I'm not sure where to begin with this cake because I love it so much. We're having the typical cool, rainy spring weather and baking just feels right at the moment. And what better to bake with than rhubarb?

This is a beautiful spring treat, generously studded with tart rhubarb and delivered in a gluten and dairy-free form for us all to enjoy. It's great on it's own, sprinkled with coconut flour (pictured), icing sugar, or served warm out of the oven with a dollop of coconut cream (pour carton of coconut milk into a glass container, chill overnight, and scoop off thick cream layer from the top) or regular cream/ice cream if dairy is not a concern. It's not very sweet, so I must admit to having thoroughly enjoyed it for breakfast several times too.

This would be the perfect Mother's day gift because not only is it a special seasonal cake but it's also easy to whip up in the food processor. Plus it gets better with age so it can be made a day ahead if desired.

Rhubarb Almond Cake

Serves 8

Notes: My cake was done in 40 minutes, using a convection oven. If using a conventional oven start checking your cake at 50 minutes. Cooking time will also vary depending on the size of your pan. If using a larger pan than instructed, you'll have a thinner cake and cooking time will likely be closer to 40-50 minutes. And as always when baking, weighing the dry ingredients with a scale is the most accurate way to ensure you get good results and a tender crumb.

• 5 rhubarb stalks (~280 gr)
• 2 cups (200 gr) ground almonds
• 1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp. (84 gr) buckwheat flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 8 Tbsp. (100 gr) cold-pressed coconut oil
• Zest 1 lemon
• 10 Tbsp. or 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp. (148 ml) maple syrup or honey*
• 1 Tbsp. Amaretto (or 1 tsp. almond extract)
• 2 eggs

1. Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Grease well a medium 8.5 in/21cm bundt pan or 8-9 in/20-23 cm springform pan.
2. Cut most of the way through ends of rhubarb and peel back, stringing the length of the stalk as you would celery. Halve rhubarb lengthwise (if stalks are wide), and chop into bite size pieces. Place in a medium mixing bowl; set aside.
3. To a food processor add almond flour, buckwheat flour, baking powder, and salt. Pulse a few times to combine.
4. Add coconut oil, lemon zest, maple syrup, and amaretto. Mix (don't pulse) until you get a smooth and thick batter consistency (let the motor run about 1 minute). You may have to scrape down the sides a few times to make sure everything is combined.
5. Add eggs one at a time, mixing in between. It will be a very sticky and thick batter now.
6. Transfer batter into the mixing bowl with rhubarb and thoroughly fold together.
7. Pour into prepared pan and bake in the oven for 40-60 minutes, until top is golden brown and a knife inserted comes out clean. 
8. Leave cake to cool in pan set on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Remove cake from pan and cool completely on wire rack before storing. Store, covered, at room temperature for 2-3 days, or in the fridge for 5 days. 

*Substitutions: This is a pretty forgiving cake. It's sturdy so you don't have to tiptoe around it, yet it manages to keep a nicely tender crumb thanks to the almond and buckwheat flours. I've tried it with a combination of maple syrup and honey as well as with coconut sugar. Both versions turn out great and below are measurements forthe coconut sugar. Note that muscovado, an unrefined cane sugar, can be used in place of coconut sugar.

Replace liquid sweetener with 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp. (102 gr) coconut sugar (or muscovado). Add sugar to food processor with other dry ingredients. Then add 2 Tbsp plant-based milk when coconut oil is added. Proceed with instructions as stated, noting that the batter will look drier than with liquid sweetener and not come together fully until eggs are added.