The smell coming from the oven — melted sugar, rhubarb gently stewing in butter — is enough to convince anyone that something interesting is happening in the kitchen. This rhubarb upside-down cake is one of those recipes that impresses without requiring much effort. One hour, one pan, one flip at the right moment.
Ingredients :
- Rhubarb — Fresh or frozen, the key is that the stalks are firm — crisp, not limp. Color matters little: baking evens everything out to pink.
- Brown sugar — It softens the acidity without completely overpowering it. Its naturally slightly caramelized character fits better here than white sugar, which would give a too-neutral background.
- Salted butter — The salt balances the sugar and slightly draws out the residual bitterness of the rhubarb. It forms that shiny sticky base you won’t want to miss at flipping time.
- Nutmeg — Present both in the base and the batter, it adds a warm spicy undertone that doesn’t dominate but would be missed if absent.
