Oh rhubarb where art thou???

So another cookbook that i received as a gift from my lovely hubby was Neven's Real Food  and that is exactly what it is, real Irish food that anyone would love to be on the receiving end of! My hubby is great at picking up on hints and after noticing Neven's latest series on the Sky planner he decided to get one of his books for me.  We are together since 1996 and will be married ten years in December so we know each other pretty well at this stage and he knows what makes me happy!! Marriage is definitely a rollercoaster ride and we have had our ups and downs that is for sure but its fabulous to look around and see our gorgeous kiddies and their smiling little happy faces and know that they are here because of us!  My lovely friend Nitai bought a coat hook plaque recently with little hooks for kids coats with the words 'All because two people fell in love'!! How sweet is that and very apt!!  Sorry for waffling on so much tonight but am feeling a little soppy!! So back to the recipe, Neven's recipe was for Rhubarb and ginger crumble cake but unfortunately i did not manage to find any rhubarb in Clara today so substituted with apples but am definitely going to try it again when i lay my hands on some as I love the tartness and colour that it brings to recipes.  I slightly adapted the crumble topping of the recipe as i like an oaty crumble so its not exactly the same as Nevens but hopefully just as tasty!!

Ingredients

Crumble

• 125gr plain flour
• 4 tbsp caster sugar
• 30z butter (room temperature)
• 2 tbsp porridge oats
• 1 tbsp brown sugar

Rub all ingredients together to resemble crumbs! Set aside.

Fruit

• 750gr apples cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 tbsp caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger

Place apples in bowl, add sugar and ginger and fully coat fruit.  Set aside.

Cake

• 6oz butter, room temperature
• 6oz caster sugar
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 6oz plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tbsp milk

Beat butter and sugar together until fluffy, incorporate eggs a little at a time and 1tbsp of flour to prevent curdling after half the egg mixture has been mixed in.  Sieve in remaining flour and baking powder and fold in well and finally add milk.

Have your oven preheated to 190 degrees and have a 23cm springform tin well buttered and line the base with parchment paper.  Spread cake mixture on base and top with fruit followed by crumble mix.  Bake for an hour or until a skewer comes out clean.  Leave in tin for 15 minutes to cool on a wire rack before removing! Fab!  I served it with vanilla ice cream and it went down a treat!

So back to my husband being so fabulous at picking up on hints, did i mention about the new camera that i would love!!!