Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake

Updated Feb. 5, 2025

Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake
Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
Total Time
1 hour 45 minutes
Cook Time
1 hour and 15 minutes
Rating
5(3,535)
Comments
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Take advantage of rhubarb season with this easy dessert. Baked and unmolded, this cake resembles a pale pink mosaic atop velvet-crumbed and vanilla-infused cake. The rhubarb, which you’ll add in raw, is tangy and tender, firm enough to give you something to chew over. It’s an easy half-hour of prep and another hour and change in the oven, ample time for a light supper, anticipation of dessert hanging in the spring air.

Featured in: The Upside of Rhubarb

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Ingredients

Yield:8 servings
  • sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature, more to grease pans
  • pounds rhubarb, rinsed and sliced into ½-inch cubes about 4 cups
  • 2teaspoons cornstarch
  • cups granulated sugar
  • ½cup light brown sugar
  • 2cups cake flour
  • teaspoons baking powder
  • ½teaspoon fine sea salt
  • Zest of 1 lemon, grated
  • 1teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 4large eggs
  • cup sour cream
  • 2teaspoons lemon juice
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)

637 calories; 33 grams fat; 20 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 10 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 80 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 48 grams sugars; 7 grams protein; 252 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 325 degrees. Line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper. Butter the paper and sides of the pan. Wrap two layers of foil under the pan, and place it on a baking sheet.

  2. Step 2

    In a medium bowl, mix rhubarb, cornstarch and ½ cup granulated sugar.

  3. Step 3

    Mix the brown sugar and ½ stick butter in a pan over medium heat. Whisk until smooth and bubbling, about 2 minutes. Sift together the cake flour, baking powder and salt.

  4. Step 4

    Whip 2 sticks butter in a mixer with a paddle attachment for 2 minutes. With your fingers, blend the remaining 1 cup sugar with lemon zest until the mixture is uniform in color. Cream together with the butter at medium-high speed until it is light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, stopping to scrape down the bowl halfway through. Add the vanilla and mix well. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in the sour cream, then the lemon juice. (It’s O.K. if the mixture looks curdled.) With the mixer set to low speed, add the flour mixture, ¼ cup at a time, until well combined. Scrape down the mixer bowl in between the additions.

  5. Step 5

    Pour the brown-sugar mixture into the cake pan, then spoon in the rhubarb and its juices. Spoon in the batter so it covers all of the rhubarb. Smooth out the top.

  6. Step 6

    Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until the top of the cake is firm to touch and a toothpick stuck in the middle comes out without any large, moist crumbs.

  7. Step 7

    Place the pan on a wire rack, and cool for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the cake, place a plate on top of the pan and turn it upside-down. Release the cake from the pan while still warm or else it will stick.

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Ratings

5 out of 5
3,535 user ratings
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Comments

This recipe can be made simpler by baking the cake in a 10" cast iron frying pan. There will be no preparation of baking pans, no chance of run over spills in the oven, and the brown sugar and butter can be heated directly in the frying pan before adding the rhubarb, thus saving an extra pan.

Just DO NOT, as I did a couple of years ago when making this recipe, accidentally buy red-stemmed Swiss chard instead of rhubarb!

Looking at the recipe initially, I agreed with previous users that it seemed to be heavy on sugar. I used 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar, and 1/4 cup brown sugar, and it still tastes great.

Used more rhubarb like others suggested. Delicious. Should cake be stored refrigerated? Can it be frozen?

I made with home grown rhubarb picked in July. The cake was delicious but the top came out a bit soggy. I used a slightly bigger pan and only cooked it for an hour which seemed the correct length.

Like others, I had a bad experience with the butter/brown sugar leaking out of the bottom of the springform, burning in the bottom of the oven, and causing the oven to smoke horribly. Maybe I am using the springform pan incorrectly, but I would recommend a different pan, or at least put a cookie sheet on the rack beneath the pan.

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