Rhubarb Obst Kuchen (Rhubarb Custard Cake)

Rhubarb lovers who've written in search of old recipes for the ruby-colored “pie plant,” here's a “lost” kuchen recipe you'll love from long-defunct Bill Zuber's Restaurant and Dugout Lounge, in the Amana Colonies, Homestead, Iowa. The German Pietists who founded Amana and lived and ate in community there from 1855 to 1930 were well-known for their food. Fifty-two community kitchens—each with its own garden-- prepared the meals for the villagers and usually had a little friendly competition going to see who could prepare the best-tasting fare. One of those competing recipes? Obst Kuchen—fruit-custard topped cake—a special, Sunday-dinner dessert.

Our version of the cake is from Connie Zuber, who was 12 when the community-dining aspect of village life ended. She grew up to marry another Amana villager—Bill Zuber, who had an illustrious major-league baseball career pitching for the Cleveland Indians, Washington Senators, New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. Retiring from baseball in 1948, Bill headed back to Homestead with Connie and operated Bill Zuber's Restaurant and Dugout Lounge there for 45 years. This kuchen was their signature. “People would drive out to the restaurant just for that cake,” says Connie, who is now 90. Her version of the cake—which differs slightly from one published in a 1948 recipe collection by the Ladies Auxiliary of the Homestead Welfare Club--may have come from Bill's Mother. “She was a Kuechenbaas—kitchen boss—in Middle-Amana,” Connie recalls, “and a very good cook.”