Strawberry Rhubarb Upside Down Cake

Consider me biased, but this Strawberry Rhubarb Upside Down Cake is all sorts of amazing. The cake is fluffy and moist, the strawberries and the rhubarb are sweet with a slight bit of tang, and the caramel has a touch of balsamic to hone in it to bring about some extra depth of flavors. Even with the soft texture of the cake, it holds up well underneath the fruit and it doesn’t cave in after being turned out a mere 60 seconds after being pulled from the oven.

The cake itself is a simple sponge–not too sweet with just some vanilla extract added to it–creating the perfect base so that, once the cake is flipped over, the juices from the fruit and the caramel can slowly seep into it. It’s a well-balanced cake that comes together surprisingly quickly even if they instructions might appear intimidating. Besides the baking, most of the time is spent waiting for the caramel to bubble away and reach the right shade of amber.

Once the caramel is ready and the balsamic vinegar and honey have been stirred into it, you immediately pour it into a cake pan already greased and lined on the bottom with a circle of parchment paper and swirl the pan around until the caramel covers the bottom. Add in the fruit–rinsed, sliced, and dried–and then you can preheat the oven and get started on the cake.

My cakes always start off in the stand mixer, but by the step where you start adding in the flour, I always remove the bowl and opt to use a rubber spatula and some muscle to fold the sifted flour into the cake batter. It’s so easy to overmix cakes, especially when you’re adding in the flour, and folding it in by hand allows more control in stopping when everything is just mixed together. It may be weird, but ever since I started doing it that way, my cakes have come out softer and fluffier and at least a hundred times better than they used to!

Also, I stand by the belief that rhubarb is just a great ingredient. I got so excited when I walked into the grocery store and saw it sitting there and knew that I just had to use it. (It also wouldn’t ring up the first three times the guy at the register tried to ring it up and I almost just told him to put it back because I felt so awkward standing there and just assumed it wasn’t meant to be after all–glad I didn’t and that the machine finally worked). Even just peeling and chopping rhubarb, you get a whiff of sourness. As someone who is all about the tart bite in a Granny Smith Apple, I love the tartness you find in rhubarb. When you cook it, the flavor mellows out and sweetens a bit, but there’s still that hint of tartness in each bit that pairs well with the sweetness in the strawberries. It’s no wonder than strawberry rhubarb pies are so delicious.

Besides how easy it is to throw together this Strawberry Rhubarb Upside Down Cake, there is magic to be found in the way a cake without frosting comes together. Pineapple upside down cake used to be my grandpa’s favorite, and I get it. The sweetness in an upside down cake–this one included!–isn’t overwhelming; it’s definitely something that feels like a treat you can enjoy on a regular basis rather than just on a special occasion. If I can throw this together on any given weeknight, you can too!

Print Recipe

Strawberry Rhubarb Upside Down Cake

With a light and fluffy cake baked with fresh strawberries and rhubarb coated in a balsamic caramel, this cake is the magical bite you never knew you were missing out on until now. Yields: 8 slices

Prep Time

15 minutes

Cook Time

30-35 minutes

Servings

slices

Ingredients

Balsamic Caramel

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3 Tbsp water
• 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 Tbsp honey

Strawberry Rhubarb Upside Down Cake

• 1 recipe balsamic caramel
• 1 cup strawberries quartered then measured
• 1 cup rhubarb peeled and sliced thin, then measured
• 3/4 cup self-rising flour spooned then leveled
• 1/2 cup almond flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup butter softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs large, room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 Tbsp milk

Prep Time 15 minutes Cook Time 30-35 minutes Servings slices Ingredients Balsamic Caramel 1/2 cup granulated sugar 3 Tbsp water 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar 1 Tbsp honey Strawberry Rhubarb Upside Down Cake 1 recipe balsamic caramel 1 cup strawberries quartered then measured 1 cup rhubarb peeled and sliced thin, then measured 3/4 cup self-rising flour spooned then leveled 1/2 cup almond flour 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp salt 1/2 cup butter softened 1/2 cup granulated sugar 2 eggs large, room temperature 1 tsp vanilla 2 Tbsp milk

Instructions

Balsamic Caramel

1. Grease and line an 8" cake pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. In a medium saucepan over low heat, stir together the 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 3 Tbsp of water until the sugar is fully coated. Continue to stir until the sugar dissolves. Raise the heat to medium and allow the sugar and water to bubble. Once it starts to change colors, give the pan a swirl. Allow to bubble away until the liquid thickens and turns amber in color. Give the caramel a stir and reduce the heat to low. Slowly whisk in the balsamic vinegar--it might try to seize or bubble if you add too much vinegar at once--and slowly whisk in the honey.

Strawberry Rhubarb Upside Down Cake

1. Immediately pour the caramel into the prepared cake pan and carefully line the strawberries and rhubarb, alternating between fruits, along the bottom of the caramel-covered cake pan. If you have extra fruit once the bottom of the pan is covered, pour the rest into the pan and spread it out so that you have an even layer of fruit. Set aside.
2. Place a rack into the middle of the oven and preheat to 350°F. In a large bowl, sift together the self-rising flour, almond flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, or with a hand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. This should take about 3-5 minutes on medium high. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
4. Add in the eggs, one at a time, and mix until combined. Add in the vanilla and mix until it's fully incorporated.
5. If using a stand mixer, remove the bowl. Sift 1/3 of the dry ingredients into the mixing bowl. Using a rubber spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the batter. Fold in 1 Tbsp of milk until combined. Repeat with the rest of the dry ingredients and the last tablespoon of milk, ending with the dry ingredients. Fold until the flour is just mixed in.
6. Pour the batter into the cake pan, evenly covering the fruit. Place in the center of the oven rack and bake 30-35 minutes until the cake springs back to the touch or a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean or with just a couple of crumbs.
7. Remove the cake from the oven and allow to sit for 1 minute. After 1 minute, place a serving plate or a wire rack over the cake pan and flip it over. Slowly lift the cake pan to reveal the fruit at the top. Remove the parchment paper. Allow to cool; slice, and serve.

Recipe Notes

This is best when enjoyed within a couple of hours of baking, however, if you cover it in plastic wrap, the cake will remain moist for a few days afterwards as well.

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