How I Learnt How to Make Yeast Cake
My Grandmother who was an excellent baker taught me how to bake fantastic yeast cakes. Almost two years ago I included all her tips in two posts: Cake with Plums and Crumble Topping and Rolls with Cheese Filling. They were supposed to be the first parts of a longer cycle I called “My Grandma’s Baking”. But they turned out to be the last ones too. Two weeks after we baked together I went on holiday. And on our last day away I received a phone call informing that my Grandmother passed away.
We, all the members of her family, always thought she was made of unique and unbreakable material. And nobody could have ever imagined one day she wouldn’t be among us anymore. We all thought we still had plenty of time with her…
Rhubarb Cake Recipe – a Tribute to the Yeast Cake Master
Around this time each year, My Grandma used to bake big trays of her fluffy fresh yeast cake with tangy rhubarb and sweet crumble on top. So, I decided to commemorate her and prepare a Rhubarb Cake.
I obviously used my Grandmother’s rhubarb cake recipes for the fresh yeast dough. I know it is a bit boring that I have utilised the same recipe for the third time already. But should you waste your time to look for something possibly better if you already have the best?
However, not to be so repetitive in my baking, I decided to make a roll. It may seem a bit tricky at first because when you roll the dough with the rhubarb, the cake breaks easily. But it doesn’t matter at all. Once you put all the pieces in a tin, everything will come together during baking. The instructions on how to do it the best way you will find in the below Rhubarb Cake recipe.
P.S. You shouldn’t omit the lemon icing. It not only compliments the taste but also enhances the look of the Rhubarb Cake.
Rhubarb Cake [My Grandma’s Baking – Part III]
![Rhubarb Cake [My Grandma’s Baking – Part III] 1](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/15aca02bbddbfe7e4e1d93f9aaf3b6d1?s=30&d=mm&r=g){kind=avatar}
Ingredients
Cake:
- 250 ml milk
- 60 g sugar
- 20 g yeast
- 75 g butter
- 2 egg yolks
- 300 g plain flour
- pinch salt
Filling:
- 300 g rhubarb cut into 2cm pieces
- 3 tbsp sugar
Icing:
- 5 tbsp icing sugar
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Warm up the milk. It should be warm but not hot; hot milk will “kill” yeast.
- Pour half the milk into a cup, add 2 tbsp of sugar and the yeast, stir it and leave till it rises.
- Melt the butter.
- Beat the egg yolks with the rest of sugar till creamy.
- Put the flour and salt in a big bowl, add the milk and beaten egg yolks and knead for a minute until more or less combined; add the yeast mixture and knead for 1-2 minutes and finally add the melted butter. Knead the dough until it is smooth (however small lumps are fine) and it doesn’t stick to your hand anymore. It should take about 5-7 minutes.
- Leave the bowl with the dough in a warm place until it doubles in size. Depending on the temperature, it can take between 1 and 2 hours.
- Mix the rhubarb slices with sugar.
- Cover a bottom and sides of a long baking tin (mine is 35cm x 9cm) with baking paper.
- Transfer the dough onto a kitchen surface dusted lightly with flour; spread it into a shape of rectangle roughly 25cm x 35cm. The best way to do it is with your hands but make sure you cover your hands with oil at first to prevent the dough from sticking to them.
- Scatter the rhubarb pieces on top of the dough, roll it (along the shorter side) and cut in the middle lengthwise. Twist the two pieces around each other (it doesn’t matter if it looks messy). Transfer to the baking tin and leave to rise (approx. 10-15 min.)
- Preheat an oven to 180 Celsius degrees (fan oven).
- When the strudel has risen, place the tin in the hot oven and bake for 50-60 min, until an inserted wooden skewer comes out clean.
- Mix the icing sugar with lemon juice and swirl the icing on top of the baked cake.
