Rhubarb Gin

I came across this recipe over the weekend and I had a bumper harvest of rhubarb in my garden veg patch to try it out. I thought I'd share it with you. I've not tried gin before, but I know my sister loves it and its very popular right now and the colour is going to be amazing.

I also made rhubarb crumble cake and it was delicious served warm with cream. I still have lots of rhubarb left over, I think I picked over 3kg! More cake I think and yes more gin.


Ingredients:

*1 litre of gin

*300g caster sugar

*600g rhubarb, cut into 2cm pieces

*1.5 litre jar (I tried a 1.5 litre jar and it wasn't big enough, try a 2 litre instead!)

Chop the rhubarb into roughly 2cm pieces, the redder the rhubarb the more pink your finished gin will be. I put mine in a bowl with the sugar and set aside for a couple of hours, I do this for jam making too, the sugar extracts the pink in the rhubarb. Then put the rhubarb into a 2 litre Kilner jar, add the gin. Make sure the jar is sealed and then give it a good stir until the sugar dissolves (most of it will be syrup from where you left it to rest previously). Leave in a cool, dark place for a couple of weeks then sieve and bottle it up. I bought the lovely Kilner clip top preserve bottles in Dunelm for £3 each, will make a lovely gift and they come with a cute label ready for you to write on (or you could make your own as I will)

Rhubarb Crumble Cake

Serves 6 people

Cooking time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

• 100g butter
• 100g caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 100g self raising flour
• 225g rhubarb (cut into 1 inch chunks)

For the Topping:

• 50g butter
• 75g plain flour
• 25g sugar

Instructions:

Grease a 20cm/8inch deep round cake tin and preheat the oven to gas mark 5/180C. Make the crumble topping by rubbing the butter into the flour, add the sugar and place the bowl in the fridge. I make mine in the food processor as it saves getting your hands covered in butter.

For the sponge, cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Lightly beat in the eggs and then fold in the self raising flour. Pour the mixture into the cake tin and level it off, place the chopped rhubarb pieces on top of the mixture and sprinkle with a tablespoon of sugar. Cover the rhubarb with the crumble mixture and place in the centre of the oven for 45 -55 minutes until golden brown and firm to touch.

A lovely summer cake or pudding with squirty cream!