Rhubarb-Cardamom Cake

So, I ended up with quite a big batch of rhubarb after visiting Per's parents, and I wanted to do something new. Rhubarb pairs well with many things - strawberry, lemon, ginger - but I wanted to try something different. And I needed a cake to bring with me to a "fika" with some girls from a cat message board I frequent. I started thinking about some truly marvellous cardamom buns I've had lately (for all you Swedes - Ica Maxi has the best buns ever!) and it struck me that cardamom and rhubarb would probably not be bad at all. I made a fairly normal cardamom cake, and tossed rhubarb with more cardamom and sugar and piled it all at the top. Results? Most excellent! This is very summery, and goes perfect with a tall glass of lemonade.

Rhubarb-Cardamom Cake

For the cake:
100 g butter
600 ml flour
3 tsp baking powder
200 ml sugar
3 tsp cardamom
1 egg
200 ml milk

For the topping:
400 g rhubarb, peeled and cut into 1 cm pieces
50 g sugar
2-3 tsps freshly ground cardamom

Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Centigrade (350F). Melt the butter. Stir together the dry ingredients, add the egg and the milk, and stir well. Add the butter, and stir again. This will be more of a dough than a batter. Pour into a 24-cm lined springpan.

Toss the rhubarb with the sugar and cardamom, and add the pieces to the cake pan. Make sure to cover the top of the cake. Bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes. It will rise quite a bit, so don't use a smaller pan unless you augment the quantities.