Kitchen Wench

Let me say a few words about Martha Stewart.

Yes, she broke the law, yes, she is creepily perfect, and yes, she is icy, brusque, and makes  her tv show guests hilariously uncomfortable.  But she has never steered me wrong in the kitchen.  And for that, I love her.

Late spring and early summer is rhubarb season in these parts, and I have a thing for going on seasonal food binges.  I recently bought out the half the rhubarb section of Safeway and turned those sour red stalks into delicious baked goods.

My friend Tracy pointed me to this recipe, and as soon as I saw how much butter was in the cake, I knew it would be a winner.  (Too much butter to fail?  Kind of like too big to fail?  Er, anyway…)  The kicker is the addition of the crumb “topping”, which really ends up being at the bottom of the cake.  This basically boils down to little butter and sugar blobs being absorbed into a sour cream cake batter.  Excessive?  Maybe a little.  A good thing?  Without a doubt.

Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake

Adapted from Martha Stewart

Crumb topping:

• 4 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup sugar

Cake:

• 1 1/2 sticks butter, softened
• 1 pound rhubarb (~3-4 large stalks), sliced on a diagonal into 1/2″ thick pieces
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup sour cream

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.  Make the topping by mashing together the melted butter, flour, sugar until big crumbs form. Add an extra tablespoon of butter if the mixture is too dry. Set aside.

3.   Toss rhubarb with 3/4 cup sugar.  Butter a 9-inch round cake pan (2 inches deep). Dot with 4 tablespoons butter cut into pieces and top with rhubarb slices.  Try to arrange the pieces in an even layer/pretty pattern.

4. Whisk together flour and baking powder. Beat remaining stick butter and cup of sugar with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Beat in vanilla and eggs, 1 at a time. Beat in flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with sour cream, until smooth. Spread evenly over rhubarb. Crumble topping evenly over batter.

5.  Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Let cool for 10 minutes. Run a knife around edge of cake, and invert onto a rack. Be careful not to leave the cake in the pan too long or the fruit starts to stick to pan.