Rhubarb, nut and cinnamon loaf

Rhubarb season is well under way and we have already made pies, crumble, and frozen some and so I wanted to make something different today. I made this recipe for the first time.  I had picked a lot of rhubarb and wanted to make something  that I could take away with me on our break, but something that I wouldn’t be tempted to cut one slice and then scoff the rest (that is what happens when I make anything with chocolate in!).

It was actually really nice and got the thumbs up from Mr S.  We had a slice whilst it was warm and Mr S had butter on his but I liked mine plain.  I used dark soft sugar as that is what I had in the cupboard but it might look better with a lighter sugar.  The recipe only uses one egg and no butter.   I have changed it from the original recipe to use the ingredients that I had, but it was an American recipe and so I used my cup measures that I bought at Poundland.  I find it easier than using the scales when I am in hurry.

Ingredients

Butter for greasing the loaf tin

1.5 cups of plain flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Half a tsp of salt

1 tsp of cinnamon (I put a heaped one in as Mr S loves the taste)

0.75 cup of soft brown sugar

Half a cup of vegetable oil

Half a cup of buttermilk (or ordinary milk with a squeeze of lemon juice in)

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract or paste

1.5 cups of diced rhubarb

0.5 cup of chopped blanched almonds (any nuts will be fine except walnuts)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C or 160C fan oven.
2. Grease a loaf tin measuring 8 x 4 inches,
3. In a large bowl mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt and cinnamon together and then stir in the brown sugar.
4. Add the oil, milk, egg and vanilla and stir well.
5. Fold in the almonds and the rhubarb,
6. Pour into the greased tin and bake for 50 to 55 minutes.
7. A skewer should come out clean when cooked.
8. Cool in the tin for 5 minutes and then finish cooling on a rack before slicing (whoops, we couldn’t wait!

I found it a really nice texture with the softness of the rhubarb and the crunch of the nuts.  I think I will be making a few of those later in the season to put in the freezer for winter.