystalized ginger it’s sweet and spicy and so good that I could eat it like candy.
- You will only need about 50 g/ 1.8 oz; use some of the leftovers to make this Ginger Snaps Recipe; the cookies are delicious!
- You will also need one teaspoon of ground ginger to increase the flavor.
- Yogurt: Thick and creamy Greek yogurt. You can substitute with sour cream if you like.
- And maybe you would also like to try this Easy Yogurt Plum Cake.
- Flour: I prefer to use cake flour in baking. However, plain/ all-purpose flour is fine.
- Butter: I always use unsalted butter in baking. If you use salted butter, leave out the salt in the recipe. Make sure that the butter is soft.
- Other ingredients: granulated sugar, vanilla extract, large eggs, baking powder, salt, and some icing sugar for sprinkling on top.
Step-by-step instructions
- Prepare: Preheat the oven and prepare the baking tin.
- Chop rhubarb and ginger. Set them aside.
- Make the batter: Beat soft butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl until lighter, about 4-5 minutes (1). Add vanilla extract and beat again for about 1 minute. Add the eggs one at a time, beating each egg for about 1 minute before adding the next one (2).
- Mix in the yogurt (3).
- Dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, ground ginger, and a pinch of salt) in a separate bowl. Stir the flour mixture shortly on low speed into the batter (4).
- Combine: Fold in the chopped ingredients (5). Save a few rhubarb pieces for the top.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared tin and place the reserved pieces on top (6).
- Bake the rhubarb and ginger cake for about 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean (7).
- Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer the loaf cake to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Sprinkle the ginger rhubarb cake with icing sugar before serving.
Recipe FAQ
Yes, it will be softer to the bite. Both versions taste delicious.
I use a 25x10x7 cm/ 12x5x3 inches loaf cake tin.
If you want to bake the cake in a large loaf cake pan (30x10x7 cm/ 12x5x3 inches – the standard size in Germany), adjusting the ingredients is better. In this case, you will need to use 4 eggs and adapt all the other ingredients starting from there.
Room temperature: In an airtight container or wrapped in a clean kitchen towel, it will be fine for about 2-3 days.
Fridge: It will keep in an airtight container for about 5 days, but it will become slightly stodgier, typical for cake kept in the refrigerator.
Freeze it well wrapped in aluminum foil or plastic wrap and an airtight container for about 3 months. You can freeze the individual slices until solid, wrap them and place them in containers once they are frozen.
How to serve?
You can serve the rhubarb and ginger cake as it is or with a dollop of very lightly sweetened yogurt or creme fraiche or a big dollop of vanilla ice cream.
The slices are perfect with a cup of tea or coffee, but they are also great to take to a picnic or pack into your lunch box.
If you like loaf cakes as much as we do, check out the White Chocolate and Raspberry Loaf Cake, Fresh Cherry Loaf Cake, or the Peach Cobbler Pound Cake.
More rhubarb cake recipes
Rhubarb and Ginger Cake
Equipment
- 1 25x10x7 cm/ 12x5x3 inches loaf cake tin
Ingredients
- 250 g rhubarb 9 oz, Notes 1, 2
- 50 g crystallized ginger 2 oz/ ⅓ cup when chopped
- 140 g unsalted butter (room temperature) 5 oz/ ½ cup + 1 ½ tablespoon, Notes 3,4
- 130 g granulated sugar 4 ½ oz/ ⅔ cup
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 eggs large
- 100 g Greek-style yogurt full-fat, 3 ½ oz/ a little less than ½ cup
- 200 g flour 7 oz/ 1 ⅔ cup
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon icing sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Grease the baking tin and line it with parchment paper.
- Rhubarb: Wash and dry the rhubarb stalks and cut them into small pieces. Set them aside.250 g/ 9 oz rhubarb
- Ginger: Chop the crystallized ginger into tiny pieces and set them aside.50 g/ 2 oz/ ⅓ cup chopped crystallized ginger
- Beat soft butter and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy, about 4-5 minutes. Add vanilla extract and beat again for about 1 minute.140 g/ 5 oz butter + 130 g/ 4 ½ oz/ ⅔ cup sugar + 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating each egg for about 1 minute before adding the next one. Mix in the yogurt.3 eggs; 100 g/ 3 ½ oz/ scant ½ cup yogurt
- Dry ingredients: Mix the flour, baking powder, ground ginger, and a pinch of salt in another bowl. Stir them shortly on low speed into the batter.200 g/ 7 oz/ 1 ⅔ cup + 1 teaspoon baking powder + 1 teaspoon ground ginger + ⅛ teaspoon salt
- Fold in the chopped rhubarb and ginger. Save a few rhubarb pieces and place them on top of the batter.
- Bake for about 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.
- Rest the cake in the pan for about 10 minutes, then transfer it to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Sprinkle with icing sugar before serving.1 teaspoon icing sugar
Notes
- Rhubarb leaves are poisonous; discard them!
- Use a digital kitchen scale to measure the ingredients when baking; it guarantees for best results.
- Ensure that the butter, eggs, and yogurt are at room temperature.
- It’s preferable to use unsalted butter in baking. However, if you use salted butter, leave out the salt in the recipe.
Kelly says
Have you tried baking this cake in muffin tins? I don't have a cake pan, so I thought I might try making muffins instead. Curious how long the cooking time would be.
Adina says
Hi Kelly. I didn't try them as muffins. Try about 20 minutes (cups 2/3 full), then check with a toothpick. I hope it works.
Kelly says
@Adina, Thanks for posting such a unique recipe! They turned out really well. Love the flavor. I borrowed a tiny loaf pan (6" x 3.5") and baked that for 40 minutes, and I also did muffins for 30 minutes. I think both could have used maybe another 2-3 minutes in the oven, or ideally I wouldn't have filled them quite as full. If anyone is doing these as muffins, I'd recommend greasing the cups (no sticking issues with parchment paper in the loaf pan, though.)
Adina says
Thank you so much for the feedback, Kelly. It's great to know for sure that the recipe works for muffins too. I am so happy you liked it!
Sandy says
Although a teaspoon of ground ginger is indicated in the commentary, it does not appear in the list of ingredients.
Adina says
Hi Sandy, sorry about that; I missed it somehow. Thank you for bringing it to my attention; it's fixed now.