Rhubarb pound cake

Method

• step 1

  Heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Trim the rhubarb and cut it into chunks. Tip these into a baking dish and add the light muscovado sugar. Shake the dish to distribute the sugar, cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes, or until the rhubarb is only just tender. Take the cover off and roast for another 5 minutes, then tip it all into a bowl to cool. Taste and add another tbsp sugar if it’s too tart.

• step 2

  Butter a deep 22cm loaf tin and dust it with flour. Beat the butter and caster sugar until it’s pale and fluffy, then beat in the orange zest followed by the eggs and fold in the flour and baking powder. Fold in the white chocolate chips and the orange juice and spoon the mixture into the tin. Add a single layer of rhubarb to the top of the tin and bake for 1-11/4 hours, or until a skewer poked in the centre comes out clean. The top will look quite wet, but poke the skewer in between the rhubarb to check the centre.

• step 3

  Cool for 10 minutes, then run a knife around the cake in the tin and carefully tip onto a wire rack to cool. Serve the cake in slices with the remaining rhubarb and cream.