This Easy Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake is AIP, paleo and vegan and so delicious. Tangy rhubarb is tossed in maple sugar to complement a soft and light cake spiced with ginger, cinnamon and lemon.
This beautiful upside-down cake is super simple and light and makes great use of in-season rhubarb! The rhubarb is nicely complemented by the maple sugar and spices in the cake.
Here are the key ingredients in this cake:
- fresh rhubarb – if you’re in a pinch you you can use frozen chopped rhubarb, but you want to make sure it’s fully defrosted before baking with it so that it doesn’t sprout too much water
- maple sugar or coconut sugar – Maple sugar is lighter in color and taste and I prefer it in this recipe, but both work well here
- cassava flour, coconut flour and tapioca starch – This is the flour combination that I’ve found to work best here and I don’t recommend any substitutions. I used Bob’s Red Mill flours in this recipe.
- pure vanilla extract, lemon zest, cinnamon and ginger – this combination provides the cake with a beautiful flavor that complements the rhubarb
- palm shortening – I do not recommend you substitute this ingredient which is essential here for texture. Oil won’t yield the same results!
- coconut milk – you’ll want to make sure it’s additive free and full fat to contribute to the cake’s texture.
- applesauce – ensure it’s unsweetened and the ingredients are AIP compliant.
- apple cider vinegar – this helps give the cake nice airy and light texture!
How to make this Easy Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake:
- Begin by washing and trimming your rhubarb stalks and chop into 1-inch pieces. Rhubarb leaves are poisonous so you’ll want to ensure those are removed.
- In a large bowl, combine rhubarb with maple or coconut sugar and tapioca starch and allow to sit while you make the cake batter
- Combine the palm shortening, coconut milk, applesauce, vanilla extract and maple syrup in a stand mixer or by hand.
- In a separate bowl combine cassava flour, coconut flour, tapioca starch, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and ginger. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and then fold in the lemon zest and apple cider vinegar.
- Line a springform pan with a piece of parchment paper. Scatter or evenly distribute the sugar-coated rhubarb onto the parchment paper.
- Pour the batter on top the rhubarb pieces and smooth with a spatula
- Bake in a preheated oven at 375 for 25 minutes.
FAQs
What should I serve with this cake?
This cake is amazing as is, but you can also serve with a dairy-free AIP ice cream like this No-Churn Strawberry Basil Ice Cream. Strawberry and rhubarb are truly meant to be so this is a wonderful pairing. This cake would also be delicious with some whipped coconut cream.
How do I store this cake?
If your household is anything like mine, there won’t be many leftovers to store but you can store the cake in the fridge for 2-3 days.
Can I replace the palm shortening?
As noted above, the shortening in this recipe is key to the light and soft texture of the cake. Oil won’t work the same way here and I do not recommend substituting the shortening in this recipe.
Looking for more AIP cake recipes? You might also enjoy:
If you try this Easy Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake, I would appreciate it if you would give it a star rating and short review. Also, be sure to snap a picture of the finished product and share it with me on Instagram by tagging @healmedelicious.
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Easy Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake (AIP, paleo, vegan)
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 1 8-inch cake 1x
Description
This Easy Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake is AIP, paleo and vegan and so delicious. Tangy rhubarb is tossed in maple sugar to complement a soft and light cake spiced with ginger, cinnamon and lemon.
Ingredients
Rhubarb Topping
- 1 lb fresh or thawed rhubarb, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1/4 cup coconut or maple sugar
- 1.5 TBSP tapioca starch
Cake Batter
- 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1/2 cup palm shortening
- 1/2 cup full fat additive free coconut milk
- 3 TBSP maple syrup
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup tapioca starch
- 1/2 cup cassava flour
- 1/4 cup coconut flour
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ginger
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 TBSP lemon zest
- 1 TBSP apple cider vinegar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F and line an 8-inch springform pan with parchment paper.*
- In a large bowl, combine rhubarb pieces with maple or coconut sugar and tapioca starch and allow to sit while you make the cake batter.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer combine applesauce, palm shortening, coconut milk, maple syrup and vanilla extract. Don’t worry if the mixture is lumpy and curdled – it will come together with the dry ingredients**
- In a separate bowl, combine tapioca starch, cassava flour, coconut flour, cinnamon, ginger, salt and baking soda.
- With the stand mixer on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.
- Finally, fold in lemon zest and apple cider vinegar. Mixture should be light and fluffy.
- Scatter or evenly distribute the sugar-coated rhubarb onto the parchment paper in the cake pan.
- Pour the cake batter on top the rhubarb pieces and smooth with a spatula
- Bake in the middle rack of oven for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.***
- Allow cake to cool 10 minutes before releasing the cake, flipping it over onto a cooling rack and carefully peeling away the parchment paper from the top of the cake.****
- Allow the cake to cool fully before slicing into it for optimal texture.
Notes
* A springform pan makes the removal of the cake a lot easier, but you can definitely use another shaped pan if you don’t have access to a springform.
** You can also do this in a food processor or by hand with a whisk in a large bowl.
*** After reader feedback noting that more cooking time was required, I updated the recipe to include a baking range to accomodate different ovens
**** You want to ensure the cake has cooled slightly so that it doesn’t break apart but be careful about letting it cool too long or it will be difficult to separate the sticky rhubarb topping from the parchment paper.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Category: Desserts
- Method: Baking
Hi – can I add strawberries to this recipe without causing issues with how the cake turns out?
Thanks!
With the rhubarb on top creating added moisture, the addition of strawberries as well will likely make the cake a bit too moist/wet. If you’re looking for a gluten free strawberry cake I recommend this one:https://healmedelicious.com/gluten-free-strawberry-cake-vegan/
I made your cake this weekend, and the flavor was nice.
However, bakers should be warned that the juice from the rhubarb can and will leak out of the spring-form pan and coat the oven floor. I suggest putting a pan under the cake or on the bottom of the oven.
Also, the cake was still liquid at 30 minutes. I added an extra 20 minutes to the bake time.
I would love to try this recipe without coconut. Do you think it would work to sub ghee and banana milk?
Hi Grace, it’s unlikely to work because the fat content of the coconut is key to the texture here. It also contains coconut flour which I don’t recommend substituting
looping back to report that I have made this cake three times this summer (for three different people). it was an enormous hit in two entirely different geographic regions—one where the people I served it to grow rhubarb : ) it is also super fun to peel back the parchment after flipping the cake!
It is fun, isn’t it! I love the reveal. Thank you Amber!
Uh-oh, I see that this yields one 9-inch cake, but the instructions specify an 8-inch springform pan. Which is the correct size, 8-inch or 9-inch?
Both work, but I used 8 inch. 9 will be a little flatter a cake. Thanks for the heads up, I’ve fixed the error.
I love, love rhubarb and have really been missing strawberry rhubarb pies. This recipe arrived to me at the exact right time for the craving, thank you!