Makes a 28cm round cake
Fruit topping:
600g rhubarb, trimmed
250g strawberries
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup rum
Seeds from a vanilla bean
For the cake:
300g self-raising flour
120g almond meal
60g castor sugar
90g of butter
200g European style yoghurt
Cream to serve
Pre-heat oven to 180 C. Slice rhubarb in half, lengthways. Hull strawberries and slice in half. Place rhubarb and strawberries in a baking dish with sugar, vanilla seeds and rum; use your hands to coat the fruit well. Bake on the bottom shelf of your oven and remove after 10-15 minutes. The rhubarb should be soft but pieces remain whole.
In the mean time, grease a 28cm round cake tin (it needn't be too high). Put flour, almond meal and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a pastry paddle. Dice butter, add to dry ingredients and mix until texture is crumbly. Add yoghurt and mix until it comes together in a soft mass.
Arrange the rhubarb pieces at the bottom of your prepared cake tin. Working from the centre to the outside of the tin, line up the rhubarb pieces one at a time, fitting them snugly together (mostly flat but some on their sides will help to pack it together). Some of the rhubarb pieces I used were shorter than the cake tin which was perfect to create an uneven pattern. I arranged a piece or two to the far right and then to left and so on; I then filled the gaps with the strawberries. On the outer edges where the tin becomes narrower, let the pieces curl up the sides. Pour juices from the baking tray over the top.
Remove the cake mixture from bowl and stretch it out into a thick disc to cover the fruit ensuring you reach the edges of the cake tin. This is a very forgiving mixture, so you can work in halves or cover holes with parts you've removed from thicker areas, it won't be visible after baking.
Turn the oven up to 200 C and cook for about 30-40 minutes depending on the oven. When the top is brown and a skewer comes out clean the cake is ready. Serve warm with some fresh cream. After one day the cake will become denser which is quite nice but re-heat if you prefer a softer texture.
