Gluten Free Rhubarb Upside Down Cake -

3.75 from 4 votes

Gluten Free Rhubarb Upside Down Cake

Gluten free rhubarb upside down cake makes the most of rhubarb's short season, featuring a buttery cake topped with sweet-tart pink rhubarb.

Prep Time20

Cook Time45

Total Time1 5

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Gluten Free

Servings: servings

Calories: 304kcal

½ cup honey
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
1 pound rhubarb, washed, trimmed, and sliced into long ¼-inch wide pieces (the pieces should be about the length of your cake pan)

In a large cast iron pan or skillet, melt the honey and butter over low heat. Stir in the salt. Spread the rhubarb out evenly and cook until it's slightly softened and releasing its juices, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
Heat oven to 350° F. Butter an 8 or 9-inch round cake pan and line with a circle of parchment. Pour in the cooked rhubarb and set aside.
In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
In a large bowl and using an electric mixer on medium speed, cream the butter and sugar, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary, until light and fluffy.
Beat in the egg and the vanilla. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture in two doses, alternating with the milk. Scrape down the sides of the bowl in between additions.
Pour the batter evenly on top of the rhubarb, smoothing gently with a rubber spatula. Place the cake in the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Check after 40 minutes; you want the cake to lightly spring back in the center when pressed.
Remove cake from the oven and set on a rack to cool for 10 minutes. Run a butter knife around the side of the pan to loosen the cake, then turn out onto the rack to finish cooling completely.
Cake will keep, well wrapped in the fridge, for 5 days.

Make the batter while the rhubarb cooks. As the rhubarb simmers in the honey, put together the batter (keeping an eye on the cooking rhubarb, of course). Then rest the batter while the rhubarb cools a bit, then add it to the pan.

Line the pan with parchment. Always line your baking pan with parchment paper for super-easy removal when it comes time to take out the cake.

How to cook the rhubarb: I like to cook my rhubarb until it's pretty soft; I like that it melts into the top of the cake during baking. But, if you wish to keep the rhubarb more firm, cook it just for a few minutes, enough that it becomes slightly tender but not soft.

Gently dollop on the batter. The batter is thick, so you'll want to gently dollop it on top of the rhubarb in the pan, then use a rubber spatula or offset spatula to spread it out evenly.

Use brown sugar. You can use ½ cup of brown sugar in place of the honey if you wish.

Add citrus zest. For extra flavor, zest in 1 organic lemon or 1 organic orange (orange is a classic flavor pairing with rhubarb).