Traditional Irish Dessert ....

Here's a yummy Irish dessert if you're inclined to prepare for St. Patrick's Day dinner......

Country Rhubarb Cake

The fruit and sugar sometimes boils out around the sides resulting in a gooey, syrupy cake.  So be sure to place an oven liner to save clean up time!  This scone dough recipe is quicker to make than pastry and it absorbs the juices better.  Caster sugar is the European equivalent to American "superfine" sugar.  The Domino Sugar brand has 1 lb. boxes of this but it is sometimes difficult to find.  You can make your own superfine sugar by placing regular granulated sugar in a food processor with a metal blade and running it through until it is very very fine.  You can use frozen or fresh rhubarb - of course the fresh is best.  You can also add strawberries or make it with apples instead of rhubarb...but the rhubarb is really is yummy!


Scone dough
12 oz all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
pinch salt
2 oz caster sugar
3oz butter
1 egg
l6 fl oz buttermilk

Filling
1lb rhubarb, roughly chopped
7-9oz sugar
white of 1 egg, whisked
caster sugar to dust   Preheat oven to  350°F, and grease a 10 inch deep pie dish. Sieve flour, baking soda and salt into a mixing bowl. Add caster sugar and rub in butter. In a separate bowl, beat the egg together with the buttermilk and gradually add this to the flour until a dough is formed. Knead lightly on a floured surface and divide dough into two. Roll out one half and use it to line the pie dish. Fill the dish with the rhubarb and sprinkle with the sugar. Roll out the remaining dough to form a pastry lid. Brush the rim of the pastry base with water and put on the lid. Glaze with the whisked egg white and sprinkle with caster sugar. Make steam slits in the lid and bake for 50-60 minutes or until the crust is lightly browned and the fruit is soft.