Rhubarb Upside Down Cake Recipe

4.72 from 14 reviews

Rhubarb Upside Down Cake Recipe

Rhubarb Upside Down Cake is made with beautiful red rhubarb, caramel topping and melt-in-your-mouth almond buttermilk cake. It all comes together with a hint of ginger.

Prep Time30

Bake Time40

Macerating Time2

Total Time3 10

Servings:10 slices

Ingredients

Topping

1 ½ pounds rhubarb (cut lengthwise to about 1/2" thick stalks)
8 oz granulated sugar (1 cup)
2 oz unsalted butter (¼ cup)
1 teaspoon ground ginger

Cake Batter

1 large egg
2 yolks
4 oz buttermilk (½ cup)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
7 oz cake flour (1 ½ cups, see note)
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon salt
8 oz granulated sugar (1 cup)
2 oz almond flour (½ cup)
4 oz butter (room temp, cut into 1" pieces)

Instructions

Topping

In a 13x9 baking pan, or another dish long enough to fit the rhubarb stalks, toss the rhubarb with 8 oz granulated sugar. Allow to macerate for 1-2 hours. Remove the rhubarb from the pan and set it aside on a cutting board.
Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Line the bottom of a 9" square pan with parchment paper or butter and flour the pan.
Scrape all the rhubarb juice into a small saucepan, add 2 oz unsalted butter and 1 teaspoon ground ginger and bring the mixture to a boil. Allow to boil 1-2 minutes to thicken. Pour the warm caramel into the prepared cake pan. Cut and arrange the rhubarb on top of the caramel. You can either place the stalks in a straight pattern or on an angle. Once you've filled the pan, add any excess pieces of rhubarb on top of the middle section of the pan.

Batter

Combine 1 large egg, 2 yolks 1/4 cup of the buttermilk and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract in a small bowl and set aside.
Sift together 7 oz cake flour, 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon ground ginger and ¼ teaspoon salt in a mixing bowl, add 8 oz granulated sugar and 2 oz almond flour. Run the mixer on low speed for 30 seconds to combine the dry ingredients. Add 4 oz butter to the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Add the remaining 1/4 cup of buttermilk to the flour and butter mixture. Turn the mixer to medium high for 2-3 minutes to aerate the batter.
Turn off the mixer and scrape the bowl and paddle. Add the egg mixture in two batches, scraping between additions. Spread the batter over the rhubarb, making an "X" in the middle of the batter. This will help the cake bake flat instead of humping in the middle.
Bake until the center of the cake springs back lightly when pressed, or a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes.
Unmold the cake while it's still a little warm by running a paring knife around the sides of the cake and inverting onto a serving platter. If any caramel or rhubarb sticks in the pan lift them out with a small spatula and replace on the cake while it's still warm.
Serve warm or room temperature.

Notes

If measuring the flour by volume use the “dip & sweep” method. That is, dip the measuring cup into the flour bin, overfill it, then sweep away the excess.

Nutrition