This is a small cake that's light, moist, and tender. A mixture of sugar and tangy rhubarb forms the base of the cake and adds a nice contrast to the sweet cake. I used only about a cup of chopped rhubarb, but doubling the amount would be fine. I'll do so as soon as my rhubarb plants get busier producing! Fortunately our local deer--which snack on my hostas, roses, lilies, blueberries, and many of my other plants--don't eat rhubarb, so I'm hopeful that I'll soon have more. I used self-rising flour in the cake, which means you can mix up the cake batter in minutes. If you don't have self-rising flour, just substitute all-purpose flour and add 1 teaspoon of baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. The cake is great served warm and is also good at room temperature. Try the cake topped with whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream alongside. The cake also is good drizzled with a little caramel sauce. Enjoy!
Air Fryer Rhubarb Cake -- Makes a 6-inch cake
Base
1 tablespoon of melted butter
1 cup of washed, chopped rhubarb (stalks only--discard the leaves!)
2 tablespoons of sugar
Cake
3 tablespoons of melted butter
1/2 cup of sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1/2 cup of buttermilk
3/4 cup of self-rising flour
Spritz a 6- x 2-inch round cake pan with non-stick cooking spray. Pour the tablespoon of melted butter into the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle on the rhubarb, then sprinkle the sugar on top of the rhubarb. Spritz the sugar with non-stick cooking spray. Put the pan in your air fryer basket, put the basket in the air fryer, and air fry the rhubarb at 320 degrees for 5-8 minutes or until it has partially softened. While the rhubarb is cooking, add the 3 tablespoons of melted butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, and buttermilk to a medium bowl and whisk them together well. Whisk in the self-rising flour until combined. Remove the air fryer basket from the air fryer and carefully pour the cake batter over the partially cooked rhubarb in the cake pan. Return the air fryer basket to the air fryer and bake the cake at 320 degrees for about 20 minutes or until golden brown and firm to the touch. Remove the baked cake from the air fryer basket and let it cool for 5-10 minutes. Loosen the sides of the cake and turn the cake out of the pan, placing it rhubarb-side down, on a small plate. The cake is great warm with whipped cream or ice cream.
