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.
Turned out beautifully! A definite keeper! The strawberry rhubarb was creamy, the cake moist and the crispy topping was just right.
Thank you! I almost didn’t share….Can I substitute the sugar with Splenda? My husband is diabetic.
If you have the Splenda blends that are made to substitute directly for sugar, it should work, but I’m not sure it will impact the texture and browning. If you try it, could you let me know, as lots of folks are watching sugar nowadays.
Thank you for your prompt reply. I will definitely try with the Splenda and get back to you with my findings.
Take care and talk soon.
Hi all. I baked the rhubarb cake for the 1st time yesterday. Have to say it was delicious. However, I made some modifications: I tripled the rhubarb quantity, cut it into small slices; only used vanilla essence as had no almond; used white sugar for the sponge; used demerara sugar for the topping mixed with baking powder. I thought the sugar/baking powder topping was too much sugar so only scattered half of it over the top. Once baked, absolutely delicious. Thank you for the recipe. Wasn’t convinced at first as it sounds a bit unusual but it works.
Thanks for sharing your adjustments, Sara, and I’m glad it worked well for you.
How do i store this if i make it ahead ? can it sit out or should i refrigerate it ?
It’s really best fresh, because the crackle topping absorbs moisture from the rhubarb as it sits. The moist environment of the refrigerator will speed this up. If I plan to use it within a day, I keep it on the counter. If we have leftovers that are around longer than a day, I cover and move them to the refrigerator.
Based on the author’s comment I decreased the sugar to 1 cup divided. I omitted the Almond extract due to nut allergies and used Better Batter GF flour due to celiacs in the family. It was delicious! I did not need ice cream. Making it again today
Christine
Thanks for sharing what changes you made, Christine, and that they worked out well. That’s really helpful for people trying to adapt the recipe to different diets.
I am sure that I am one of the first people to have kept and tried your recipe. All I can say is I LOVE IT… In the spring we always get a great huge lot of Rhubarb, I always give it to our local food bank in Edmonton, Alberta Canada. They are always so thankful to receive it . I include about 40 copies of the recipe for them to send along with the rhubarb. So today I just want to thank you o much for the recipe, you have a winner there for sure. Keep up the good work.
Thank you, Diane. I’m glad you enjoy it, and that’s great that you share your bounty of rhubarb.
It is so delicious and I have made it many times following the recipe just as it is printed here. Everyone has loved it and it is so easy.
I’m glad it worked out well for you.
Just made this recipe without the extracts as I didn’t have any at the moment. It was absolutely delicious. I have made a chocolate pudding cake often and thought this was an interesting idea. So glad I tried it. The butter adds to the flavour wonderfully. Thanks so much!
Glad it worked well for you.
Has anyone made this substituting maple syrup for sugar in the bottom? If so, how did it turn out & what adjustments did you make please? Thank you.
WINNER! We need more stars. Here’s what I like:
EASY: no creaming the butter. No sifting dry ingredients together first. One bowl.
TASTY: Tart and sweet. Crispy crust on top is the clencher.
FLEXIBLE: iused 4 cups of rhubarb on purpose. Accidentally used 1 C water. Both changes worked fine.
Only one suggested edit: Pretty sure this recipe only serves 4!
Thanks for sharing your changes (and that they worked).
I thought this was too sweet and the fruit got lost. I would like to try it again, adding maybe 1/2 cup more fruit (I used rhubarb and strawberries, and less sugar. I think I’ll try 1/2 cup in the fruit so you still get some of the tartness of the rhubarb, maybe a littles less in the topping. It did go together very quickly. We liked it enough to give is another go.
Such a quick and delicious recipe! The rhubarb was nice and soft, with a good balance of sweetness, and the cake had a little bit of crunch on the top. Didn’t have almond extract, so I used about 1/4 tsp almond essence, and it turned out great.
It was really good just on its own, but we served it warm with a little bit of custard and a sprinkling of cinnamon, and it was absolutely superb! This recipe definitely went straight onto our list of favorite spring/summer desserts. Thanks for the recipe!
So glad that it worked out well for you.
This rhubarb pudding cake was s hit. It was still tart and with the crunchy top. I was happy to find a recipe a little different than crumble. Simple and easy to make. No need to chsnge anything. Great recipe. Putting in my favorites to always make when we have rhubarb. I am going to look at other recipes with commonsensehome.com to see what other ones are appealing. Thanks for the wonderful recipe
I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe, Jackie, and thank you for your kind words.
I looked through all the comments but nobody specifically said apples could be used. What do you all think, and what modifications would I need to make? Thank you!
Give it a try and let us know how it works out? I’d opt for a tart, juicy apple, diced, with peels on for color.
Made this past summer, granddaughters loved it, and so did we. Doubled recipe to a 9 x 13. They have asked me to make this for Christmas dinner…. several bags in the freezer, so will do. Thanks for a deliciously different way to use rhubarb. A favorite fruit of mine~
Glad you enjoy it, Gina. Thanks for letting me know.
Hi Gina, did you have any problems with it bubbling over when you doubled it in the 9×13? Mine bubbled over in my 8×8 and didn’t set up.
I just found this recipe this year. It is so good. Every time I make it people who tell me they don’t eat desserts or don’t eat rhubarb try it and love it. Rhubarb is done for the year here but we have some in the freezer so going to try it with that. Hopefully, it doesn’t need much modification to use the frozen. Thanks for a delicious dessert.
Glad you enjoyed the recipe, Mary, and thank you for letting me know.
Previously frozen thawed rhubarb works just fine. Just increase the baking time if it’s still cold.
I was planning on making rhubarb bread, when my husband requested something else be made with the rhubarb. I made your recipe instead! OMG! It was absolutely delicious! I made it without changing a thing. As my husband said, “ mmm, mmm, mmm.”????
Glad you both enjoyed it.
Made this for dessert tonight but was out of cornstarch so I used arrowroot flour. We loved it but the pudding was a bit gummier due to the arrowroot and so I was worried the leftovers wouldn’t be as wonderful as the dish was straight from the oven. Well, no need to worry about leftovers because my husband loved it so much he ate it ALL! Going to get some tart cherries and give those a whirl. Thanks for a recipe that is sure to be a classic in my house!
Thanks for sharing your experience, Brenda, and I’m glad the recipe went over well.
I just removed my rhubarb pudding cake from the oven, I have been making this recipe for the past two years, and tried others but my family seems to prefer this delicious one. My question is we have an abundance of red rhubarb, I,ve stewed it, canned it, baked with it, now this recipe can it be frozen?? Thanks Lou
I chop and freeze rhubarb every year. It works great.
Glad you enjoyed the recipe.
This was so delicious!!! Thank you!
I made it Gluten Free, Vegan and refined sugar free. Changed the milk for rice milk, the butter for vegan butter and the sugar for old fashioned brown sugar, used 1/4 cup less sugar than called for. Baked it 10 minutes longer.
Glad it worked well for you.
What do you mean by “old fashioned brown sugar”? Would that be rapidura or sucanat or palm sugar or coconut sugar or maple sugar or…?
Fantastic recipe and the results were absolutely delicious. Will make this over and over and will try other fruits as well when I’m low on rhubarb.
Thanks ever so much for sharing it????????????????
Thank you for commenting, Lorrain. So glad you enjoyed it.