kitchen notes...rhubarb crumble cake
the perfect Spring cake, plus some thoughts on balancing motherhood and creativity
Hello from one tired mama to another!
This past week has been a bit of a struggle.
After a couple of months where we’d had a great routine established, my 5 month old started teething and not sleeping, and my two year suddenly decided she absolutely must have mummy get up with her at 6am every day. This is one of my least favourite ways to wake up, the cortisol floods my veins and I am a grumpy, dysregulated shell of myself until at least the third coffee. The upshot was, once I’d done the essential work for my upcoming wedding, I didn’t have any time to think, let alone write.
As a Type A personality, I struggle when I set myself goals and then can’t complete them in the timeframe I had envisaged. The frustration I felt at not being able to carve out time for my creative pursuits even made me wonder if perhaps I would be a better mom if I didn’t even attempt to juggle the two.1 I don’t think this is actually true, but I do feel a tension between my creative dreams, and the very real limitations of time and energy I find myself up against as a mom of two under three. I’ve got more ideas and inspiration than ever, but less ability to execute those ideas than ever.
I can’t be the only creative mother who feels this way…please tell me your secrets to juggling the life of the home with your creative work in the comments.
Anyway, that was a long winded way of saying that I haven’t written the usual newsletter this week.
I promised myself when I started this Substack that I would just experiment with different things and see what worked, and I think realistically a weekly roundup is more work than I can commit to, especially when there are other people already doing such a great job (I’m looking at you,
). I only have limited writing time and I want to try and use it on longer pieces if I can. I have this terrible habit of starting things for fun and then turning them into another high pressure line on my to do list. I recently started running again because it felt good to move my body, and after a few weeks found myself wondering whether I should train for a marathon. I had to have a stern word with myself. Seriously, it’s a feature not a bug of my personality. Anyhow, I want Substack to be something that enriches my life, and feeling like I must post on Substack is not conducive to that. I will continue the recipes, as I love cooking and it’s something I’m genuinely good at. It’s also the closest I’ll ever get to fulfilling my childhood dream of publishing a cookery book. I’d also like to carry on sharing about books we love, but maybe once a month rather than every week. I am still figuring this stuff out, but thanks for being here for the ride!All of that to say; it’s just a recipe this week folks! I hope you enjoy it :)
Rhubarb Crumble Cake
8inch springform cake tin, greased and lined
Preheat your oven to 160C fan (I think this would equate to 320F)
Ingredients:
200g trimmed rhubarb, chopped into 1cm (or smaller) pieces
1tbsp granulated sugar
1tbsp light brown sugar
1tsp vanilla extract
Crumble topping:
25g butter, at room temperature2
25g light brown sugar
25g plain flour
50g porridge oats
a pinch salt
Cake:
175g granulated sugar
85g butter
3 medium eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
75ml milk or dairy free alternative
1tsp ground cinnamon (optional)
225g self raising flour
Method:
Make the rhubarb layer. Add chopped rhubarb to a medium size glass bowl and add 2 tbsp of granulated sugar, 1 tbsp of light brown sugar, and 1 tsp of vanilla extract. Stir and set aside.
Make the crumble topping. Rub the butter into the flour and oats to make a light breadcrumb texture. Do not overwork it or the crumble will become heavy. Add in the sugar and salt and use your hands to combine. Set aside.
Make the cake. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the butter and sugar together.
Add the eggs, vanilla extract, milk, and ground cinnamon and mix well.
Add the flour, being careful not to overmix.
Pour the cake batter into the lined and greased tin. Top with the rhubarb mix, then add the crumble layer.
Bake at 160C fan for 1hr 15 minutes, checking after 1hr. The sponge is cooked if a clean skewer comes out clean.
Allow to cool in the tin for five minutes, then take out the tin and cool on a wire rack. It is best eaten fresh, but will keep in a tin for a few days, although the crumble topping might go a bit soft.
That’s it from me for now, have a great week and thanks for reading! As always, if you enjoyed this piece then please share and subscribe. You can also support my work by throwing a few pennies in the tip jar on Buy Me A Coffee :)
Perhaps I just have too much agency (iykyk).
I use a dairy free alternative as my husband and daughter don’t tolerate cows dairy
Finally baked this and it turned out delicious ❣️
Your intro here and your note the other day made me think you might be struggling with perfectionism, which truly affects us all (even if we don't think it does) because it can take certain unexpected guises. One of them is all-or-nothing thinking: if it can't be how I envisioned it, I shouldn't even start. And that's just BS if we are focusing on the bottom line, the end goal.
I think the best and most effective way to begin overcoming perfectionism is to start a timer (like 10-15 minutes) and work within that time and only that time, and then notice and appreciate the amount of work you were able to get done within that time. I do this a lot with menial housekeeping tasks that I'd like to procrastinate (procrastination can often be a form of perfectionism as well).
I have a lot of other tips and tricks for beating perfectionism that I've picked up, but the timer might work with writing as well. For writing, I aim for 500 words a day but it's not a hard and fast rule--just a guideline, mostly so I know when I can stop. For writing in particular, I can also recommend "Everybody Writes" by Ann Handley which I encountered here on Substack several months ago. It's really, really helpful for breaking down the process of content creation and especially for getting through, and later refining, the "Ugly First Draft" as she calls it. Ever since I discovered her framework, I've been using it for every post and have seen a massive improvement in the quality of my writing, as well as my reach, and my own confidence in what I'm putting out.
I love rhubarb and would love to try this cake! Thanks for sharing!