Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake Simplified Recipe: INGREDIENTS 2 ½ sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature, more to grease pans 1 ½ pounds rhubarb, rinsed and sliced into 1/2-inch cubes about 4 cups 2 teaspoons cornstarch 1 ½ cups granulated sugar ½ cup light brown sugar 2 cups cake flour 1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder ½ teaspoon fine sea salt Zest of 1 lemon, grated 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 4 large eggs 1/3 cup sour cream 2 teaspoons lemon juice Preparation: 1) heat oven to 350 2) In a medium bowl, mix rhubarb, cornstarch and 1/4 cup granulated sugar. 3) Mix together flour, baking powder and salt. 4) Melt 1/2 stick of butter and 1/2 cup brown sugar n 10" skillet over medium heat. Whisk until smoothe and bubbly, about 2 minutes. 5) Stir in rhubarb mixture and form into an even layer. 6) Whip 2 sticks butter in a mixer with a paddle attachment for 2 minutes. 7) Add 3/4 cup sugar with lemon zest and cream together with the butter at medium-high speed until it is light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, stopping to scrape down the bowl halfway through. Add the vanilla and mix well. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in the sour cream, then the lemon juice. (It’s O.K. if the mixture looks curdled.) With the mixer set to low speed, add the flour mixture, 1/4 cup at a time, until well combined. Scrape down the mixer bowl in between the additions. 8) Pour the batter into the skillet so it covers all of the rhubarb. Smooth out the top. 9) Bake for 50 minutes, or until the top of the cake is firm to touch and a toothpick stuck in the middle comes out without any large, moist crumbs. 10) Place the pan on a wire rack, and cool for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the cake, place a plate on top of the pan and turn it upside-down. Release the cake from the pan while still warm or else it will stick. original recpe: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1013611-rhubarb-upside-down-cake MELISSA CLARK YIELD8 servings TIME1 hour 45 minutes Save To Recipe Box Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times Take advantage of rhubarb season with this easy dessert. Baked and unmolded, this cake resembles a pale pink mosaic atop velvet-crumbed and vanilla-infused cake. The rhubarb, which you’ll add in raw, is tangy and tender, firm enough to give you something to chew over. It’s an easy half-hour of prep and another hour and change in the oven, ample time for a light supper, anticipation of dessert hanging in the spring air. INGREDIENTS 2 ½ sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature, more to grease pans 1 ½ pounds rhubarb, rinsed and sliced into 1/2-inch cubes about 4 cups 2 teaspoons cornstarch 1 ½ cups granulated sugar ½ cup light brown sugar 2 cups cake flour 1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder ½ teaspoon fine sea salt Zest of 1 lemon, grated 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 4 large eggs 1/3 cup sour cream 2 teaspoons lemon juice PREPARATION 1) Heat oven to 325 degrees. Line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper. Butter the paper and sides of the pan. Wrap two layers of foil under the pan, and place it on a buttered baking sheet. 2) In a medium bowl, mix rhubarb, cornstarch and 1/2 cup granulated sugar. 3) Mix the brown sugar and 1/2 stick butter in a pan over medium heat. Whisk until smooth and bubbling, about 2 minutes. 4) Sift together the cake flour, baking powder and salt. 5) Whip 2 sticks butter in a mixer with a paddle attachment for 2 minutes. 6) With your fingers, blend the remaining 1 cup sugar with lemon zest until the mixture is uniform in color. 7) Cream together with the butter at medium-high speed until it is light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, stopping to scrape down the bowl halfway through. Add the vanilla and mix well. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in the sour cream, then the lemon juice. (It’s O.K. if the mixture looks curdled.) With the mixer set to low speed, add the flour mixture, 1/4 cup at a time, until well combined. Scrape down the mixer bowl in between the additions. 8) Pour the brown-sugar mixture into the cake pan, then spoon in the rhubarb and its juices. Spoon in the batter so it covers all of the rhubarb. Smooth out the top. 9) Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until the top of the cake is firm to touch and a toothpick stuck in the middle comes out without any large, moist crumbs. 10) Place the pan on a wire rack, and cool for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the cake, place a plate on top of the pan and turn it upside-down. Release the cake from the pan while still warm or else it will stick. Original recipe: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1013611-rhubarb-upside-down-cake?regi=1&em_pos=medium&emc=edit_ck_20170506&nl=cooking&nlid=4170650&join_cooking_newsletter=false&login=email Eva Galson 1 year ago This recipe can be made simpler by baking the cake in a 10" cast iron frying pan. There will be no preparation of baking pans, no chance of run over spills in the oven, and the brown sugar and butter can be heated directly in the frying pan before adding the rhubarb, thus saving an extra pan. Reply 99This is helpful Jenny 1 year ago Looking at the recipe initially, I agreed with previous users that it seemed to be heavy on sugar. I used 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar, and 1/4 cup brown sugar, and it still tastes great. Reply 45This is helpful Niffer 1 year ago Made this again in a round 9" cake pan that had a 3" side. For me it worked out better. The cake was moister and the juices stayed in the cake rather than the tin foil. I had no problem getting the cake out. I used parchment and generously buttered the pan. Reply 44This is helpful annieurban 2 years ago Made this last night. Two notes: wait more than 15 minutes to flip and release from pan. More like 30. Mine fell apart because it hadn't set. Too, the whole thing is too sweet: cut sugar. It's delicious and moist but the first thing you taste is sugar, instead of rhubarb and cake. Reply 37This is helpful Meredith 1 year ago It worked well in the nine inch springform I had, but better in a brownie pan. The resultant cake comes out just as easily if you use the parchment paper [that holy grail of the baking world!] and you don't lose half the brown sugar sauce, so it's moister and better incorporated as a single dessert, not cake-with-topping. I'd err on the side of too much rhubarb rather than too little for the recipe, definitely [again, moister]. And really, is there such thing as too much rhubarb? Reply 29This is helpful mwheeler 2 years ago I didn't have cake flour at home and made it with regular, all-purpose. It was delicious! If you find yourself in this predicament don't worry the cake the will still be light and buttery. Reply 27This is helpful Pat 11 months ago My family has made a cake similar to this for decades, but one difference is that we use brown sugar, not white, with the rhubarb. We also make it much easier than is described here: preheat the oven, put the cake pan with the two sticks of butter in the oven, mix up a yellow cake mix (the only thing we ever use cake mixes for, ever!), pull the pan with the melted butter out of the oven, stir in the brown sugar, sprinkle the rhubarb on top, then pour the cake mix over. Easy peasy and yum. Reply 26This is helpful Starchgirl 1 year ago It's spring and time for rhubarb, and while my guests loved this (especially for breakfast the next day), I wasn't happy with the appearance. Cooked rhubarb is not as red as the photo, and the bland color was not a show stopper. Adding a few strawberries (and less sugar) would perhaps enhance both the balance and appearance. Reply 15This is helpful Rara 2 years ago Metric vs. non-metric wouldn't make the measurement more accurate. Perhaps you meant the New York Times should provide weights instead of volume measurements for baking ingredients? I would agree with that. 14This is helpful Pat 3 weeks ago My family has been making rhubarb upside down cake for at least 50 years (since before I was born anyway!) and we do two things differently: We use only 1 cup brown sugar (no white) and 2 sticks butter for a 13x9 inch pan, and we use (horror!) a yellow cake mix. This is the ONLY time I would ever use a cake mix but it works and it's ultra easy. Be sure to serve with lightly sweetened whipped cream. An old North Dakota tradition. Reply 13This is helpful Troy 1 year ago May I suggest using raspberries instead of strawberries to achieve the red color? If you don't like the seeds, simply freeze the berries, then puree, cook lightly and strain. Thicken with a tsp of cornstarch to thicken and mix in with the layer of rhubarb. Reply 12This is helpful pj 1 year ago Recipe worked out perfect for me even with a Greek yogurt switch for the sour cream and homemade cake flour. I used half a stick less butter and also turned out fine. Was a hit at dinner. Reply 11This is helpful T 1 year ago In the US, a stick of butter is 1/4 pound. So 2 1/2 sticks of butter is 5/8 pound or 10 ounces. 9This is helpful Winnie 1 year ago I made this yesterday as an ode to spring. It was delicious - but not quite as cake-like as I expected. It was a little more like a cobbler than a cake. When I inverted it it tended to spread out - the cake didn't seem to be able to support the fruit so well as in the photo. I wonder if an all purpose flour would have worked better. Reply 9This is helpful kahvt 1 year ago Made this for the second time this weekend, and again it was a big hit. I found that baking in a very well buttered square 9 X 9" baking dish with high sides (about an inch higher than average) worked very well, and I did not get the leakage of wonderful sugar, butter and fruit juice that I did the first time I tried it, using the complicated sealing instructions above. Also added about 1/2 cup of blueberries, and used slightly less rhubarb this time. Delicious! Reply 8This is helpful Ellen 1 year ago Weights would be helpful in addition to volume measures, but certainly not instead of them! 8This is helpful sandra pendell 1 year ago Loved it. Used an 8 inch square teflon pan sprayed and lined with the paper butter wrappers because I had no parchment paper. It came out perfectly. I also used regular flour. Reply 7This is helpful Melissa V 2 weeks ago This cake was delicious. I followed recommendations left by many others here who suggested using less sugar, and it was perfect. The cake was lemony and moist, rhubarb flavor was great, a real crowd pleaser. I gave it 10 extra minutes to set before removing it from the pan. I'll definitely make it again!! Reply 6This is helpful Libby 11 months ago I made this by combining two of the comments' suggestions. Use the cake mix idea (one package that normally makes two 8" layers). Melt half stick butter in 10" cast iron pan. Add brown sugar and cook it, and assemble the dessert in the cast iron pan the way the original recipe directs. name 350F ~ 45-50 minutes. Delicious! Reply 6This is helpful Nancy 1 year ago Among the best cakes I've ever made. I made it as directed except I used the cake flour substitute found here: http://joythebaker.com/2013/12/baking-101-the-best-cake-flour-substitute/ I gave away the last pieces yesterday, but I find myself looking for an excuse to make it again soon. Reply 6This is helpful linnea 1 year ago Turned out really well!! I used a cast-iron skillet, thought that it would overflow but luckily didn't. I used half strawberries, half rhubarb, cut down a bit on all the sugar used, and cut down on the butter for the caramel top...still turned out sweet and excellent. Very pleased with the cake's consistency and the juiciness of the fruit. Serving with vanilla ice cream a MUST for the density of the cake. YUM! Reply 5This is helpful Mary Beth 1 year ago Just made this. Followed directions exactly and it was perfect. It reversed after 15 minutes without a problem. I did forget the foil wrap, but I set the baking sheet for a short time on the stove and softened the leaked juices enough to drizzle them over the top of the cake. Reply 4This is helpful Liz Shura 2 weeks ago Oh! I did read these comments before making this cake ... and then I made it exactly as the recipe suggested anyway. I am glad. It's true it's a sweet cake, but I was hoping to replicate the cakes I was served on the road in Iceland: naive, sweet, and extremely rhubarby. This is all of that, and delicious. All in all: not fancy, and perfect. I do think I might try a cast iron pan next time, for a little more caramelization. And perhaps serve it with unsweetened whipped cream. Reply 3This is helpful Lisa 11 months ago So many concerns with this version: 1) Not everyone owns a mixer. 2) As previously stated by others, excessive sugar 3) Extremely messy as it cooks 4) Whats the point of the brown sugar reduction if it just oozes out anyway?! 5) Needs longer to set This seems like a crazy, super long and over detailed and sugary recipe for a fruit on bottom cake. The bits that came out were okay. Reply 3This is helpful Jo 1 year ago I have an abundance of rhubarb and am always looking for new recipes---was excited about this one, but I think it has too much butter and sugar! Rhubarb requires some sugar, but not much! Usually love Melissa's recipes.