Rhubarb Upside Down Cake

I was asked by Patricia, one of my Youtube viewers, if I could do a recipe that uses rhubarb.  So I decided upon an upside down cake using rhubarb. Rhubarb is usually available in my local supermarket, but especially so at this time of year.  Lots of keen gardeners in the UK grow rhubarb too, so this cake will be ideal for them too.

Rhubarb is rather tart so it needs some sugar added as part of this cake.  For that the sugar is brown sugar and it is caramelised in butter before the rhubard is added.  That makes a great base upon which to put the cake batter which also has some crystalised ginger in it as that goes so well with rhubarb.

The recipes I checked tended to use a skillet,(frying pan), but of course it has to be safe to use in an oven at 180C/350F. Many use cast iron, but I don’t have such a pan, so I used a non-stick pan which was safe to place in the oven.

Although the cake uses crystalised ginger if you don’t have that you could use a teaspoon or two of ground ginger if you wish.

The recipe is actually very simple and doesn’t take much time or effort.  It tastes so good too, served warm(or cold) with custard, cream or ice-cream.
I was very pleased with how mine turned out, the taste was fantastic.

Rhubarb Upside Down Cake

Ingredients:

• 50g(3 1/2)tbsp unsalted butter
• 200g(1 Cup) soft brown sugar, in two equal parts
• 350g (3 cups when diced)fresh rhubarb diced into 2cm/1 inch pieces
• 200g(1 1/2 cups + 1 tbsp) plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 200ml(1/2 cup+1/3 cup) buttermilk
• 2 medium eggs(large in USA)
• 80ml(1/3 cup) melted and cooled butter, or oil
• 2 tbsp finely chopped crystalised ginger(or ground ginger to taste)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/350F
2. In an ovenproof skillet/frying pan, 24cm(9 1/2 inches) in diameter place the butter and heat until melted.
3. Add 100g of soft brown sugar and cook gently for 5 minutes until the sugar has dissolved.
4. Remove the pan from the heat and put the diced rhubarb into the panin s single layer, on the caramel mixture, being careful not to burn your fingers. Then set aside.
5. Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together.
6. In a large bowl place the eggs, buttermilk, melted butter, 100g soft brown sugar and crystalised ginger and whisk until all it thoroughly combined(you can do this by hand or with a mixer).
7. Add the flour mixture and stir in with a spatula until fully combined, with maybe a few lumps showing(that will be the ginger).
8. Pour the batter onto the top of the rhubarb and spread to cover the entire surface of the pan, making it level.
9. Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes, until the cake feels springy to the touch.
10. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes standing on a rack(or top of stove).
11. Then place an upturned plate over the pan and turn the cake out onto the plate.
12. Serve warm or cold, with custard, ice cream or cream.