Rhubarb Upside-Down Brown Sugar Cake from Baking Chez Moi

I'm late being late!

I missed making and posting this Rhubarb Upside-Down Brown Sugar Cake on May 26, because I couldn't find any rhubarb. Periodically, we are granted a "rewind" where we can make up a recipe we missed. For some reason, I was thinking today was the day to post my rewind, but it was actually last Tuesday.

When I stopped at the store on the way home from work last evening, I spotted a few stalks of rhubarb nestled by the strawberries. I grabbed the best looking ones and a box of organic strawberries, knowing I had the rest of the ingredients at home. By the time I was finished baking the cake, I was too tired to think about dinner. I needed to taste the cake so I could write a quick post…and that took care of dinner. A small slice also went well with coffee this morning. Now, please get this cake out of my house and away from my mouth!

Dorie recommends peeling the stalks to remove the fibrous strings, but that also removes most of the color. With younger, thinner stalks, I don't think it's necessary, but mine were kind of thick. After that, you cut the stalks into one-inch pieces, toss them in some sugar, and allow some of the juice to drain out. The rhubarb is briefly sautéed in butter and more sugar until slightly caramelized and arranged on the bottom of a buttered cake pan. The batter, made with eggs, brown sugar, vanilla extract, melted butter, flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt, is poured over the top and the cake is baked for about 30 minutes. After inverting the cake onto a plate, you can brush some melted currant jelly over the top to fill in some of the cracks and make it glossy. I used a drizzle of warm homemade salted caramel.

I think most people know rhubarb and strawberries are a classic combination, but my Flavor Bible also gives high marks to caramel. A dollop of whipped cream finishes it off and balances the tartness from the rhubarb.

Finally, for all the men out there, remember these words of wisdom from The Joker…"Never rub another man's rhubarb!"

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Tuesdays with Dorie is an online cooking group where anyone can bake along. The group bakes from two books – Baking with Julia and Baking Chez Moi. I occasionally bake along with the Baking Chez Moi group. The group bakes two recipes per month (voted on by the members in advance) and posts on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month. We are asked to refrain from including the actual recipe in our posts, to promote the publishing industry and encourage others to buy the cookbooks.