Weekly Recipe: Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake By Abra Berens

Whoever you are, wherever you are, chances are you could stand to fit more fruits into your diet—and what better way to do that than bake some fruit into a delicious cake!

Abra Berens is a Michigan-based chef and former farmer on a mission to sneak more nutrient-packed fruit into your everyday life. She’s already released two successful cookbooks, Ruffage and Grist, but her latest Pulp: A Practical Guide to Cooking with Fruit shines a spotlight on nature’s candy, incorporating fresh favorites into sweet and savory dishes from beet carpaccio and pork chops to cantaloupe sundaes.

See also: Weekly Recipe: Milano Cookies By Heather Mubarak

Even better? She’s taking a page out of the book and sharing her recipe for Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake with our readers below!

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The Pulp book is organized alphabetically by fruit, and between each recipe, it shares tips and the stories of various farmers across the country as a means of humanizing your connection to your ingredients, because all our food comes from somewhere and someone.

The below recipe for rhubarb upside-down cake comes straight from the book, wherein the full recipe includes a breakdown of how to make classic upside-down cake batter, homemade whipped cream and a salty pecan concoction that will knock your socks off. For this at-home recreation, go with your favorite cake batter recipe and any toppings that warm your heart.

“This buttery cake will absorb a good deal of the rhubarb’s cooking juices but expect it to be a bit juicer than a traditional pineapple upside-down cake,” Berens writes in Pulp. “The addition of a bit of cornstarch helps keep it from being a complete and total mess.”

Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake w/Whipped Cream + Salty Nuts

Ingredients:

• 1 lb [455 g] rhubarb, cut into ½ in [12 mm] pieces
• ¼ cup [35 g] cornstarch
• ½ cup [100 g] granulated sugar
• 4 Tbsp (2 oz [60 g]) butter, melted
• ½ cup [100 g] brown sugar
• 1 recipe Upside-Down Cake Batter
• 2 cups [480 ml] Whipped Cream
• ½ cup [60 g] salty pecans

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F [180°C]. Butter a 9 in [23 cm] cake pan and line it with a round of parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, combine the rhubarb, cornstarch and granulated sugar.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the melted butter and brown sugar, stirring until the brown sugar dissolves.
4. Pour the butter–brown sugar mixture into the prepared cake pan. Spoon the rhubarb mixture evenly into the pan. Top with the cake batter, ensuring that the rhubarb is entirely covered.
5. Bake until the cake is golden brown and the knife test comes out clean when inserted into the center, about 30 minutes.
6. Allow the cake to cool for 10 minutes and then loosen the edges and invert onto a serving platter. If any of the rhubarb mixture stays behind in the pan, simply spoon it back into place.
7. To serve, cut into wedges and top with a hefty dollop of whipped cream and a sprinkling of salty pecans.

Follow Abra Berens on Instagram and buy her book Pulp: A Practical Guide to Cooking with Fruit for more delicious recipes and inspiration.