Strawberry-Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake
Updated April 19, 2016
Craig Lee for The New York Times
- Total Time
- About 1 hour 30 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
Advertisement
Ingredients
THE TOPPING
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus 1 to 2 teaspoons for greasing the pan
¾ cup light-brown sugar
⅓ cup sliced almonds
1 pint strawberries (about 12 ounces), stemmed, hulled and halved
3 cups rhubarb, trimmed, cut across into ¼-inch-thick slices, blanched for 2 minutes and drained well
THE CAKE
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
½ cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 to 10 servings)
51 grams carbs; 71 milligrams cholesterol; 372 calories; 6 grams monosaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 10 grams saturated fat; 17 grams fat; 2 grams fiber; 214 milligrams sodium; 5 grams protein; 33 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered by
Preparation
- Step 1
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9-inch round pan (at least 2 inches deep) with parchment paper and grease the parchment with 1 to 2 teaspoons softened butter. To make the topping, melt 4 tablespoons butter in a small saucepan. Add the brown sugar to the remaining butter and cook until the sugar is melted, stirring until smooth. Spread the mixture evenly over the bottom of the pan. Scatter the almonds over the brown-sugar mixture. Arrange the strawberries over the almonds in concentric circles, cut-side up. Top with the rhubarb and set aside.
- Step 2
To make the cake, using an electric mixer cream the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat well. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Combine the vanilla with the milk. Add the flour mixture alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with flour. Mix just until combined.
- Step 3
Spread the batter over the fruit in the pan. Bake until the cake springs back when touched in the center, about 1 hour. (Cover the cake with foil if the top browns too much before the cake is done.) Remove the cake from the oven and let stand for 5 minutes. Turn out onto a cake plate. Replace any fruit that sticks to the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Private Notes
Comments
I've made this several times, using the same sized pan. The results have varied so I'll make a suggestion. While the taste has been identical, there's a small window concerning moisture. If in doubt, use a minimum layer of strawberries and thoroughly drain the rhubarb after blanching. It's best to squeeze the moisture out within cheesecloth to avoid too much. One cake failed in that it boiled liked a soup, so learn from my mistake. After doing that, perfect.
The pairing of strawberries and rhubarb is historical. They are "ripe" at roughly the same time, and the strawberries help sweeten the rhubarb without having to add so much sugar.
I have never understood why everyone HAS to pair rhubarb with strawberries, which latter merely disintegrate and add little other than color
Made this with just rhubarb and serve with sweetened whipped cream.
Made exactly per recipe: too sweet and WAY too wet. See the many other comments re: reducing moisture from fruit. I think both cake and topping could do with 15% less sugar. Fruit ends up in an indistinguishable mass anyway, so I might cook it down together in a compote before layering into skillet. Has potential, needs adjustment.
I’ve never left a comment on a NYT recipe since everyone’s tastes and equipment are different - however, I’ve made this particular recipe dozens of times now and someone might find the below helpful: - I find making this cake the night before you want it, cooling it in the cake pan overnight without flipping, and only flipping it in the morning results in the least sloppy/most intact result. - I flip it by placing my glass cake plate upside down over the cake pan and flipping both pan and plate together in one swift confident move. I gently and slowly lift the pan off the cake, and then slowly peel the parchment up and away. - If time is of the essence, and presentation doesn’t matter, simply scooping it out with a spoon is equally delicious. - I’ve stopped blanching the rhubarb, and never used slivered almonds. - In a happy accident, a friend and I discovered that if you leave out a half cup of flour, you’ll end up with a less cakey cake that kinda merges with the fruit layer and sponges up even more juices and is so delightful that we now ALWAYS leave out half a cup of flour. - if using frozen fruit, it’s worth thawing and squeezing out excess moisture, but I have also skipped both those steps and eaten it without flipping ;)
This recipe was perfect. I did take the suggestions for not blanching the rhubarb, coating strawberries and rhubarb with a dusting of cornstarch and using a cast iron pan. It was PERFECT, delicious and very popular with our guests!