Rhubarb Cake

Spring has sprung and one of our first bounties from the garden will be rhubarb! Not everyone is a fan of rhubarb, that's probably why we usually include strawberries and/or lots of sugar when we use it in recipes. When we find the right balance of tart and sweet though, rhubarb is delicious! Don't forget, the leaves are toxic, so discard those away from the little ones and the pets.
This is a cake recipe from one of my old church cookbooks. When we lived in the north, rhubarb was always being passed around in the spring. Everyone was trying to give away their abundant supply of it. We got our fill of strawberry rhubarb jam, rhubarb pie and such. When I first made this cake, my daughter deemed it as her "favorite in the whole world!". She still requests it for her birthday cake every year in March. We live in Florida now and don't have access to fresh rhubarb like we used to. I haven't tried the frozen, but I'm sure it would work just as well.
I will warn you though, as I learned the hard way, rhubarb is acidic. I only mention this because I once made this cake in a 9x13 inch aluminum pan and stored it in the refrigerator. I guess after we had our fill, it got pushed to the back and forgotten. I'll be honest, I don't know how long it was back there, but when I found it and scooped the leftovers into the trash, I couldn't believe my eyes! Everywhere a piece of rhubarb came in contact with the pan there was a hole in the pan! The rhubarb had eaten right through it! So, if you're going to keep this around a while, I would suggest you use a glass pan.

1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup milk
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups rhubarb, cut into 1/2 to 1" cubes

Topping:
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 F. Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan (preferably glass).

Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the egg, milk and vanilla, beating until well blended.
Combine the dry ingredients and beat into the wet ingredients. Fold in the rhubarb. Pour into the prepared pan. Mix together the topping ingredients and sprinkle over the top of the batter.

Bake for 1 hour.