Cooking, I love. Baking is something I only do on special occasions or when a recipe is so mouth watering and beautiful I can’t say no. This recipe was both, an exquisite rhubarb rose design on top and a light and fluffy yogurt cake on bottom. I think I can do better next time (needed more rhubarb to make the rose on top stand out more) but this ain’t so bad for a first attempt. Plus what I lacked in my rhubarb rose I made up for with a flavor packed cake…lemony and moist with a nice nuttiness thanks to the almond meal. This one is definitely a keeper for special summer time baked goodness.

Ombre Rhubarb

More Ombre Rhubarb, cause WOW!

The fixings, I like what I’m seeing

Rhubarb Yogurt Upside-Down Cake, courtesy of Green Kitchen Stories (do yourself a favor and click through to their site to see how beautiful their blog is)

4-5 stalks or 1 lb fresh thin rhubarb (I needed more)
4 tbsp honey
2/3 cup water
½ inch knob fresh ginger, grated
1 vanilla pod, scrape seeds but save pod
2 cups / 200 g almond flour
½ cup / 75 g buckwheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
2-3 tbsp poppy seeds
1/2 tsp sea salt
100 g butter (about 7 tbsp)
1/2 cup honey or maple syrup
2 organic lemons, zest
3 eggs, separated
1 cup full-fat yogurt (I used Greek)

Heat the oven to 350°F. Cut rhubarb into 2 inch pieces on an angle and add to a pot with honey, water, ginger and the seeds plus scraped pod of a vanilla bean. Turn heat to medium low and let simmer until rhubarb is tender and starting to caramelize (mine took about 10 minutes but start watching around 7). You want the rhubarb cooked but still in tact. Once done set rhubarb aside on a plate to cool. The syrup may still be thin so keep it on the stove on low heat to reduce until it thickens.

Combine almond flour, buckwheat flour, baking powder, poppy seeds and sea salt in a bowl. In a separate bowl combine butter, honey and lemon zest and use an electric mixer to beat until creamy. Add egg yolks and beat for another minute. Combine wet and dry mixtures and fold together.

Next, beat egg whites in a separate bowl until soft peaks form. Fold the egg whites and the yogurt into the cake mixture. Be careful to stir together with a light touch, those egg whites are delicate little guys.

Line a spring form cake pan with parchment paper and arrange rhubarb pieces in a rose pattern starting with the dark pieces on the outside and moving toward lighter green pieces in the center. Pour cake batter over top and bake for 50-60 minutes (mine took 60 minutes) or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool completely before flipping over onto a serving platter and removing parchment paper and pan. Drizzle top with ginger syrup and enjoy!

Stewed rhubarb

Carefully folding in the egg whites

Pretty proud of myself, can’t believe I made this!