Rhubarb Upside-Down Brown Sugar Cake ~ Baking Chez Moi

Per Nana~

Believe it or not, I have never made an upside down cake before.

 This recipe intrigued me for some reason, probably because of the

 rhubarb, which is our new favorite fruit of summer.

The whole recipe came together quite well and the aroma even before the 

oven cooking was wonderful, it must have been the brown sugar and vanilla.

I did have to add more baking time because after 25 minutes it was not totally 

baked. The cake came away from the pan easily and the rhubarb looked good 

and stayed in place. Unfortunately, after it cooled and I attempted to slice some, 

I found the middle of the cake to be a bit soggy.  The outside portions and the 

fruit had a wonderful taste but I was so disappointed with the rest of the cake. 

The only thing to do is test my oven, it is possible that the temps are off and it 

was not hot enough. With all the baking we have ahead of us, this will be first 

on my list of things to do - pronto.

Per Tricia~

I was away for the Memorial Day weekend when I realized that this cake was

 "due" the following day. I only had an 8 inch Springform pan so I crossed my 

fingers that this would neither leak not alter the cooking time too much. 

Near the farm stand- view of Stratton Mountain

I was also delighted to find the fresh rhubarb at a local Vermont farm stand 

and counted myself even luckier that they same shop had rhubarb jelly. 

Duttons Farm Stand 

The proud owner suggested I photograph her beautiful asparagus too !

 The elusive "Fiddlehead Ferns"- very seasonal. Best to buy them because picking the wrong one could yield a carcinogenic variety.  Local restaurants relish in offering these as a delicious side dish.

Were it not for this recipe, I wouldn't have 

looked twice at that flavor and it was quite delicious. 

My cooking time was also way off, in part because of the pan size and I think

 I also did not have my rhubarb drained enough or "al dente" enough. 

It smelled amazing and the top was such a golden brown that I foolishly took

 it out after an extra 10 minutes, without using a tester. After flipping it onto

 the serving platter I found the bottom to be under cooked. As in gooey. 

Figuring I had little to lose, I just put the entire platter back into the oven
 at 300 degrees for what ended up another 35 minutes. My husband had 
questioned the rhubarb as soon as he saw it in the kitchen. His eyes opened 
when I mentioned cake but because he was surprised no other fruit was going
 in - "you usually have to mix it with another fruit, no ? Isn't it pretty bad by itself ?" 
I couldn't recall the last time I had rhubarb so this commentary had me anxious. 

And for no reason. 

It was a lovely, sweet cake and wonderful way to enjoy the season.

Hubby enjoyed it and proclaimed it "actually quite good !".

 All that jelly glaze and brown sugar was the perfect compliment. 

This marks another Tuesday recipe testing as we cook along with the "Tuesdays with Dorie" online group.  Please note that we do not post the recipes, per the group rules, but we do encourage others to RUN out and buy their own copy of Dorie Greenspan's "Baking Chez Moi".  Better yet, buy the book and JOIN THE GROUP ! www.TuesdaysWithDorie.wordpress.com