A Dump Cake Is The Easiest Way To Enjoy Rhubarb's Sweet Flavors

Albeit extremely sour tasting in its raw form, there are plenty of tips for cooking with rhubarb to help bring out its sweeter side. Depending on your technique, it's a lot easier than you might think to get rhubarb to a perfect consistency and flavor for desserts. If you're concerned its tartness may be overwhelming try using rhubarb in a dump cake, then watch as your worries melt away alongside a generous helping of butter and sugar.

The classic dump cake is made by taking a pre-made cake mix, fruit filling, butter, and sugar and dumping it all in a dish to bake quickly and easily. Yielding a dessert that lands somewhere between a cobbler and a crumble, a dump cake works especially well with rhubarb because it takes the effort out of preparing rhubarb as you would for other cakes and pastries. Instead of stewing your rhubarb down into a jam, for example, the very format of a dump cake does the work for you. This almond-rhubarb dump cake recipe calls for either fresh or frozen sliced rhubarb stalks along with brown sugar and lots of butter. In the process of baking, your rhubarb slices will tenderize and sweeten up, making both a tasty and easy dessert.

The one rule you should never break when making a dump cake is pretty clear and simple: Don't mix it! The beauty of a dump cake is found entirely in its simplicity and, most of all, in its name. Simply dump all the layers as instructed, set it in the oven, and forget about it until it's fully baked to golden brown and fruity perfection. Again, it couldn't be more simple to work with rhubarb when you're basically being instructed to do very little beyond slicing it.

There are a lot of fun ways you can dress up a rhubarb dump cake while still adhering to that essential rule. Adding complementary ingredients to your rhubarb filling such as cherry or strawberry are always an excellent choice. Using extra cinnamon or introducing other warming spices into the mix will alter the flavor to suit your tastes. You can also try different nut toppings such as pecan or walnut pieces in place of sliced almonds. No matter what you add this dump cake recipe is still much easier than any other you'll find for rhubarb. Just be sure to share the sweets and enjoy your cooking experience!