Upside down rhubarb cake with orange and cardamom

On the occasion of the current rhubarb season, I have prepared something special for you. A cake, yes, but one with a great oriental touch: an upside down rhubarb cake with orange and cardamom.

In my opinion rhubarb has been celebrating a revival in recent years and this for several good reasons. The red stalks are a real allrounder in terms of health. They support digestion, contain a lot of vitamin C, potassium and iron, can fight inflammation and balance the blood sugar.

When buying, pay attention to fresh, crispy and deep red stems and remove the poisonous leaves before preparation!

This rhubarb cake works as well as dessert for a festive dinner, as for coffee in the afternoon. An impressive treat that is not only a visual treat, but also a real culinary treat! Orange and cardamom give the cake a touch of Orient and harmonize very well with the acidity of the rhubarb.

The preparation itself is also a lot of fun. Of course, you can simply put the stalks side by side into the cake tin, this does not affect the taste at all. But if you want to live out a creative vein, there are countless ways to arrange them. It has something meditative to lay flowers, squares or other patterns from rhubarb pieces – puzzle for foodies so to speak!

I wish you a lot of fun with it – you can find more creative ideas for cakes here.

Upside down rhubarb cake with orange and cardamom

A colorful, tasty and juicy rhubarb cake with a touch of orange and cardamom - a very special treat for spring and early summer!

4.58 from 7 votes

Print / Drucken Pin

Vorbereitung / Prep: 45 minutes

Kochen / Cooking: 1 hour 10 minutes

Portionen / Servings: 1 cake tin (diameter 24 cm)

Author: Patricia Spieker

Zutaten / Ingredients

For the topping:

• 4 stalks rhubarb
• 50 g butter
• 100 g brown sugar
• 1 tbsp ginger peeled and grated
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 orange (the peel and the juice)
• 4-5 cardamom pods

For the dough:

• 170 g flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 150 g ground almonds
• 150 g butter
• 150 g brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 230 g yoghurt 3,6% fat portion
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 pinch of cinnamon

Anleitung / Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 165° C top and bottom heat.
• Firstly, clean the rhubarb - remove the leaves, wash the stalks and, if necessary, peel. Depending on your pattern, cut into smaller or larger pieces. With more complicated patterns, you can put the pieces into the cake tin, design your cake this way and then remove them again. For the perfectionists: take a photo 🙂 Remove the seeds from the cardamom pods and set them aside.
• In a small saucepan, melt the butter and add the brown sugar, half of the orange juice and peel, the cardamom seeds, the ginger and the salt. Heat and stir until the sugar dissolves completely and the mixture throws bubbles at the edges.
• Pour the sugar mixture into the cake tin and place the rhubarb pieces as planned in step 2. Set aside while preparing the cake dough.
• In a small bowl, mix the flour, the ground almonds and the baking powder with the salt and set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, whisk the butter with the sugar until foamy. Stir in the eggs one by one and scrape the dough from the edge again and again with a scraper. Add the remaining orange juice, orange peel and yoghurt and stir until a smooth, homogeneous dough is obtained.
• Carefully and evenly spread the cake dough onto the rhubarb pieces and smooth it down.
• Bake in a preheated oven for about 70 minutes. Using a skewer, test if the cake is done - in case the dough turns too brown, cover with a foil during the baking process.
• Once the cake is ready, remove from the oven. Let it cool for 5 minutes and release the dough from the edge of the cake pan with a sharp knife. Cover with a plate and turn the cake tin over - it may take a few minutes for the cake to dissolve from the bottom of the mold.
• Allow to cool completely and serve with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream or simply just as it is.