Monday, October 10, 2011

Swedish Rhubarb-Ginger Spice Bread

Today is my birthday, and I couldn't be happier than to share this delicious quick bread with you guys!  I've had a great birthday weekend - roller skating, tactile dome, and lots of science with friends at After Dark at the Exploratorium on Thursday night, a surprise hike to Alamere Falls with my boyfriend on Saturday, and biscuits and gravy for breakfast Sunday morning!


My partner for this month's Secret Recipe Club was Ewa of the gorgeous blog, delishhh.  I ended up being totally torn between two of her recipes, a soft Swedish gingerbread and a scrumptious rhubarb chocolate chip banana bread.  Since I couldn't choose, I decided to combine the two recipes and make a ginger-y spice bread full of pucker-y rhubarb.  Magically, I managed to find rhubarb at the grocery even though I'm pretty sure it's incredibly out of season...usually I try to avoid out-of-season produce since the flavor tends to be not-so-great, but this rhubarb was actually super tasty.  Its sour flavor is tamed by being tossed with sugar, and it combines perfectly with lots of cardamom and freshly grated ginger.  This bread makes a perfect breakfast treat - moist, slightly sweet, and bursting with spices and fresh fruit flavor.


Swedish Rhubarb-Ginger Spice Bread (adapted from delishhh, original recipes here and here)
Makes 1 loaf cake

2 cups diced rhubarb
1-1/3 cups sugar, divided
5 T butter, softened
2 eggs
2-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1-1/3 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp cardamom
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup sour cream
Slivered almonds, for topping (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Stir together the rhubarb and 1/3 cup of the sugar in a small bowl. Set aside while preparing the rest of the cake.
3. Cream together the butter and the remaining 1 cup sugar until fluffy.  Beat in the eggs one at a time, until completely incorporated.  Beat in the fresh ginger.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cardamom, baking powder, nutmeg, and salt.
5. Beat half the flour mixture into the butter mixture, and then beat in the sour cream.  Fold in the remaining flour mixture by hand, taking care not to overmix.  Scrape in the rhubarb, along with any juices, and gently fold into the batter.
6. Oil a loaf pan, and scrape the batter into the pan.  If desired, sprinkle with slivered almonds.
7. Place the loaf pan on a baking sheet, and baking at 350 degrees for about 70 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.




24 comments:

  1. Love that you combined 2 recipes...looks very delicious!

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  2. I love rhubarb and this bread looks so delcious! Great pick for the SRC!

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  3. I've never used rhubarb, but this looks so good I might have to give it a try. I adore cardamom and almonds, so Ican just imagine how fabulous this tastes

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  4. Happy Birthday! I love rhubarb and ginger so it sounds like a winning flavor combination.

    If you haven't already, I'd love for you to check out my SRC recipe this month: Levain Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies.

    Lisa~~
    Cook Lisa Cook

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  5. How awesome to combine 2 recipes! Looks beautiful! Check out my SRC post if you like http://theslowroasteditalian.blogspot.com/2011/10/low-calorie-greek-baked-eggs.html

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  6. Oh my - you picked two of my favorites! I would have never thought of combining these but this sounds fabulous I am going to have to try it out. So glad you found what you liked!! SRC is so much fun!

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  7. Looks gorgeous! Happy Birthday too! I had Ewa as my first SRC partner, and it was soooo hard to decide what to make. I love your combined choice.

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  8. This looks so good!! Love the rhubarb combo. Great pick and happy birthday!!!

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  9. Rhubarb and ginger are a great flavour combination. Luckily I have some stored in my freezer - might try this one. Oh and happy birthday. How nice to born on the first of the month.

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  10. Now you gave me an idea of what to do if i can not choose between the recipes next time!
    Happy birthday! Looks like it was a great weather to go on a hike:-)

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  11. I love, love, LOVE rhubarb and would make this in a heart-beat. But, alas, the last rhubarb I managed to get went into a rhubarb liqueur last month. I will put this on my to-do when I see rhubarb again next season. Thanks for sharing with the SRC...and GO BEARS! (Class of '96) ~Camilla (Culinary Adventures with Camilla)

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  12. Happy birthday. Today is actually my 13th anniversary.

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  13. Interesting trivia: rhubarb is often considered a fall crop in the UK, where it is typically mixed with apples (a la American strawvberry rhubarb concotions). Perhaps, if you were to find a gardener, you could get in season rhubarb...

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  14. i like your pictures and would like to invite you to share some of them on tastingspot.com

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  15. This looks like something I would REALLY like as I love ginger with everything, but have yet to pair it with rhubarb (but will now)...great post!

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  16. Great SRC choice! Happy Birthday :)

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  17. Happy birthday!!! I love the look of this loaf, nicely done!

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  18. Happy Birthday a bit late! Nice combo of two recipes and nice you fond some decent ginger.

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  19. Happy Birthday, Sara! What a great day to be born; it's my sister's birthday too. :)

    Your bread looks great!

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  20. i love swedish treats, always get them at Ikea when i go furnuture shopping :)

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  21. What a great pick from Ewa's delicious blog. Yes, this is indeed bursting with flavour! YUM!! Happy belated birthday! Glad you had such a wonderful time.

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  22. This looks so tasty! Homemade breads are always so good...

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