Slightly tangy & not overly sweet, light and fluffy Easy Rhubarb Cake with a hint of cinnamon! Perfect with a cup of tea or lashings of custard, you choose! Delicious and easy bake to make the most of seasonal rhubarb and it's vegan too!
I'm all about embracing seasonality and enjoying all of the fantastic produce at its best.
My Easy Rhubarb Cake is one of those recipes that make the most of seasonal rhubarb.
Once you've had your fill of stewed rhubarb, rhubarb cordial and rhubarb crumble, you should definitely give this super easy rhubarb cake a go!
I have first published this recipe back in 2018 and have since adapted it to be vegan. However, if you loved the original recipe and are not vegan yourself you will find the original recipe at the bottom of the post.
Jump to:
✔️ Why you'll love this recipe!
- Quick and easy to bake.
- Delicious way of using up rhubarb.
- Perfect summery bake.
- Afternoon tea favourite.
- Vegan, egg, dairy and nut free!
📝 Ingredients and substitutes
Here's what you'll need to make my Easy Rhubarb Cake:
Plain (All-Purpose) Flour - Feel free to sieve it together with the raising agents if you want. I prefer using a small whisk to mix my dry ingredients together and lightly aerate them.
Baking Powder + Baking Soda - raising agents.
Caster (Fine) Sugar - Feel free to use golden caster or regular granulated sugar here.
Vanilla Extract - For that touch of vanilla flavour.
Neutral Tasting Oil - I tend to use light olive oil in my baking but cold-pressed rapeseed oil or sunflower oil will work as well.
Soya milk - My milk of choice when it come to vegan baking but you could use your plant milk of choice here (oat and almond should work well).
Apple Cider Vinegar - It reacts with raising agents in the bake and gives the cake a lift.
Ground Cinnamon - My favourite spice to be used in baking. Use as much or as little as you want. You could also leave it out but it works so well with rhubarb.
Rhubarb - Feel free to use anything between 300-500g (10-17oz) of rhubarb. For me the sweet spot is around 350-400g (12-14oz) although in the pictures you see cake made with 500g (17oz).
Icing (Powdered) Sugar - To serve and adjust the sweetness of the cake depending on your tastebuds and how much rhubarb you've used.
🔪 How to make Easy Rhubarb Cake
Ingredient quantities & detailed instructions to be found in recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Clean rhubarb and cut each stalk into small chunks.
Prepare your cake tin by greasing it slightly and lining the bottom with greaseproof paper.
Preheat the oven to 180C(Fan)/350F/Gas Mark 4.
In a large bowl whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda and set aside.
In a medium jug whisk together soya milk, apple cider vinegar, vanilla extract and oil until well combined.
Next, pour the liquid mixture into the bowl with dry ingredients and mix it in gently until incorporated. Don't overmix!
Pour cake batter into prepared tin, spread rhubarb chunks evenly over the top pressing them down gently and sprinkle generously with ground cinnamon.
Bake for approximately 45-50 minutes or until the toothpick inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.
Let the cake cool and sprinkle it generously with icing sugar.
Serve and enjoy!
🍽 Equipment
There is no fancy equipment required to make this cake.
One thing to bear in mind would be the cake tin though.
I use round non-stick spring form cake tin that is 25cm/10inch in diameter.
Square tin equivalent of the round tin would be 23 x 23cm/9 x 9” and rectangular tin equivalent would be 18 x 30cm/7 x 12”.
If you use smaller or larger tin you will need to adjust baking time accordingly.
🥡 Storing
Easy Rhubarb Cake can be stored well covered or in the airtight container for up to 3 days.
As with most cakes made with fresh fruit (although rhubarb is technically a vegetable) and if your kitchen is particularly warm, I would recommend storing it in the airtight container in the fridge (just to prolong its shelf-life).
I wouldn't recommend freezing.
💭 Pro Tips
Use kitchen scales and oven thermometer for best results. Both will ensure the accuracy, you would be surprised how inaccurate built in oven thermostats are.
Size of your baking tin is really important. I've been using my 25cm/10inches round spring form tin and my cake takes anything between 45-50 minutes to bake.
If you are using a tin with smaller diameter it might take longer for the cake to bake as it will be taller.
I would suggest that you do the skewer test at approx 45 min and every 5 minutes after that up until the skewer comes out clean meaning the cake is ready.
Don't overmix the batter. Try and be gentle with you mixing as you don't want to incorporate too much air into the batter. Nice and gentle folding motion with your spatula works well.
Skewer check is invaluable as it lets you establish whether your cake is baked or not.
However, when inserting the skewer into the cake, bear in mind that due to quite a substantial amount of wet rhubarb, your skewer might not come out dry even when the cake is fully baked.
As long as there is no wet batter on your skewer but it is slightly moist, that would be an indicator that the cake is baked. If, however, there are still visible bits of batter on your skewer, then pop it back in and check again after 5 minutes and so on.
Browning of the top of the cake. If you notice that your cake is getting a bit too brown on top but there is still some time before it's ready then simply cover it gently with a piece of aluminium foil to prevent it from colouring too much.
🍴Serving Suggestions
My Vegan Rhubarb Cake has got a substantial amount of rhubarb in it so it's slightly tangy and not overly sweet but once it's baked and cooled you can adjust the sweetness with the appropriate amount of icing sugar to suit your taste.
I personally really like this cake with a nice cup of ginger tea but any tea or coffee will do.
If you'd like to make it more of a pudding or dessert, simply serve it with lashings of vegan custard and you're in heaven! There is a good reason why rhubarb & custard are such a classic combination!
It's fantastic gently warmed in the microwave with a drizzle of vegan cream or generous scoop of ice cream.
This humble yet delicious cake is perfect if you are planning on hosting any garden parties during the summer season but also a perfect offering for coffee mornings, bake sales and afternoon teas.
If you are less generous with your portions than me you could easily get 12 lovely slices out of it instead of suggested and very generous 8!
📖 Variations
- Add zest of 1 orange to the cake batter.
- Try it with grated fresh or stem ginger.
- Add cinnamon directly into the cake batter or half in the batter and half on top of the rhubarb.
- Try sprinkling some flaked almonds on top of the rhubarb.
- Mix half of the rhubarb into cake batter and sprinkle the rest on top.
❓ FAQs
There are so many ways to use up your glut of rhubarb and they're not just cakes and other bakes. Try delicious rhubarb cordial, stewed rhubarb or even rhubarb ice cream.
There is also classic rhubarb crumble, vegan rhubarb muffins and rustic rhubarb tart.
I wouldn't recommend freezing rhubarb cake.
No as it's been made using regular wheat flour. Feel free to experiment and use your favourite gluten-free flour to make it gluten-free.
I experimented with baking this cake at 180C/350F and 170C/338F both temperatures are for fan oven.
Cake baked at 180C/3500F took approximately 45-50 minutes to bake and the one baked at 170C/338F took approximately 1hr 5min -1hr 10.
As the final results were very similar I decided to put 180C/350F as my recommended temperature.
Feel free to bake your cake at lower temperature but bear in time longer baking time.
Have you tried my Easy Rhubarb Cake?
Please consider giving it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating in recipe card below and share your views or tips in the comments.
😋 More fruity bakes you might enjoy
📋 Recipe
Easy Rhubarb Cake (Vegan)
Ingredients
- 240 g plain (all-purpose) flour
- 220 g caster (fine) sugar
- 125 ml rapeseed/sunflower/light olive oil
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 0.5 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon or to taste
- 300-500 g rhubarb cleaned and sliced into small chunks
- 200 ml soya milk
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- icing sugar to serve and to taste
Instructions
- Clean rhubarb and cut each stalk into small chunks.
- Prepare your cake tin by greasing it slightly and lining the bottom with greaseproof paper.
- Preheat the oven to 180C(Fan)/350F/Gas Mark 4.
- In a large bowl whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda and set aside.
- In a medium jug whisk together soya milk, apple cider vinegar, vanilla extract and oil until well combined.
- Next, pour the liquid mixture into the bowl with dry ingredients and mix it in gently until incorporated. Don't overmix!
- Pour cake batter into prepared tin, spread rhubarb chunks evenly over the top pressing them down gently and sprinkle generously with ground cinnamon.
- Bake for approximately 45-50 minutes or until the toothpick inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.
- Let the cake cool and sprinkle it generously with icing sugar.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Nutritional information is approximate, per 1 slice of cake based on 8 servings (without icing sugar) and should be treated as a rough guideline only.
- For possible substitutes see Ingredients and substitutes.
- For possible variations see Variations and Serving Suggestions for ways and accompaniments to serve this cake.
- Easy rhubarb cake can be stored in the airtight container for up to 3 days. During really hot summer I would recommend you keep it in the fridge.
- I wouldn't recommend freezing.
Nutrition
Old (Non-Vegan) Recipe:
I originally published this recipe in 2018 and have since updated and veganised it. For all of you who loved the original recipe I have included it below.
INGREDIENTS:
- 240g plain (all-purpose) flour (sieved)
- 220g vanilla sugar or regular caster (fine) sugar
- 125 ml rapeseed/sunflower/light olive oil
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon (or to taste)
- 500g rhubarb (cleaned and sliced into small chunks)
- 4 large eggs (at room temperature)
- Icing sugar (to serve)
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Clean rhubarb and cut each stalk into small chunks. Prepare your cake tin by greasing it with oil or butter and lining the bottom with greaseproof paper. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark4.
2. Put eggs and sugar into the bowl of your food processor and mix on high speed until pale in colour and almost foamy like. Be patient as it will take a good while. You can also do it by hand using whisk.
3. Once you are happy with the consistency of your batter, very slowly start adding oil through the tube of your food processor mixing constantly.
4. Sieve flour, baking powder and baking soda together and add in 3 stages to liquid batter in food processor, mixing slowly and only until incorporated after each addition. You might prefer to do this part by folding the flour mixture in by hand using a spatula to avoid overmixing.
5. Pour the batter into prepared cake tin, spread chunks of rhubarb evenly over the top and sprinkle generously with cinnamon.
6. Bake for approx. 45-50 minutes until the stick inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean and top is nice and golden. Let it cool and serve sprinkled generously with icing sugar.
Teresa says
This is a very, very good cake. Offered to non vegan friends and people not sure about rhubarb tonight. Left it in the oven for 20 mins longer and added pinch of salt, you can monitor the sweetness in the end with the icing sugar. Rice vinegar worked as sub ACV. Thanks for the recipe!
joskitchenlarder says
Hi Teresa, So great to hear, thank you! Glad rice vinegar worked well as a substitute for apple cider vinegar. Baking time will depend on different factors like the size of baking tin, amount of rhubarb used, one's oven. I always suggest to do the skewer test and if needed add 5 extra minutes at a time and check again. Sounds like 20 extra minutes worked for you, brilliant! 😊 Thanks again for lovely feedback and great tips!
Lucy says
Hey Jo, looking forward to making this today 🙂 do I have to pre cook the rhubarb or can it be raw? I’ve some frozen so was going to try and defrost before making it.
Thanks!
joskitchenlarder says
Hi Lucy, You don't need to precook rhubarb for this cake, it should be used raw. As for frozen rhubarb, I've never tried using it in this cake but personally I would defrost it at room temperature and get rid of any liquid before using it. Using frozen rhubarb without defrosting could release too much extra liquid into the cake. Hope that helps? Do let me know how you get on. 😊
Emka says
Hi, I have a question: can the cake be made with other fruits? 🍓🫐
I made it with rhubarb and it came out delicious!😍 And I would like to know if I can make it with something else 😊
joskitchenlarder says
Hello Emka, So pleased to hear you enjoyed the cake. You could definitely swap rhubarb for different fruits. I think both strawberries and blueberries would work nicely as would apples. Having said that if you'd like to try summery cake recipe created specifically for strawberries, you might want to give my Strawberry Yogurt Cake a go https://www.joskitchenlarder.com/easy-strawberry-yogurt-cake/ Enjoy! 😊
Emka says
Thanks for your reply 😊 I will definitely try this other recipe too 🤩
Marie + Mika says
Yeah - that's a banger! The best (and most convenient) rhubarb cake that i've ever made:)
joskitchenlarder says
Love it! 😊 Thank you so much for letting me know! x
Zo says
I've made the vegan one a fews times now and it is delicious. Going to try the egg one tomorrow. Thank you for such a quick easy cake.
joskitchenlarder says
So great to hear Zo! Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment, really appreciate it!😊
Julie northall says
yum yum yum!
I searched for a vegan recipe because I had no eggs!
this cake was amazing!
only difficulty was I used cows milk and had no apple cider vinegar so used lime juice...!
it was so tasty yesterday with cream..it was even better today!
thankyou 😊
joskitchenlarder says
No eggs no problem!😊 It is a lovely cake and I'm so pleased you liked it Julie. Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know. x
Pamela says
Eggs aren’t vegan, so was really disappointed to scroll ALL THE WAY through to find there are eggs in a recipe titled as vegan.
joskitchenlarder says
Hi Pamela, This recipe was posted originally in 2018 as non-vegan recipe and has been since updated to fully vegan. However, as I don't discriminate and lots of my readers loved the original recipe, I left the original version at the bottom of the page for those who used to use it and perhaps would like to continue to still have access to original version. It's all explained very clearly. Fully vegan recipe (without eggs) is available in the recipe card.
Kay says
Delicious….. super easy and exceptionally good results. I personally didn’t add the additional icing sugar dusting and it was perfect
Thanks for sharing will become a staple when I have rhubarb in the garden 🪴
joskitchenlarder says
Thanks Kay, it's great to hear it worked well for you! 🙂
Kayla says
Sorry, but this cake is terrible. I made it exactly as written and thought the steps seemed weird as I was doing it (put rhubarb on top of the batter and press in, then sprinkle with plain cinnamon?) but trusted the recipe. I am so embarrassed that I brought this to a work party. It cooked so unevenly even after baking for longer than the recipe states. There are large swaths in the middle where the batter is undone under the rhubarb.
Can people please stop reviewing recipes that they haven’t baked? I noticed many of the reviewers here gave 5 star reviews even though they didn’t try the recipe. Would have been nice to have reviews only from those who tried the recipe.
joskitchenlarder says
Hi Kayla,
I'm sorry you didn't like the cake. Rhubarb might not be to everyone's taste as it's quite tart but this cake does work and is really delicious, even if I say so myself. I made it numerous times and have had lots of positive feedback for the recipe (and not just from fellow bloggers).
I'm not sure what's weird about putting chunks of rhubarb on top of the cake (you could have mixed the rhubarb in if you wanted to, it's one of the suggestions I give in "Variations"). I do advise on the use of cinnamon to taste and even skipping it altogether if not your thing. Sprinkling it on top of the rhubarb works really well though, especially if cake is served with generous sprinkling of icing sugar on top which also helps to counteract the tartness of the rhubarb and slight bitterness of cinnamon.
As for uneven baking, to me it sounds like issue with the oven that creates heat pockets which is not unusual but with regards to undone batter under the rhubarb my guess would be it's simply moisture left by rhubarb itself which is to be expected and I have mentioned that in the recipe notes (it's not raw batter).
I always test my recipes and try to provide tips and helpful notes in order to pre-empt any possible problems but unfortunately can't always please everybody and everyone is entitled to their opinion as to what they thought about the cake so thank you for your feedback.
Elaine says
I used soft brown sugar because that was all I had and baked it in a lined loaf tin. Utterly delicious and moist and toffee flavoured due to the brown sugar. My non vegan sister was very impressed and asked for the recipe
joskitchenlarder says
That's fantastic Elaine! 🙂 So pleased to hear.
Magdalena Marsden says
What a delicious recipe! I've tried it this afternoon as my friend gave me a lots of rhubarb and I wasn't sure what to do with it. This is definitely one of the best rhubarb cakes I've baked and my family loved it too.
joskitchenlarder says
Hello Magdalena, Thank you so much for your kind words, I'm so pleased you've all enjoyed it! 🙂
Laura Chant says
Was so excited to try this cake, but it hasn't gone as well as I hoped. I followed the recipe and had all the ingredients apart from any vanilla paste/seeds - which the cake sponge definitely needs. I found though that I had to leave the cake in the oven longer than advised before my skewer came out clean. It ended up being in there for an hour and 20 mins and when we came to try it, the bottom and edges were pretty dry. Nothing a drowning in custard won't solve! Will definitely be trying it again, but any tips would be welcome
joskitchenlarder says
Hi Laura, I'm sorry to hear that it hasn't completely gone to plan with the cake. One thing that springs to mind regarding skewer not coming out clean is that perhaps it wasn't the cake that wasn't baked but perhaps moist rhubarb when you were checking? If the skewer is wet but there isn't any visible cake batter on it and you are close to the baking time stated in the recipe the chance is it is baked so it's good to check in few places. If it is indeed the cake I would put it back in for additional 5 minutes at a time and check again. Also was the size of your cake tin as stated in the recipe? I used spring form approx. 25cm in diameter so anything smaller and the baking time would need to be longer as the cake will be taller. Sometimes it also comes down to the oven I'm afraid. I hope that helps a bit and your next attempt will be less dry. I'm glad you ended up enjoying it with lashings of custard though :). All the best. Jo x
Denise says
Hi, I’ve made this today. The only difference was that I used a square tin as I don’t have a round tin of that size. It was cooked in exactly 45 minutes and it’s a success. Thank you.
joskitchenlarder says
Hi Denise 🙂 I'm so pleased to hear the cake has been a success! Thank you so much for stopping by and letting me know, it's made my day! 🙂 xx
Amanda | Icing Insight says
Wow what a stunning cake! I'm surprised you only had one slice after shooting, it looks so perfect and moist I think I'd have had the whole thing! Can't wait to try it 🙂 xo
joskitchenlarder says
Aw thank you Amanda! 🙂 This cake is such an easy and delicious fruity treat, I will be making it again soon! Hope you like it too! 🙂 xx
Cat | Curly's Cooking says
I love using rhubarb in cakes, its so delicious and a great way to use up a glut of rhubarb other than in a crumble. Yours looks so tasty and fluffy, I don't blame you for eating the slice straight away!x
joskitchenlarder says
Thanks Cat ? I’m generally pretty good when it comes to self-control but put freshly baked goods in front of me and it all goes out of the window! ? This cake was well worth it though ? x
Kat (The Baking Explorer) says
What a gorgeous looking cake, I love baking with rhubarb
joskitchenlarder says
Thanks Kat! ? Can’t beat good fruity cake and rhubarb is brilliant to bake with.
Jacqui Bellefontaine says
Another fabulous Rhubarb recipe from you Jo. Your cake looks amazing! Im struggling to find time to cook with all my rhubarb, let alone post my recipes. Thank you for linking your recipe to #CookBlogShare
joskitchenlarder says
Aw thanks Jacqui! 🙂 I get drip fed rhubarb weekly in my veg box and so far 2 x cooler 1 x cake so quantities are manageable lol. Got another bunch of the pinkiest one yet and made another cooler this afternoon for what is supposed to be lovely and hot(ish) weekend. Are you preserving any? I might try some jam soon if I find the time that is, only one week till half term so might be tight.
jenny walters says
Oh my goodness Jo fruit cake is one of my absolute faves.I would eat the WHOLE thing xx
joskitchenlarder says
Lol, Oh Jenny, I would so be able to scoff the lot as well lol, zero self control so we shared it with some lovely people as kids not fans 🙁 x
Eb Gargano | Easy Peasy Foodie says
Oh wow - this cake looks absolutely gorgeous. I wish the rest of my family liked rhubarb. It's one of the very few things Mr G doesn't like and the kids are a bit funny about all cooked fruit. Any chance you could post me a slice?? Eb x
joskitchenlarder says
Thanks Eb! 🙂 I wish I could, but instead you might have to pop round for a slice! How nice would that be! 🙂 My kids are the same when it comes to fruity cakes like this one and they usually pick the fruit and eat the sponge lol. In this case it's not possible as rhubarb completely takes it over as it bakes and it's in almost every single morsel 😉 Kids weren't happy but myself and hubby on the contrary plus we shared the rhubarb love and gave some away otherwise it would have been only us two eating it!!! x
Jenny Paulin says
what a beautiful looking cake Jo. I would happily eat this with a cup of tea right now in fact! thank you for linking up to #Bakeoftheweek x
joskitchenlarder says
Thanks Jenny and thanks again for your help linking it up! 🙂 x
Michelle Frank | Flipped-Out Food says
Rhubarb game ON! This cake looks so scrumptious and...er...moist (I hate the word, but there's really no synonym that works for cake!). I love the serial photos of the perfect bite getting closer and closer! I would totally have snarfed that slice and called it lunch. YUM! #brillblogposts
joskitchenlarder says
Ha, ha, I'm so with you on "moist" Michele 🙂 but it there is definitely no other word to describe it, so moist be it lol! Thank you for your kind words! 🙂
Angela / Only Crumbs Remain says
What a gorgeous easy to make seasonal cake Jo - it sounds absolutely delicious - i'm not at all surprised that you had a slice after your photo shoot - I know I would have done too - great idea to enjoy it with ginger tea too given how well they go together. Thankyou for sharing with #BakingCrumbs 😉
Angela xx
joskitchenlarder says
Thank you Angela 🙂 Sometimes the easiest recipes are the best especially if you want to have something ready quickly plus making sure I put the content of my weekly veg box to good use has been on top of my priorities of late lol One has got to have a hobby lol xx
Karen, the next best thing to mummy says
I have been looking for a different sort of cake to make, now I have one, thanks #brillblogs@_karendennis
joskitchenlarder says
Thanks Karen! 🙂 This one is really delicious and so easy to make, I hope you enjoy it!
Corina Blum says
This sounds absolutely scrumptious Jo! I do love your rhubarb recipes and I always prefer a fruity cake too. The texture of this looks perfect. Thank you so much for sharing with #CookOnceEatTwice!
joskitchenlarder says
Thank you Corina! I do like fruity cakes especially as starting from now we will be simply moving from one fruit to another, rhubarb, strawberries, raspberries etc. Lots of baking possibilities but I always find the simplest of cakes, like this one, are the ones I go back to time and time again. x