Rhubarb cake for Little Bear

Three years ago today, Little Bear was baptized! I love the idea of celebrating three special days for each of us: birthdays, baptismal days, and patron saint's feast days. Baptismal days are no less important than birthdays; they're the day that we became members of God's family! 

We're celebrating Little Bear's baptismal day today by reading and talking about the sacrament of baptism, looking at pictures from his baptism, and making a supper that he got to choose, along with dessert. His pick? A sesame pork stir fry with broccoli and mushrooms. It was completely his idea, even the mushrooms! I did invoke "I'm the one cooking" privileges on the dessert, though; he was sure that he wanted a radish cake, which sounds pretty awful... I made a rhubarb cake instead, and everyone agreed that it was a better choice. 

I actually used my mother's recipe for warm rhubarb cake with milk sauce, a classic I grew up with and love but I don't think I'd ever made before for Matt and Little Bear. Today was a good day to introduce them to it!

Rhubarb Cake with Milk Sauce

Cake:

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 cup buttermilk*

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt 

2 cups chopped rhubarb 

Topping:

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 

Milk sauce:

1 1/2 cups milk

1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla 

For the cake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Cream the wet ingredients. Mix in the dry ingredients. Fold in the rhubarb, then spread smooth in a greased 9x13 pan. Combine the topping ingredients and sprinkle over the top. Bake 35 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

For the milk sauce, combine all ingredients in a quart jar. Close tightly and shake vigorously. Chill until ready to serve. Pour over warm squares of cake.

*No buttermilk? No problem. Just measure out the same amount of regular milk, add a few drops of vinegar or lemon juice to "sour" it, and let it stand a few minutes before adding it to the batter.