I never thought I was really a fan of upside-down cakes, but since I’ve tried this version with the classic strawberry-rhubarb combo, you can consider me fully converted. This cake is so moist and fluffy, while the rhubarb gives it the perfect amount of tanginess.
Although I do love most cakes, I’m not really a cake baker myself. It always seems like too much effort, and I’m at high risk for eating way too much of it. (Also, I don’t even own a cake pan, but I recognize that is an issue, and it’s on my Amazon wish list.) Once you add some fresh, seasonal fruit into the mix, however, I just couldn’t really resist. Plus the recipe calls for using a cast-iron skillet, and you best believe I have one of those!
So as it turns out, I made a great decision whipping together this cake, and I highly recommend you try it as well especially if you’re not a seasoned cake baker. (Also, props to my sister, Larissa, for sharing it with me. She and my mom made it first!)
Besides being incredibly delicious, this cake is insanely easy to make. No kidding, I quickly threw the ingredients together in about 30 minutes and then was able to clean up and relax while it was in the oven. Once I pulled it out, I was easily able to slide it out of the skillet onto a cutting board, and voila! The photos speak for themselves 🙂
What is rhubarb, and isn’t it poisonous?
Yes, I’m desperately trying to convince you to make a recipe that contains a poisonous vegetable. Mwahahah…KIDDING. (Kind of). Rhubarb is a vegetable that does contain toxic leaves that are completely inedible. This is one of the few times you should NOT eat the greens. It seems a little backwards that the bright pink part of the plant is what should be ingested, but that’s rhubarb for you!
The beautiful pink stalks of rhubarb are the edible parts, and in grocery stores you’ll usually find them with the leaves cut off anyway. If you pick these up at farmer’s markets, you may get the whole vegetable, so just be sure to cut off and discard the leaves. The flavor of rhubarb sweetened with sugar and other fruits is tart, but delicious and unique.
The harvest season for rhubarb is pretty short, peaking in May, and only running through about mid-summer, so make sure to get your spring dose of rhubarb while you can!
An upside-down ingredient list
Just being goofy, and giving you the ingredient list in reverse. Roll with it, okay?!
Salt, baking powder, baking soda, and AP flour These will be your dry ingredient stars for this cake. You can also use pastry flour—see notes below
Vanilla extract For that nice, warm flavor
Yogurt, eggs, and olive oil Use full-fat plain yogurt for the best flavor and consistency. These ingredients are necessary to keep this cake extra moist
Brown sugar and unsalted butter You’ll divide half a stick of butter and brown sugar between the cake batter and the bottom of the skillet (top of the cake)
Lemon juice This will add a little extra tang to the fruit mixture
Rhubarb and strawberries Ding, ding, ding! The winning combo!
I hope you give this easy cake recipe the old college try, and I’ll bet you anything it turns your world upside-down.
⟶ the recipe
strawberry rhubarb upside-down cake
ingredients
1 ½ cups fresh rhubarb, sliced
1 ½ cups fresh strawberries, sliced
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 cup brown sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
½ cup olive oil
2 eggs
½ cup plain yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
Prep time
30 minutes
Cook time
35 minutes
Total time
1 hour 5 minutes
12 servings
instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and coat a cast iron skillet or dutch oven with olive oil.
Combine rhubarb, strawberries, and lemon juice in a large bowl and let sit for about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat ¼ cup of the brown sugar and 2 tablespoons of the butter in the skillet over medium heat, stirring until the butter has melted and the mixture begins to bubble.
Using a slotted spoon, scoop the strawberry-rhubarb mixture into the pan and arrange evenly, discarding the extra liquid from the bowl.
Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl, and set aside. In another large or medium bowl, beat the remaining brown sugar and 2 tablespoons of butter along with the olive oil with an electric mixer on medium speed. The mixture should be well-combined and fluffy.
Beat in one egg at a time, and then add the yogurt and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until just incorporated. Spread the batter over the fruit in the skillet, and bake the cake for about 35 minutes. The top should be golden brown and set in the center.
Allow the cake to cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes. Slide a rubber spatula along the edges of the cake, and carefully flip it onto a serving platter or large cutting board. Serve warm and with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
⟶ recipe notes
- Adapted from Eating Well
- If you’ve seen the original Eating Well recipe for this cake, you might notice that it called for whole-wheat pastry or white whole-wheat flour instead of the AP flour I used here. Using pastry flour might make the cake slightly more tender, but I have to say using AP flour probably works just as well if that’s all you have on hand. The cake was still incredibly light and tender, plus I didn’t need to make an extra trip to the grocery store!
⟶ modifications
- Eating Well also notes that you can substitute any fruit you’d like for this cake, which you CAN, but if you’re making this in the spring like I am, I highly recommend going for in-season rhubarb! It should be plentiful during the months of April and May, and it’s oh so delicious when combined with ripe strawberries
⟶ make it ahead and store it
- If you’re prepping a lot of food, you can get a head start on this cake by chopping the rhubarb and strawberries ahead of time and refrigerating them with the lemon juice until you’re ready to bake. Then you just have to worry about the sugar, eggs, butter, and dry ingredients which will go pretty quickly
- Just wrap the cake in foil or plastic wrap and refrigerate, but you can still enjoy it for another 3-5 days
