Jessica Battilana’s strawberry-rhubarb cake is a festive affair.

Cakes have been a part of celebrations for thousands of years, baked first for weddings, later for birthdays; these days, it’s not uncommon to see sheet cakes spackled with thick frosting at bon voyage and retirement parties.

It’s the latter occasion I’m marking today with a lavish yellow butter cake, filled with crème fraiche and strawberry-rhubarb compote, frosted with a blush-colored Italian buttercream. Because, after eight years writing this home-cooking column, this recipe is my last.

It has been, in my opinion, a good run. Over the years there have been apple turnovers and fettuccine Alfredo, meatballs and pear-chocolate coffee cakes. There have been recipes for bacon-onion tarts, for falafel, for tomato-braised beef and vanilla pudding and a hundred other recipes I developed in my home kitchen and hoped you’d make in yours. It would have been a pleasure to continue this column forever. But other projects call, including a second cookbook, and somewhere along the line I learned it’s always best to leave at the height of the party.

So I’m taking leave of this column. But as with any good retirement party, there ought to be cake. Years ago, for my first cookbook, “Repertoire” (after which this column was named), I developed a recipe for a yellow cake that emulated in flavor and crumb one you might make from a mix, equally tender and sweet, but better. With a strong foundation you can build what you want, and over the years I’ve made versions of this cake topped with ganache, blowsy with whipped cream, filled with coconut custard. For this party version, I opted to spread tangy crème fraiche between the layers and a quick compote made from cooking together quartered strawberries and lengths of rhubarb with a bit of sugar, then whizzing it into a purée.

If you’ve never made an Italian buttercream frosting, I hope you’ll try. You’ll need a stand mixer and an instant-read thermometer and a little faith. To make it, you first make a sugar syrup, then add it to beaten egg whites. The mixture is mounted with lots of butter, piece by piece, until it comes together into a glossy, glorious frosting. Temperature is the enemy of this buttercream; if the egg white-syrup mixture is too hot when you begin adding the room temperature butter, you’ll end up with a soupy mess. But if the butter is too cold, the frosting will never coalesce into a smooth, glossy mass. And even when you’ve done everything right, there is a point in the process when the frosting will look like a curdled mess (that’s where the faith comes in). If this buttercream feels like a bridge too far, take note that the cake is also wonderful with a tangy, simple, cream cheese frosting — just use your favorite recipe; you’ll need about 4 cups of frosting.

If we were at my actual retirement party, this is the point where I’d cut thick slices of cake, lay them on paper plates and distribute them to everyone who has made writing this column a real joy. My editors, first Paolo Lucchesi, then Tara Duggan, and finally Deb Wandell, and the photographers who shot the column over the years. But I’d save slices for all of you, who have cooked my recipes over the years, sent me notes of encouragement and very good questions and photos of what you’ve made, and who carried the home cooking torch alongside me for all these years.

Jessica Battilana is a freelance writer and the author of “Repertoire: All the Recipes You Need.” Instagram: @jbattilana Email: food@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jbattilana

Makes one 8-inch cake; serves 12 to 16

½ teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt

½ cup whole milk, at room temperature

⅓ cup full-fat sour cream, at room temperature

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

3 large eggs, at room temperature

2 large egg yolks, at room temperature

8 ounces rhubarb, peeled and cut into ¾-inch pieces

6 ounces strawberries, hulled and quartered

3 sticks (24 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature (65 degrees), cut into 24 pieces

Candied Rhubarb Strips, for garnish (optional, see Note)

Make the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and arrange a rack in the center of the oven. Grease two 8-inch by 3-inch round cake pans and line the bottom of each pan with parchment paper. Grease and flour the parchment paper. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together into a bowl. In a second bowl, stir together the milk and sour cream.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 4 to 5 minutes. Mix in the vanilla. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing between each addition, then add the egg yolks and mix until just combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed.

Add a third of the dry ingredients to the batter and mix until just combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add half the milk-sour cream mixture and mix. Add half the remaining dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. Add the remaining milk-sour cream mixture and mix until just combined, then add the remaining dry ingredients and mix to combine. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and give the batter one final stir with a rubber spatula, taking care to scrape the bottom of the bowl so the batter is evenly mixed.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans (I would use a scale, but you can eyeball it), transfer to the oven, and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until golden around the edges and beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan; a cake tester inserted in the center should come out clean. Let cool in the pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then gently turn the layers out, peel off the parchment, and let cool completely on wire racks. The cakes can be made up to 1 day in advance. When the layers are cool, tightly wrap them in plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use. The wrapped layers can also be frozen for up to one month; let thaw before assembling.

While the cake bakes, make the compote: Combine the rhubarb, strawberries and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has melted and the fruit begins to give up its juices, about 5 minutes. Increase the heat to medium-high and continue cooking until the fruit has softened, about 5 minutes more. Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon zest and juice and salt. Let cool five minutes, then purée the mixture using a hand-held immersion blender or in a blender or food processor. Transfer to a bowl and let cool; you should have about 2 cups of purée. The purée can be made up to 2 days ahead; to store, transfer to a lidded container and refrigerate.

Make the frosting: In a small saucepan, combine ¼ cup of the water and 10 tablespoons of the sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the sugar dissolves, then cook without stirring until the syrup registers at least 240 degrees but not more than 250 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. Remove from the heat.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the meringue powder, remaining ¼ cup water and the salt. Beat at high speed until the mixture becomes foamy, then slowly sprinkle in the remaining 3 tablespoons sugar and continue mixing on high speed until the egg whites hold stiff peaks. Reduce the mixer speed to low and carefully pour the sugar syrup into the egg whites, aiming for the sweet spot between the edge of the bowl and beater. Continue beating until the mixture registers 80 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. When the meringue has cooled to the correct temperature, increase the mixer speed to medium and begin adding the butter a few tablespoons at a time. The meringue will deflate and may even begin to look greasy and curdled. Don’t despair; just continue adding the butter bit by bit until it has all been incorporated and the frosting is smooth and glossy. Beat in the vanilla and 6 tablespoons of the strawberry-rhubarb compote. If using the frosting right away, transfer to a piping bag and use within four hours, or transfer to a lidded container and refrigerate until ready to use; note that the frosting must be brought to room temperature before using. It can also be frozen for longer storage; transfer to a ziptop plastic freezer bag, press out the air, and freeze for up to 3 months. Let come to room temperature before using, then transfer to a piping bag.

Assemble the cake: Set the cake layers on a clean work surface. Using a serrated knife held parallel to the cake layer, gently saw through the center of the cake layer, cleanly dividing it into two thin even layers. Repeat with the second cake layer; set the flattest, nicest layer aside. Set one of the cake layers on a plate or cake stand and pipe a band of frosting around the edge of the layer. Spoon ⅓ of the crème fraiche onto the layer, spreading it evenly with an offset spatula, then top with ⅓ of the strawberry-rhubarb compote. Stack a second cake layer on top, pipe a band of frosting around the edge of the cake layer, and spread with half of the remaining crème fraiche, followed by half the remaining compote. Stack a third layer and pipe a band of frosting around the edge, then spread with the remaining crème fraiche and compote. Top with the reserved cake layer. Squeeze some of the remaining frosting onto the top of the cake and, with an offset spatula, apply a thin “skim coat” of frosting to the cake. Refrigerate for 10 minutes, then squeeze the remaining frosting on top of the cake and use the offset spatula to spread the frosting all over the cake in a thin, even layer. The finished cake will keep, refrigerated, for up to 2 days; let come to room temperature before slicing into wedges and serving. Just before serving the cake, decorate with strawberries, flowers or candied strips of rhubarb (recipe follows).

Note: To make candied rhubarb strips for decoration: Preheat the oven to 225 degrees and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Cut a rhubarb stalk into 5 to 6 inch lengths. With a vegetable peeler (a y-style peeler works best), peel the rhubarb stalk into thin ribbons.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine ½ cup water and ½ cup sugar. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar melts, then remove from the heat. Add the rhubarb ribbons to the syrup and let stand 5 minutes, then remove from the syrup and lay flat on the prepared baking sheet. Transfer to the oven and bake until the ribbons have the texture of fruit leather, 45 minutes to 1 hour, checking them periodically so they don’t become too dry (which will cause them to become brittle). Remove from the oven and, while still hot, twist the ribbons around the handle of a rubber spatula to form into spirals. Carefully slide the spirals off the handles and let cool (they’ll become firm as they cool).