Upside Down Rhubarb Cake that is gluten free- made with Almond Flour. Deliciously addictive, perfect for Spring!
It is the giving of attention – that keeps us awake.
Mark Nepo
In Spring, one of the first things to poke their arms out of the ground are the rosy colored stalks of rhubarb. They surprisingly have many uses in the kitchen- but what they are most known for, is pie.
Rhubarb is also called the “pie plant”- and paired with strawberries, berries, or apples, rhubarb is often thought of as a fruit – but in actuality, rhubarb is a vegetable, in the same family as sorrel. Rhubarb’s flavor and aroma hint of tart apples, berries, and more subtler notes of water and fresh green grass.
In this flour-less upside down cake, I resisted the temptation to add berries or other fruit, in order to highlight rhubarb’s true flavor. The bright liveliness of the rhubarb is front and center, the sourness mellowed slightly with vanilla and butter, while the base of the cake, made entirely of almond meal and no flour, whispers of cardamon. To my palate, the combination delights.
It starts with four cups of fresh rhubarb, cut into ½ inch cubes.
In a heavy bottom skillet, melt butter, and add rhubarb, sugar, lemon juice and vanilla. Stir until combined and sugar has dissolved, but do not cook the rhubarb, it will cook in the oven.
Make the batter.
Separate the yolks from the whites. Mix the yolks with sugar and lemon zest, and combine with dry ingredients. Whip the whites, and then combine all to create a batter.
Pour the almond flour batter over the rhubarb.
Bake in a 375 F oven for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
It will be fragrant and golden brown. Run and knife along the edges and immediately invert onto a platter.
Let stand 10 minutes before cutting, to let it set.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve with vanilla ice cream.
Related: 20 Recipes to Celebrate Spring!
Upside Down Rhubarb Cake (Gluten-free)
Upside Down Rhubarb Cake that is gluten free- made with Almond Flour. Deliciously addictive, perfect for Spring. Made in a cast-iron skillet.
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 50 mins
- Yield: 6-8 1x
- Category: Dessert, gluten-free
- Method: baked
- Cuisine: Gluten Free
Scale
Ingredients
- 4 C cups rhubarb, cut into ½ inch cubes ( about 1 ¼ lb)
- 1 1/4 cup sugar -divided ( or use half brown sugar)
- 4 tbsp butter
- 1 T fresh lemon juice
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- pinch salt
- 4 eggs, separated into 4 egg yolks and 4 egg whites, room temperature
- zest from one lemon
- ¼ teaspoon cardamon
- 1 1/2 cups finely ground almond flour or meal
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon white or cider vinegar
- Powdered sugar for sprinkling
Instructions
- pre heat oven to 375 F
- Over medium heat, melt butter into a well seasoned, 9-10 inch cast iron skillet, and brush the sides with it. Add rhubarb, ¾ C sugar, lemon juice, 2tsp vanilla and pinch salt and stir for 2 minutes, just until combined and sugar has dissolved. Turn heat off. Do not continue to cook rhubarb.
- In a medium bowl, whisk egg yolks with lemon zest, cardamon and ¼ C sugar, until creamy and sugar has dissolved. Set aside. In a small bowl, whisk almond flour, pinch salt, and baking powder until combined.
- Add flour mixture to egg mixture and stir to incorporate. You will have a very thick heavy batter at this point.
- In a stand mixer, whip egg whites on medium high speed, and once you see bubbles, add a pinch of salt and tsp vinegar . Whip until egg whites have formed soft peaks, then add remaining ¼ C sugar a little at a time whipping until medium stiff peaks form. Turn speed to down to medium low and begin spooning in the thick flour – egg yolk batter, a heaping spoonful at a time, into the egg whites, until it is all combined, scraping downs sides as necessary.
- Pour batter over rhubarb in the cast iron skillet and place in a preheated oven, for 30 minutes. While baking, make sure to have ready, what you plan to flip the cake on to. At 30 minutes, check for doneness by inserting a toothpick or skewer into the middle of the cake. If it comes out clean, it is done. If not, bake 5 minutes longer, check again. Pull from the oven, and if making in a skillet, immediately place a cake platter or cake stand over the skillet, and invert, gently tapping the bottom of the skillet so it releases.
- Serve with vanilla ice cream or on its own. The cake is especially good the next day.
Notes
I personally use a cast iron skillet for this recipe! I’ve tried it with a spring form pan- and no leaks- but readers are having issues with leaks. So I recommend a cast iron skillet. 😉
Nutrition
- Calories: 396
Keywords: gluten free rhubarb cake, upside down rhubarb cake, rhubarb recipes, rhubarb cake recipes, gluten free recipes
This cake is gorgeous! And I love the flavour 🙂
thanks Katrina!
I take my Rhubarb Pinterest board VERY seriously….and I couldn’t pin this fast enough! Beautiful recipe!
I have almond flour in the freezer, just need to find the rhubarb. This is beautiful.
Perfect! Give it a whirl.
This sounds literally amazing, I adore almond cake so much and the tender sweetness of the almond must bring the rhubarb to life!
I love rhubarb, I’m currently dedicating May on my blog to all things on this vegetable. This cake looks delicious, I love almond paired with rhubarb.
Oh yum!! Sooo baking this one!!
This was delicious! and beautiful, I might add. I think whipping the egg-whites really made the difference.Thank you 🙂
Just made this – very tasty! Mine was quite moist (almost soggy) but I’m not that talented when it comes to baking. Still, I’m keeping the recipe and using it every rhubarb season! Yuuummm
Shoot. It probably just needed to be baked a little longer. Do you do the toothpick test?
I had to bake this for 1hr to get right consistency. And I used 1/4 cup of stevia instead of sugar in the rhubarb portion. Great idea whipping the eggs so much, its worth it!
This cake looks wonderful! I am wondering about the 2 tsp vanilla. In the ingredients list it says “divided”, but in Step 1 you say to use all the vanilla with the rhubarb and you don’t mention using vanilla later on in the batter. Which part is correct?
Hi Millie,
It all goes in the rhubarb! Thanks- I fixed the recipe!
Hi, I just made this – and it is really good. I’ve been gluten free for about 3 1/2 months and haven’t had too many successes with GF breads/treats, but this is great! My husband who doesn’t eat GF really said it was really delicious and just went for seconds! I worried that when I flipped it over out of the pan that the juicy rhubarb would make the cake soggy – and it did a bit, but not too bad at all. I served it with a little vanilla ice cream.
I would love to make just an almond cake too – I love the flavor of this (first time trying almond flour) – have you ever tried just making the cake in the skillet? I wonder if it would come out easy enough…?
Anyway, thank you for the recipe. I like to come back and actually give my results to help others – sometimes there isn’t enough feedback on what others actually experienced.
Hi Ruthie,
Thanks so much for your feedback…it really does help others to know that a recipe is successful.
All the best to you on your journey and thanks for visiting the blog.
Sylvia
Hi,
I am wondering if I could use regular flour instead of the almond meal. We have nut allergies but this cake looks so delicious I’d really like to give it a try 🙂
Thanks for always sharing your delicious recipes. We are a big fans of your cooking!
Cheers,
Sonja
You know…I haven’t tried it with regular flour so I can’t be sure. It seems like it should work, butI honestly don’t know.
Soo Yummy, A real hit in this household! Thanks so much. 11/10
thanks Deb and great to hear!!!
Hi, thanks so much for this recipe! Rhubarb is so delicious. I love these flavors and the texture, but I am wondering if I could cut back on the sugar somewhere? I like the candied texture of the rhubarb but the cake as a whole is too sweet for me. If I cut back on sugar in the rhubarb, would the top texture be too loose or wet? I always ruin my rhubarb dishes’ texture by cutting back on the sugar (to preserve the delicious tangy-ness) and end up with a soggy result. Will the cake part turn out if I cut back on the sugar? I really want to make this again!
I have never cut back on the sugar, so I don’t know the answer to this honestly. If you do try it will you let us know how it turned out?
My 10 year old and his two friends made this cake to take to a birthday party as a gluten free offering. It was easy to make (kids whipped egg whites by hand) and was a hit at the party with adults and kids alike. It was served just as is. The kitchen ended up a bit of a mess but they were able to make a desert that looked and tasted wonderful with minimal supervision. The cardamon really set it off and it was not too sweet. Almond flour is a pretty expensive ingredient where we live, so we will try local hazelnut meal next time as there’s still plenty of rhubarb around.
I think my son’s cake looked even better than the one in the picture.
Do you think it could also work with quinces?
Thanks for the recipe.
Ahhh….. love love love that your 10 year old son made this! that is awesome! I think it would be great with quinces! 😉
Made it for a potluck and didn’t have any left to bring home. I used brown sugar instead of white and loved the extra caramel hint. Thanks for the great recipe. Will definitely keep this one as a favorite.
Awesome Debb!!
Did the springform pan method and the rhubarb juices leaked out and caused quite a bit of commotion in my house when it burned on the bottom of my oven. If using a springform pan, scoop the rhubarb out without all the juice. The rhubarb and cake was still tangy and moist? You could use the juice later as a drizzle over the ice cream if you reduce it or thicken it. That’s what I did
Hi Bob, thanks for feedback. Did you line your springform with parchment? It helps the juices stay in. Here’s a video on how to line to help prevent leakages How to line a spring form pan
I made this last night it came out great. My husband and I enjoyed it so much we had a piece with coffee this morning. I used maple sugar instead of white sugar and baked it in a cast iron pan. I will definitely make it again, since my neighbors garden is overflowing with rhubarb.
★★★★★
H!! I followed this to the letter, except I used, as you suggested, a spring form pan lining the bottom with buttered parchment. I now have caramel dripping all over my oven. Haven’t pulled cake out yet to see if it is edible. What did I do wrong?
Hi Marianne, Im so sorry about the mess- so frustrating! I updated the recipe and added more directions for lining a spring form pan. A couple things may have have happened- in the recipe I added a link for a video on a good way to line a spring form pan that helps prevent leakages. Its also pretty common that people will put the bottom of the pan in upside down.Some pans just don’t have the best seal. If unsure, good to wrap in foil or place on a sheet pan in the oven- in any case I’m sorry it happened.
I got a sheet pan in there pretty quickly and it caught a lot of it. This was a new pan I bought, specifically because it seals better. I have tried wrapping in foil before but it still seep into the foil where it can burn (or in the case of a Cunard, provide an interesting exterior omelet collar LOL. But I like what that video shows – will try that next, thank you. PS Cake looks excellent – hubby is whittling away at it. I better grab some for my 90 year old mom before he inhales the whole thing. I will taste this afternoon (don’t eat cake in the evening).
★★★★★
Oh good, I really hate oven messes, glad it wasn’t too horrible. Ok, well thanks for the feedback hope it tastes good.
The comments from Mister “I know how to line a spring-form pan” Do. Not Always. Work. Third time making this, still getting sticky rhubarb juiced.caramel everywhere.
Marianne- out of simplicity, I am updating the recipe to encourage using a cast iron skillet. Several readers are having problems with leaking and I hate the thought of having to clean up a huge mess. I’m so sorry it happened to you, so unfortunate.
This cake is amazing and will be added to my tried and true crowd-pleasing recipes. And I will share it with my friends. When I flipped the cast iron pan some of the rhubarb stuck in the pan but I just scraped it out and spread it on top of the cake and you would never know the difference.
★★★★★
Oh Great to hear! It’s looking like the cast iron skillet method is turning out better than the spring form pan….thanks Jennifer!
This recipe is now my go-to dessert in the spring when the rhubard is fresh. The whole family loves it, gluten-free or not. I had never been much of a fan of rhubarb until this recipe, and now i can’t get enough. Sweet, but not too sweet, and tangy. Thank you!
★★★★★
Do you have any ideas to make this nut free? I’m have an almond allergy.
Made this recipe last week and loved it so much I’m making it again with the last of our rhubarb. First time I used a springform pan – it only leaked a small amount. This time I decreased the sugar in the cake portion a bit and am baking it in a heavy duty Dutch oven (don’t have any cast iron). Hope it comes out! Love the lemon flavor that really sings in this recipe!
Love this recipe . . . I had to replace some of the almond flour (I used meal) with hazelnut, as I ran out . . . but it was amazing! Thank you for the recipe.
★★★★★
Oh goodie! Im so glad it worked for you!!
Such a hit! I served it for a girls luncheon. I was so happy with the results. My only complaint was although I followed the UTube to line my spring form pan it still leaked. Next time I would not tear away the paper & certainly stand the pan on a lined oven tray to catch the juices. I will certainly be making it again.
I have been looking for ways to use the gallons of rhubarb I have frozen from 2018. I made this tonight. I discovered that my cast iron pans were rusty so I just used an 8”x8” pan. It just fit in the pan and did not run over the side. I also realized half way in that I didn’t have a lemon!! So I used orange juice and some lime and orange zest.
As you may know, baking with frozen rhubarb can be difficult. I drained the rhubarb thoroughly and added more sugar and let it cook at bit longer. It still gave so much juice. But it turned out great. Came right out of the pan. I’m going to share this with my family and friends.
Thank you!!
★★★★★
I made this last week with rhubarb from the freezer, and it was delicious. However, the egg yolk/flour mixture was really stiff and heavy, causing the whipped egg whites to fall. Trying it again for Easter dinner (we really loved the flavor) and using another egg and less flour. Will let you know how that works. (PS. I baked it in my skillet, which was another lovely touch to the recipe.)
★★★★
Made this today 5/7/2019. Is there a missing ingredient like cornstarch to thicken the rhubarb sauce? It ran all over my counter and burned the pan under the springform pan???
Oh No Jill! I didn’t use cornstarch but I think I see the problem.First, can you confirm if you used parchment and had the lid inserted with the bumpy side up? Otherwise, directions are not clear. I Will update. If using a spring form pan, let this set 20 minutes before flipping. If using cast iron, flip right away.
Beautiful recipe. Trying it with fresh plums right now.
★★★★★
It does smell delicious.
Thanks.
★★★★
How did it turn out?
Okay, so why did my rhubarb leak liquid everywhere? I used a spring-form pan, lined and buttered. I followed the recipe to the letter. Result was liquid from teh rhubarb mixture all over …. I am afraid to cut into it. What did I do wrong?
I’m glad to have a new option for rhubarb. I made this exactly as written…it is a bit of a kitchen-destroyer with all the bowls required, but I would say it’s worth it! Served it to our visiting international students who had never seen or tasted rhubarb…everyone loved it!
★★★★★
Awesome! Glad you liked it!
Those are rhubarb STALKS, not stocks.
haha. Yup. 🙂 thanks.
Love this cake. Favorite of the season! I add a little almond extract to the dough. Fantastic.
★★★★★
I make this cake 2-3 times every spring (yes, for a few years now), sometimes just with rhubarb (like last night) and other times with berries too. And every time, it just sits in the cast iron pan and gets devoured straight from the pan. LOVE LOVE LOVE! Thank you for this gem!
★★★★★
Awwwww thanks Jessica! I’m so glad you like it! I like it too! 😉
Well that fills the rhubarb craving!
I a cast iron pan and also had juices that ran onto my serving plate. I used Monk Fruit Erythritol (low carb alternative) in place of the sugar, so it may have responded differently than sugar. Next time (and there will be a next time!), I’ll just add some corn starch to the rhubarb layer.
I also lightened the egg/flour mixture with some of the beaten egg whites so they would incorporate easier…and it seemed to work well. The cake has great texture and favour!
★★★★