Rhubarb Merengue

This cake is one of my all time favorites! I couldn't wait for the first rhubarb to be available, and dreaded the end of the season, which always came too soon. Rhubarb plants require a long recovery period, so the last day of harvest is June 24, the same day the season for white asparagus ends in Germany (also known as Saint John The Baptist day). Depending on the length of the previous winter the rhubarb season can be as short as four weeks, so this cake was rare and a special treat. I particularly loved the little golden sugar pearls that form on top of the merengue. They give this cake an unique appearance.

Ingredients:

baking sheet

some grease

100 g butter or margarine

3 eggs, separated

100 g sugar

125 g confectioner's sugar

1 package vanilla sugar or some vanilla aroma

250 g flour

3 leveled teaspoons baking powder

1/8 Ltr. milk

1 kg (2 pounds) rhubarb

1. Preheat oven. Beat butter or margarine with an electric hand mixer until creamy. Alternating with the 3 egg yolks add 100 g of sugar.

2. In a bowl mix flour and baking powder. Add flour mixture to batter alternating with milk.

3. Grease baking sheet well, add batter and spread evenly onto baking sheet.

4. Peel rhubarb, cut it into smaller pieces (about 1 cm or 1/4 inch) and layer on top of batter.

5. Bake cake on middle rack at 180 degrees Celsius (350F) for about 35 min.

6. In the meantime beat egg whites with an electric hand mixer until they start to stiffen. Add conectioner's sugar and vanilla sugar or vanilla aroma and beat well.

7. Remove cake from oven, spread egg white merengue evenly on top and bake briefly until the surface of the merengue turns light golden in color.