What Does Well in the Rain?
It may be wet, but we have rhubarb, a pretty hardy perennial despite all the rain. There's one more excuse to take to the kitchen on these chilly days of spring.
Ruby rhubarb takes the chill off the spring
This spring, there are two new products at City Market that I’ve wanted to play with in the kitchen – Gleason Grains sifted whole wheat pastry flour, and Animal Farm old-fashioned buttermilk. They both come together in Irish rhubarb cake:
Irish rhubarb cake with a scoop of Strafford vanilla ice cream
First, about the new buttermilk:
We know it has at least one fan in Brooklyn, who recently blogged on "A Cake Bakes in Brooklyn" about making old-fashioned buttermilk pancakes with Animal Farm buttermilk (available in NYC on a limited basis).
Animal Farm buttermilk from Orwell, VT
The name "buttermilk" clues you in to its origins in churning butter. Old-fashioned buttermilk comes from churning cultured cream into butter, and the liquid that is drawn off during churning is buttermilk. Today, most buttermilk is made from cultured nonfat or lowfat milk and never comes into contact with butter!
The amazing thing about Animal Farm buttermilk is that its thick and creamy taste comes from the butter it’s churned with, and you can taste the butter on your tongue.
The other ingredient I want to tell you about is Gleason Grains sifted whole wheat pastry flour, now available in our Bulk department:
Gleason Grains sifted whole wheat pastry flour (contains a small amount of wheat bran)
This is whole wheat pastry flour (low-protein whole wheat flour, perfect for making muffins and pancakes) that has been sifted to remove some of the high-fiber bran. This makes the flour a little lighter in color and texture, and allows baked goods to rise more, while retaining the nutritional benefits of the wheat germ. It's grown and milled by Ben Gleason in Bridport, VT.
Ben Gleason
If you’re new to baking with whole wheat flour, you can easily substitute 50% in a recipe without substantially altering the flavor.
For the purposes of this experiment, I was curious about whether you could substitute 100% sifted whole wheat pastry flour for all-purpose flour. I tried out a recipe for Irish rhubarb cake to test it out. The dough is similar to a scone or biscuit, but it gets rolled out like a pie crust. The result tastes something like a cross between shortbread and pie.
The dough was a little crumbly to roll out, which may have partly been because of the sifted whole wheat flour. The recipe also took a little longer to bake than it would have with all-purpose flour. But good things come to those who wait. An informal survey of my coworkers who tried the rhubarb cake made with 100% sifted whole wheat flour found it quite tasty. Currently, the pie dish sits empty, save for a few crumbs...
Irish Rhubarb Cake
“This rustic rhubarb version of the classic Irish apple cake falls somewhere between a scone and a cake, although it actually looks like a pie. The sweet-tart fruit filling is sandwiched between layers of tender scone dough, which seal in and absorb the rhubarb juices. The cake is best served warm with a lashing of whipped cream.”
Filling:
1 pound trimmed rhubarb, cut into 1/2-inch slices
3/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
Dough:
3 cups sifted whole wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup sugar plus 2 tablespoons as garnish
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 large egg, separated
Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter a 10-inch deep-dish pie plate and set aside.
Combine the rhubarb, sugar, and orange zest in a bowl and stir to blend. Set aside at room temperature while you make the scone dough.
Place the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a large bowl and whisk to blend. Add the butter and cut it in with a pastry cutter or with your fingers, breaking up the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
In another small bowl, whisk together the orange zest, buttermilk, and egg yolk. Set the egg white aside for the garnish.
Add the liquid ingredients to the bowl with the dry mixture and stir until just combined. Gather the dough in your hands and squeeze it lightly to form a cohesive mass. Don't overwork the dough or your scone cake will be tough.
Lightly flour a work surface and divide the dough in half. Pat one half into a flat disk, then roll it out into a 12-inch circle. Transfer the dough to the prepared pan. Add the rhubarb mixture, including any juices. Pat the remaining piece of dough into a flat disk, and roll it into a 12-inch circle. Transfer the dough to the pie plate, arranging it atop the rhubarb filling. With a knife or scissors, cut the edges of the top and bottom pastry rounds so they are even with edge of the pie plate. Press the edges together to seal the dough. Alternately, you can wet the edge of the bottom pastry and then press the top layer against it to adhere. Avoid creating a thick, bulky crust.
Cut 3-4 slits in the top dough to allow steam to escape during baking. Lightly whisk the reserved egg white with a teaspoon of cold water, and brush some of the egg wash over the top crust. Sprinkle the wet crust with the 2 tablespoons of sugar.
Bake until the cake is golden and the rhubarb is tender when pierced with the tip of a knife, 40 to 50 minutes. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool on a wire rack for at least 15 minutes before serving. Cut the cake into wedges and serve warm.
Adapted from Earthbound Farm