Rhubarb Loaf

Sometimes a vintage recipe is the best. Make this beautiful moist Rhubarb Loaf with real ingredients like butter, sugar, flour and eggs. They’re a perfect balance for tart rhubarb. And a splash of orange is what makes this recipe extra special.

What’s the difference between green and red rhubarb?

Like many other vegetables (Yes! Rhubarb is a vegetable), there are multiple varieties of rhubarb. Some are more green and some are more red. So don’t be fooled into thinking the red is sweeter or the green aren’t ripe yet. Once the stalks are between 7 and 15 inches, or 18 to 38 cm, you can harvest them. If you pull carefully from the bottom the stalk will pull right out. Don’t pull them all at once. If you just take what you need, the plant will continue to grow. And, did you know the leaves are poisonous? Make sure you cut the leaves off and the first little bit of the stalk at that end after harvesting.

My friend Deb gave me this recipe. In the original directions, it said to mix the butter with orange juice. Huh? Butter and orange juice don’t mix. If you don’t believe me, try it. So I’ve revised the recipe to the traditional method of creaming the butter with sugar, then adding the orange juice and eggs before adding the dry ingredients. It works out just fine. And, you won’t have orange juice splashed all over your kitchen like I did, when beating and beating didn’t accomplish anything.

The recipe also includes grated orange rind. Make sure you don’t grate any deeper than the orange skin. The inside of the skin, where it turns white is very bitter. Once you’ve grated the rind, squeeze as much juice as you can out of the orange. It might not be enough for 1/2 cup but just add regular orange juice to make up the difference. And don’t be afraid to get some pulp in there!

The rind is added to the dry mixture for a reason. The flour will sort of coat the pieces of grated rind so they separate and get mixed evenly in the batter instead of sticking together in a clump. The bits of rind add a nice flavour pop and an interesting texture but don’t sweat it if you skip that step and just use regular OJ.

Stand mixers make baking easy

If you’ve got a stand mixer, this loaf takes no time to mix up. The batter is quite stiff so you have to spoon it into the loaf pan and spread it evenly to the edges. Parchment paper is a great way to line the pan and then you can easily lift it out once it’s cooled slightly. If you don’t have any you can spread a light coating of butter on the inside of the pan, then dust with flour, shaking the pan to ensure it coats evenly, then dump any remaining loose flour.

Sweet breads like Rhubarb Loaf take quite a while to bake. The normal baking time is 1 hour but you may need a little longer. Use a clean toothpick to insert deep into the middle of the loaf, if it comes out with batter on it, bake it another 5 minutes then test again.

It’s tempting to slice the loaf soon after coming out of the oven but it tends to fall apart easily if you don’t wait long enough. Serve with butter if you like. And maybe a cup of tea in a vintage teacup.

Here’s the recipe:

Rhubarb Loaf

A vintage sweet loaf recipe with fresh rhubarb and a hint of orange juice and zest.

5 from 3 votes

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Course Bread, Dessert

Cuisine American, Canadian

Servings 1 loaf

Ingredients

  

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• 2 cups rhubarb, finely diced
• ¼ cup sugar
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 ½ tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp grated orange rind
• ⅓ cup butter, softened at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• ½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1 tsp vanilla

Instructions

 

• Finely dice tender stalks of rhubarb. Add 1/4 cup sugar and stir to combine. Let sit while preparing other ingredients.
• Combine flour, salt, baking powder and orange rind. Stir to ensure orange rind is separated and covered well with dry ingredients.
• Allow butter to come to room temperature. Cream butter and sugar together in stand mixer until smooth. Add egg, then orange juice and vanilla.
• Add dry ingredients to butter mixture and beat on low speed until combined.
• Add rhubarb mixture and beat on low speed until just combined.
• Spoon into a loaf pan lined with parchment paper.
• Bake in centre of oven at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Check with toothpick to ensure no batter remains. If necessary, bake another 5 or 10 minutes.
• Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan. Then lift out and cool on a rack at least 30 minutes before slicing.
• Serve with butter if desired.

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