Rhubarb Pudding Cake (Plus 9 More Yummy Rhubarb Recipes)
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I was looking for something different to do with rhubarb when I came across a fruited pudding cake recipe in the Favorite Recipes of America – Desserts cookbook from 1968.
The original recipe calls for “any fruit, fresh or canned”, so I figured “Why not rhubarb?” Thus, this old fashioned rhubarb pudding cake was born.
The recipe is quite sweet, even with the tartness of rhubarb. You can cut back on the sugar if you like.
This rhubarb pudding cake recipe has a delicate sugar crust, and rich pudding bottom. It’s super easy to make using fresh or frozen rhubarb, and can be made gluten free and dairy free.
The boys are not huge rhubarb fans, but they love this recipe. This is the sort of thing my grandmother would have made. I hope you and your family enjoy it, too.
Rhubarb Pudding Cake Recipe – Step by Step
You can use a little extra rhubarb for this, or mix in other fruits like strawberries or chopped apples.
Ingredients
- 2 cups of rhubarb, chopped
- 1 3/4 cup sugar, divided
- 3 tablespoons butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 cup sifted flour
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2/3 cup boiling water
Directions
Preheat oven to 375°F.
Cover the bottom of an 8 or 9 inch square baking pan with fruit. (I prefer an 8 inch or 9 inch square glass baking dish. You can also use a deep dish glass pie plate.)
Mix 3/4 cup sugar, butter, baking powder, salt, extracts, milk and flour together. Add a little more milk if it is too thick to pour; pour over fruit.
Mix remaining sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl; sprinkle over mixture in pan. Pour boiling water over the top. ( I know this sounds strange, but trust me, it works to create a pudding around the rhubarb in the bottom of the pan.)
Bake at 375°F for 45 minutes. Yield: 9 servings.
The sugar topping creates a glaze on the top of the cake, something like a creme brûlée. It also creates the pudding at the bottom.
Serve warm with ice cream, if desired. Or let your rhubarb pudding cake cool a bit, and then slice and invert on a plate. This shows off the pudding.
You may also substitute a gluten free flour blend, such as Namaste Gluten Free Flour. With the Namaste flour, I bake an extra ten minutes. Friends made the recipe dairy free by substituting coconut milk with good results.
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Printable Recipe
Use the recipe card below to print out the recipe, or double it for a 9×13 pan. For a double batch, add around 10 minutes of extra bake time. Use the “Cook Mode” setting to keep the screen from going dark while you’re reading recipe during baking.
PrintOld Fashioned Rhubarb Pudding Cake
This rhubarb pudding cake recipe is easy to make using fresh or frozen rhubarb. A simple hot water trick allows the cake to make its own sauce while baking.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 9 servings 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 2 cups rhubarb, chopped
- 1 3/4 cup sugar, divided
- 3 tablespoons butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 cup sifted flour
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2/3 cup boiling water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Cover the bottom of an 8 or 9 inch square pan with fruit. (I prefer an 8 inch or 9 inch square glass baking dish. You could also use a deep dish glass pie plate.)
- Mix 3/4 cup sugar, butter, baking powder, salt, extracts, milk and flour together. Add a little more milk if it is too thick to pour; pour over fruit.
- Mix remaining sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl; sprinkle over mixture in pan. Pour boiling water gently over the top of the cake.
- Bake at 375°F for 45 minutes, a little longer for gluten free flours.
Notes
You may also substitute a gluten free flour blend such as Namaste Foods Gluten Free Flour Blend. If using gluten free flour, add 10-15 minutes to bake time.
One of our readers used a metal grey colored Wilton 9×9 pan, and her cake scorched. If you have this pan, drop the temp to 350°F, and watch for excess browning.
This is a sweet recipe!
If you would like a less sweet dessert, reduce the sugar in the batter to 1/2 cup, and the sugar in the topping to 1/2 cup. You can experiment with reducing the amounts even more, but it does need some sugar to form the pudding layer.
More Rhubarb Recipes to Enjoy
Blessed with a bounty of rhubarb? You may also enjoy these easy rhubarb recipes for drinks, preserves and desserts:
These recipes work with fresh or frozen rhubarb, so you can enjoy them anytime you have a supply on hand. Let me know if you’d like some savory recipes, too.
For easy to make bread recipes, check out my book “Never Buy Bread Again – The Bread Book for Beginning Bakers“.
You can also get more seasonal recipes, plus other common sense tips, when you subscribe to the Common Sense Home newsletter.
Originally published in 2012, last updated 2023.
This was a lovely dessert, but way too much sugar for my liking. How would one cut the topping sugar in half, and would the water need to be decreased accordingly? The texture was lovely–just sweetened the rhubarb more than I care for….
Maybe try cutting the sugar in the batter to 1/4 cup, the sugar in the topping to 1/2 cup and the boiling water in the topping to 2/3 cup.
To adjust for the excessive sweetness, I bumped up the rhubarb to 4 cups and added 1/2 T cornstarch to the pudding sugar. It worked great
Instead of putting the cup of sugar and cornstarch on top of the batter, can “turbinado sugar” be sprinkled?
I’m sure that wouldn’t be bad, but I don’t know exactly how it will turn out. If you try it, can you stop back in and let me know how it turns out?
Oh my goodness! This is delicious!!! I made it for my BIL’s birthday tonight and as soon as the guys took the first bite their eyes got huge. “Okay, from now on you make nothing by this!”
I added apple pie spice and it was the perfect compliment. So good!
So glad that it worked out well for you. Thank you for letting me know.
I made this last weekend, so delicious! I got confused and put the whole 1 3/4 cup of sugar in all at once along with the baking powder. Wrote myself a note to divide up the sugar next time. I should have read the recipe more thoroughly but I will make it again when rhubarb is in season next year.
I’m glad it was still tasty, even with the mistake. It also works well with stone fruits, like peaches or plums, if you happen to have some of those frozen.
Fantastic recipe – husband and kids loved it. Great use of our endless supply of rhubarb!
Have you ever doubled the recipe? Does the chemistry all still work well?
Glad you enjoyed it. Yes, I’ve doubled it in a 9×13 pan and it works fine, although it may take a little longer for the center to cook through.
Great recipe. Followed the printed recipe, no deviations, and it was a hit. It’s a keeper.
Glad it worked well for you.
I have it in the oven now. Didn’t see to reduce the sugar in time. Hope it’s not too sweet. So easy. I can’t wait to try it.
Everyone’s tastes are different. Many enjoy the recipe “as is”, too.
I used this recipe last summer. It was GREAT . This year I’m using half rhubarb and half strawberries. It’s in the oven now, I’m sure it will be just as good!!
My neighbor made it with strawberries and rhubarb and said it turned out great. 🙂 Glad you enjoyed it.
I just made this with strawberries and rhubarb, myself! I grew up eating “blueberry batter cake” which is essentially the same as this pudding cake with blueberries. I have found, through the years, that frozen fruit sometimes yields more sauce than fresh (which we prefer). I found your recipe after making the change to the blueberry recipe that I have. The recipe differences are the addition of the extracts, 1/4 less sugar for the topping, and 1/4 cup more boiling water. We prefer to pour cream or half and half over the top while it is warm and then eat leftovers the next day cold and straight from the pan. Thanks for sharing. I LOVE rhubarb and am baffled at why so many readers had strange outcomes. I’m wondering if they varied the recipe.
Adding cream sounds yummy. We often eat our with yogurt or ice cream.
I suspect recipe variations.
This is a very close recipe to my Aunt Sylvia’s Blueberry Pudding – this being a bit better (more precise ratios, etc.). By the way – you can use ANY fruit in the bottom – fresh or frozen – and add a spice or lemon if the fruit suggests it. Thanks for this great update on an old family favorite!
Loved this recipe. Making it for thesecond time in two days. Used freshly grated nutmeg in rhubarb and just used vanilla for flavouring. Think I will try this frozen mixed fruit.
Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for taking time to comment.
This took 5 minutes and we all loved it. Thank you!
You’re welcome.
I think you meant to say it is 4 servings not 9 ;o) I can’t wait to make it this weekend!
You can make it as many servings as you like, as long as you enjoy it.
Made this last night for dinner with gluten-free cup-for-cup flour. Delish. Second helpings all around. Love having a recipe without strawberries to enjoy that rhubarb taste. Even my husband who typically skips desserts had seconds. No ice cream needed here! Thanks!
Glad your family enjoyed it, Joan.
Absolutely delicious! Thank you for sharing
You’re welcome! Glad you enjoyed it.
I am making an assumption that I don’t have to use almond extract?! I did see that I can use my frozen rhubarb. Plan to make tonight/tmrw. But wanted to ask about the almond extract because neither of us like it.
No, you can substitute vanilla instead if you prefer.
I made this last night. Did not care for it while warm. The next day. Wow. Wonderful flavor. Thank you for this recipe. Going to try with different berries also.
Glad it was a winner the next day. We like it both ways, but it is amazing how much it changes once it cools.
no eggs , right????? Just put it in the oven… hope that is right. Can’t wait to try it….
No eggs. 🙂
thanks. Mine was a little pastey…. I did bake it a little longer than the 45 minutes… I didn’t think it was quite done, maybe I overbaked…. Also I used a larger glass pan, so I did 1 1/2 recipe, so who knows…. was probably something I did. Husband didn’t complain… he loved it.
This is one of our favorite recipes. New rhubarb almost ready. This recipe is delicious and addictive!
Has anyone tried this with a strawberry rhubarb combination? I love this combination in pie, so I’m thinking of trying this recipe with those fruits together.
I haven’t (the rhubarb is awfully good alone), but I’m sure it would be delicious, as I do make a strawberry-rhubarb crumble, and jam, too.
We really like it with frozen raspberries.
I am going to try this as soon as I get some rhubarb. Looks delicious.