Five Kisses Cake aka Lunar Cake
Servings Prep Time
16servings 15minutes
Cook Time
45minutes
Servings Prep Time
16servings 15minutes
Cook Time
45minutes
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the rack in the middle of the oven.
  2. Thoroughly grease a 9 x 13 baking dish. Set aside. HINT: If you’ve just freshly opened a package of butter for this recipe—don’t throw out the wrapper yet. Use the residue butter inside it to grease your baking dish!
  3. Dice 2 cups of Rhubarb.
  4. In a medium bowl with a lid, place the Rhubarb.
  5. Add 1 Tablespoon of Flour to the Rhubarb.
  6. Cover the bowl with the lid and gently shake the contents until the Rhubarb is coated with the Flour. Set aside.
  7. In a large bowl, and with a metal whisk, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
  8. In a medium bowl, and with a pastry blender, combine the 1 cup of packed brown sugar, 2 teaspoons Ground Cinnamon and ¼ cup softened unsalted butter. NOTE: To soften butter quickly, pop it into the microwave in a microwave safe dish for 10-15 seconds on high. Now this mixture will turn dark brown as the sugar and butter slightly melt together. If you need to soften the butter/sugar mixture a bit more. Pop it in the microwave for another 10 seconds. You want it to be blended well, but not soupy. Set aside.
  9. In a large bowl and with a hand mixer, cream the ½ cup of softened unsalted butter.
  10. Add the 1 ½ cups of white sugar to the butter, and blend well. Use a good silicone spatula to scrape the bowl often as you mix the cake. A good one is the 1 piece Betty Crocker silicone spatula that can be purchased at most Dollar Stores.
  11. Add the slightly beaten egg and the vanilla to the butter/sugar mix. Blend well until smooth.
  12. Now, alternately add the flour mixture and the buttermilk. Using the hand mixer, continue mixing until well combined. Again, scrape the bowl as often as needed. The cake batter will be fairly thick.
  13. Add the floured Rhubarb to the cake mixture. With the silicone spatula, fold the Rhubarb into and throughout the cake mixture.
  14. Now transfer the Rhubarb Cake mixture into the greased 9 x 13 baking dish. Use the silicone spatula to scrape the bowl out clean and to spread the Rhubarb Cake in the baking dish. Smooth out the top with the silicone spatula.
  15. Finally, grab the bowl with the brown sugar/butter mixture. Using a fork, drop the sugar mixture in evenly spaced clumps on top of the cake batter. The fork works really well to separate the topping into chunks to drop on top of the batter.
  16. Bake the cake on the middle rack of the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes. Toothpick inserted in the middle should come out clean when it is cooked.
Recipe Notes

The secret to this cake is that as the cake bakes, the rhubarb will create steam chimneys, and the brown sugar mixture will melt and flow down the holes. Thus creating the moonscape look you are after. Thereby earning it the name, Lunar Cake. Or, as Sue Vosper says, in her family, it is the Five Kisses Cake! Enjoy!

Recipe by: Sue Vosper, reader

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And let our reader, Sue Vosper know what you think of her family’s recipe—Five Kisses Cake aka Lunar Cake. Comment below—I’m sure she’d love to know your reaction. And did you get the 5 kisses too?