 Rhubarb & Orange Sponge
Rhubarb & Orange Sponge
FILLING
450g/1lb rhubarb (medium sized bunch)
2 bananas, sliced
25-50g/1-2oz sugar (brown or white) or to taste
juice of 1 orange
Grate rind of half the orange
SPONGE
75g/30z wholemeal flour
50g/20z self raising flour
1 level tsp. Baking powder
100g/40z margarine or butter (soft, not hard from the fridge)
100g/40z caster sugar
2 large eggs
METHOD
Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees F/190 degrees C/Gas Mark 5.
Top and tail the rhubarb, wash the stems and cut into short pieces (2.5cm/1”). Put the rhubarb and the sliced bananas into a greased oven-proof dish (wide and fairly shallow). Sprinkle the sugar, orange juice and grated rind over it.
Mix together the wholemeal flour, the self raising flour and the baking powder.
Put the soft margarine or butter into a bowl and mix it a little. Then add in the sugar/eggs and flour mixture and mix everything together. The resulting mixture should be soft but not sloppy, if too stiff, mix in a little drop of milk.
Drop this mixture in small little spoonfuls all over the rhubarb. Spread it evenly if you can, but don’t worry it will spread out during cooking.
Bake in oven for about 35-45 minutes (just above the centre) until the sponge is golden and cooked through. Test with a knife or skewer. When the knife (or skewer) comes out clean, it is cooked.
Serving suggestion: Accompany with natural or Greek yogurt.
Variation: use cooking apples (about 700g/11/2lb) instead of the rhubarb, but they must be stewed and sweetened first. Another delicious variation is to use 350g/12oz blackberries (when in season). They can be sweetened with 25-50g/1-2oz sugar. |