Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake

I hadn’t the slightest clue what a Rhubarb was until recently. Rhubarbs are perennial plants that have woody stalks and thick fleshy leaves. The leaves are usually not used for cooking (as far as my limited knowledge). Instead, the woody red and green stalks are used in cakes, tarts, pies, and sauces. Rhubarbs are extremely tart, so they taste good when paired with sugar/sweet.

Picture courtesy

One of Anand’s colleagues, Pete, generously gave us a bag of freshly picked rhubarbs from his thriving garden. Of course, upon receiving the bounty both of us thanked him, and then blinked, for I didn’t have the foggiest idea of how to work with them. Being the kind man that he is, Pete gave us four of his mom’s lovely rhubarb recipes to help us out. Two recipes were for cakes, one for a crisp (or crumble), and the other for an oatmeal-rhubarb bar. Of course, we picked the two unhealthiest cake recipes (both of which were also highly recommended by Pete). Thank you Pete! We really appreciate your gesture.

The first one I tried was a Rhubarb-upside-down cake. Since this is our friend’s authentic family recipe, it’s obviously not right to paste the exact recipe here. But I will mention the basic steps/ingredients required (which is common knowledge in the baking world), so those of you who are so inclined can loosely adapt it. 

For some reason, the picture refuses to appear rotated here. So it is indeed upside down

 Basic steps:

1. Prepare your version of sponge-cake batter (cream together butter, sugar, eggs, and milk; add to it sifted all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, bit of salt, and vanilla extract).
2. Peel and dice rhubarb - you need approximately 4 cups of diced rhubarb
3. Butter a cake pan. Alternately layer the diced rhubarb, and some sugar (or marshmallows). Form about 2 layers each of rhubarb and sugar/marshmallows. (I had only 1 layer of each, but I have a feeling 2 layers would have tasted better)
4. Then add the cake batter on top.
5. Bake for 45-50 minutes at 350 F
6. When the cake is done, allow it to cool for 30 minutes. Then gently reverse the cake onto a plate.

Lessons Learned in Baking:
These are general lessons learned in baking. While preparing most cakes, it is of utmost importance that both the eggs and the butter are at room temperature. I never paid attention to this at first, but later realized (thanks to Ina Garten) that it makes all the difference in the world between a fluffy cake and a tough one. Apparently eggs take about 6 hours to reach room temperature. If you’re like me, you are likely to not plan ahead, or remember to keep the eggs out in time. In such a case, drop the egg/s into a bowl of warm water for about 10-15 minutes (hot water would cook the eggs of course). Similarly, if you forget to keep the butter out, heat for 20 secs in a microwave (20 secs for 1 stick of butter). I heat in increments of 10 secs till the butter becomes soft. Do not melt the butter or make it runny. It is important that the butter “creams” with the sugar, and then with the eggs. If you are an aspiring baker, invest in a hand-mixer/beater. You can get an affordable hand beater for $15. It is a valuable tool to help you beat eggs, make meringues, and cream butter and sugar.

Another thing I learned - over-beating/mixing is not always good. I thought the more you whipped the batter, the more fluffy and light the cake would be. It’s only true in the “creaming” stage - where you beat the butter, sugar and eggs (in that order). The more you cream, the better. But once you add the flour, do not over-beat. The more you beat/mix, the flour develops gluten and the cake will turn out tough and dense like bread. Mix just till the flour is incorporated. The same concept applies for cookies.

Third lesson - do not keep opening the oven to test/admire your cake. The oven light serves that purpose. The more you open the oven (at the early stages of baking), the more heat you keep releasing, and your cake won’t rise or bake properly.

Adaptations:
If you are a pure vegetarian and avoid including eggs in your diet, fret not, you can still bake fluffy cakes. Ground flax-seed is an excellent (and healthy) substitute. The equivalent ratio is:
1 egg = 1 tablespoon of flax-seed powder + 3 tablespoons of warm water.

I beat this mixture and then for extra measure heat it in the microwave for about 20-30 secs, and beat it again. This will result in a gooey egg-like consistency. Although this mixture won’t “cream” as well with the butter and sugar, it is still a good enough substitute.

With regards to this rhubarb-upside down cake - I used brown sugar instead of white sugar/marshmallows between the layers of rhubarb (I used ¼ cup of brown sugar between each layer). I thought brown sugar would caramelize nicely, and I had some stock that I wanted to use up. I also cut down on the amount of sugar, for both Anand and I don’t like cloying sweetness. But we realized that to sufficiently cut down the tartness of the rhubarb, you do need plenty of sugar - about ¾ cup each layer (this is another lesson learned). It’s therefore not healthy, and should be eaten in moderation :).

Anand claims this is the best cake I’ve baked (he single-handedly finished the entire cake). A rare compliment, thanks to Pete’s mom. But I am not convinced, and am a bit frustrated that he picked this cake of all the other fancy ones I slaved over. I didn’t like the tartness of the rhubarb, and would recommend that you cut down on the amount of rhubarb used. But if you’re one who likes tart sweets, then this is just the right dessert for you!