Spelt Rhubarb Cake with Cinnamon Crunch

I'm not so big on birthdays, but it's the best excuse (and really, any excuse is good enough) to bake a cake. Even if it's my own one. This may not look like a glamorous birthday cake, but it sure was tasty! Spelt flour really gave more flavour and texture to this cake, so I will most certainly be using it in baking again.

This really is such a nice cake, and not least because of the beautiful rhubarb. It's not a difficult cake to make, and once again no electric beaters or other electric kitchen equipment needed! You could serve this with cream or Finnish vanilla sauce, or have on its own like I did. Either way it will make the birthday girl happy!

Spelt Rhubarb Cake with Cinnamon Crunch
(Recipe adapted from Waitrose)

225g spelt flour
200g ground almonds (almond meal)
220g brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 small, preferably organic orange, zest finely grated & juiced
2 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
75g unsalted butter, melted & cooled
2 large eggs
250ml (lactose-free) milk
300g rhubarb, peeled & washed, cut into small pieces
3 tbsp demerara sugar

Preheat oven to 190C. In a large bowl, combine the flour, almond meal, sugar, baking powder, orange zest and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. In a another bowl, whisk in the eggs with melted butter, then whisk in milk and orange juice. Add the egg mixture with the dry ingredients and fold to combine thoroughly. Grease a 22cm round baking tin, and pour in 1/3 of the batter. Top with half the rhubarb, then add another 1/3 batter. Top with the rest of the rhubarb, then scrape the rest of the batter on top. Combine the rest of the cinnamon with the demerara sugar and sprinkle the mixture evenly on top. Bake for 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. Check after 30 minutes and cover with baking paper if the top starts getting too brown.

Happy Birthday (to me)!