Rhubarb Cardamom Upside Down Cake

It’s rhubarb season, baby! Which means I’m using it in all sorts of ways in the kitchen. Cakes (obviously), tarts, scones, pickles, chutneys, and more. I’ll also be featuring it in a honey panna cotta and rhubarb jelly dessert that I’m making for a pop-up this Memorial weekend at Karachi Cowboys with Cafe Suliman. If you’re in Seattle, you don’t want to miss it!

Ok, but back to cake. In Everyday Cake, I’ve got two rhubarb cakes that I absolutely love. A rhubarb buttermilk bundt that is moist and tender, with slashes of the pink throughout. The other, which was a cover photo contender, is a rhubarb cardamom upside down cake. Tart rhubarb, caramel, a plush, cardamom-speckled cake… it deserves a must-bake this spring, I promise. I’ve been REALLY into rhubarb +aniseed flavor combination lately, so if that appeals, give that a try too. I think 1 to 1 ½ teaspoons crushed aniseed will do it.

If you’re looking for other spring baking inspiration, I’ve got a few other cakes I shared from the book over at Sur La Table’s site. Check it out and happy baking!

Rhubarb Cardamom Upside Down Cake

Makes 6-8 Servings

Cardamom’s fragrant, almost musky flavor lends itself particularly well to baked goods where fruit—or in this case, vegetable—is the star. The tartness of rhubarb plays with the sweetness of the caramel topping and the spice itself. In other seasons, try stone fruit, apples, pears, or cranberries.

Play around with the design of your rhubarb topping: you can trim whole stalks to fit the pan and line them up side by side; slice stalks into pieces and arrange them in concentric circles; or, if you cut slices on the diagonal, nestle them together like a puzzle to create different patterns.

Ingredients

For the topping
1/4 cup (55 g) unsalted butter
3/4 cup (150 g) packed light brown sugar
Pinch of kosher salt
12 to 16 ounces (340 to 445 g) rhubarb, trimmed and kept whole or cut into 2-inch thick pieces (3 to 4 cups)

For the cake
11/3 cups plus 2 tablespoons
(185 g) all-purpose flour
11/2 teaspoons finely crushed cardamom seeds, or 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
11/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup (115 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar
1/4 cup (50 g) packed light brown sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
11/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup (120 g) plain whole milk yogurt, at room temperature

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the sides of a 10-inch cast-iron skillet or a deep 9-inch cake pan.

To make the topping: Set the prepared pan over medium-low heat. Add the butter, brown sugar, and salt. The butter will melt and at first, the mixture won’t emulsify, but after 2 to 3 minutes, it will thicken into a smooth paste and begin to simmer. Remove the pan from the heat and arrange the rhubarb, flat side down, in the bottom in an even layer. Set aside.

To make the cake: In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cardamom, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and both sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy, 4 to 5 minutes, scraping down the bottom and sides of the bowl as needed. Add the eggs one at a time, beating to fully incorporate after each addition. Add the vanilla and mix to combine.

Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture to the batter in three additions, alternating with two additions of the yogurt, mixing until just combined and scraping down the bowl as needed. Scrape the batter over the rhubarb in the pan and smooth out the top.

Bake until the cake is lightly golden and a tester inserted into the center of the cake (but not the topping) comes out clean, about 35 to 45 minutes if baking in a cake pan and 40 to 50 minutes if baking in a skillet. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and allow the cake to cool for 20 minutes.

Invert a serving platter or cake plate over the pan and, using oven mitts for protection, flip the whole thing over. The cake should slip right out of the pan, but if not, knock the plate against the counter a few times to loosen the cake. Any rhubarb that sticks to the pan can be removed with an offset spatula and returned to the cake.

This cake is best served warm on the day it is baked, but it keeps well wrapped at room temperature for 2 to 3 days.

Photo credit (save for the last one!): Charity Burggraaf