Preheat the oven to 180C/356F. Grease and line a 20cm/ 8 inch cake tin.

Combine the flours, almond meal, baking powder and salt in a medium mixing bowl and whisk to combine.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the oil, butter, sugars and eggs.

Use a hand beater or stand beater to beat the mixture for 1-2 minutes or until lighter and foamy. The butter should have incorporated completely into the mixture, with no chunks remaining. Add the vanilla here, if you’re using it.

Turn the beaters to low and alternate between adding the flour mixture and milk. Continue until you have used up all the flour and milk.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin. Stud with the pieces of rhubarb, noting that they will mostly sink. If you’d like some on top, I reserved a few, sliced them finely and stewed them ever so slightly on the stove, reserving for garnish.

Top with the almonds, if you’re using them, and place into the oven.

Bake for 30 minutes, then very loosely tent the cake with foil and continue baking for 15-20 minutes. If you place the foil flush against the cake it will pull off the top of the cake as you remove it, so give it plenty of space.

Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before sliding a knife around the cake, flush with tin, and removing from the tin. Cool on a wire rack and serve alone, with some icing sugar, with some cream or ice cream, or both!