This week's recipe for Tuesdays with Dorie is Rhubarb Upside-Down Brown Sugar Cake. I can honestly say I have never tried rhubarb before, so this was a first.
This recipe was fairly easy to prepare. First we peeled the rhubarb and cut it into 1" chunks. Then added half a cup of sugar to the rhubarb and let it sit for 30 minutes until a syrup formed. It was amazing how quickly the sugar absorbed into the rhubarb and formed the syrup. Once that was done we melted the remaining butter and sugar and added the drained rhubarb until it had browned slightly. This only took about three minutes. Then the mixture was poured into the bottom of a buttered cake pan to cool. We tried to spread the rhubarb out in a singe layer and as evenly as we could. Realizing that when the batter goes on top it will probably shift slightly.
The batter was mixed by hand with a whisk. We beat the eggs and brown sugar, added the vanilla then slowly mixed in the butter. Once that was incorporated we added the dry ingredients. The final batter was thick, a little like the consistency of a chocolate chip cookie dough. We gently poured this on top of the cooled rhubarb and spread out evenly trying not to disrupt the rhubarb on the bottom of the pan. We used a 2" deep pan in hopes of keeping the juices from pouring over the sides of the pan and were successful in keeping it from becoming a mess.
This cooked perfectly at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. We followed Dorie's directions and let the cake cool for 2 minutes on a cooling rack then inverted on a plate and turned over. Allowing it to sit for a minute before removing the pan. It slid out beautifully.
Although it looked beautiful, this cake was not a favorite at my house. My daughter scraped the entire top layer off and ate the cake. My husband and I thought it was tasty, but not something we would likely make again. We are definitely more chocolate people in my house. I am glad I tried it though. It was fun to make my first upside-down cake. I'll try taking it to the office tomorrow and see how they like it there...
If you are interested in this recipe it can be found in Dorie Greenspan's book Baking Chez Moi, on page 24.
