Upside-Down Strawberry Rhubarb Cake

I’m back home. In Ireland, I mean. It’s funny, I call Cape Breton “home” and Ireland “home”, but when I talk about Cape Breton being home it’s meant to be past tense. As in, it used to be home and will always and forever more be referred to as home. But, as wonderful as Cape Breton was, and Vancouver, and Victoria, it is so, so good to be back in Tipperary.

In my own house.

With my little family.

Babies at pasture here in Tipperary

And it’s summer. My garden is growing. There are baby animals everywhere (and thanks to my cat, baby animal corpses everywhere, but we won’t go there right now) and, even though it’s often grey and rainy, it’s sometimes warm and sunny. Already much better than last summer, which was mostly cold, windy and rainy.

I’ve been home a little less than a month and I’m already super busy. Making plans, going to playdates, taking little day trips here and there, visiting, baking. The bit I’m most excited about is the plan-making, but I’m not ready to say anything more about it at the moment – just stay tuned!

Home in Cape Breton

Also, once again, this little blog has been long-listed for two Littlewood’s Ireland Blog Awards, which is really, really lovely! I’m also up for a Huawei Snapy Instagram Award! If you feel so inclined, you can check out my entry (and possibly give it a vote) here.

So yes; I’m super busy. But don’t worry, I always have my two darling children to keep my ego in check. Whether it’s by peeing on the floor (daily) or simply staying up all night long, my kids continually remind me who’s truly in charge of my life (or I guess you could say: what’s truly important in life). I wouldn’t have it any other way, really.

When I came home, my garden was so overgrown with weeds it looked more like a jungle. It took four solid evenings of weed-pulling and seed planting, but my hard work is paying off. Napa Cabbage (for autumn kimchi making!), sprouting broccoli, cauliflower, squash, pumpkin, courgette – you name it, it’s been planted and is currently sprouting. I was late getting a few things planted, but the growing season is longer here than it is in Canada so I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a good harvest.

Two things that were ready when I got home were our strawberries and rhubarb. I’ve never grown strawberries before, but this year Maeve asked if she could plant them. Our old farmhouse is surrounded by very old, black cauldrons (I think they were used for laundry or something back in the day) so we found the biggest one and planted the strawberries there. We left tiny seedlings and came home to a huge, vine-laden bunch of plants just dripping with beautiful berries.

This is a great summer cake to make with whatever fresh fruit or berries you have on hand. I made it with our gorgeous strawberries (of course) and fresh rhubarb, but it would be great with blueberries (with some maple syrup and lemon), peaches, plums or cherries. The cake base is a super-moist hot milk cake recipe that I use all the time – it never, ever fails me.

Strawberry Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake

Ingredients:

For the cake:

1 cup/250g granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup/250g AP/plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup/125ml scalded milk

3 Tbsp butter (melted into the hot milk)

For the topping:

1 punnet strawberries – hulled and cut in half

3-4 stalks rhubarb, chopped

1/2 cup/125g brown sugar

1/4 cup/60g butter

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 350∘F (190∘C, no fan). Grease a round springform pan and place the pan on a lined cookie sheet (in case it leaks) set aside.
• In a small saucepan, combine the butter and brown sugar for the topping. Bring to a boil and remove from heat.Pour the mixture into the bottom of the pan and arrange the strawberries and rhubarb over the top. Set the pan aside again and make the cake batter.
• To make the cake: whisk the eggs, vanilla and sugar until pale yellow in colour and nearly doubled in volume (this is known as the ribbon stage – the mixture should drip off the whisk in ribbons).
• Add the flour, baking powder and salt to the mixture and stir until just combined. Add the hot milk all at once and, again, stir until just combined and there aren’t any lumps in the batter.
• Gently pour the cake batter over the strawberries and rhubarb in the springform pan.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes (if you have an extra-hot oven start checking your cake at 25 minutes). A skewer inserted in the centre of the cake should come out clean.
• When the cake is ready, allow to set in the pan for 15-20 minutes, then run a knife around the edges and gently remove from the pan. Flip the cake onto a plate and gently lift the bottom of the springform pan. Voila! You should have a perfect upside-down cake.

Strawberry Lavender Cake

I am still loving strawberry season in Ireland. I love walking into my kitchen every morning and catching a whiff of the fresh, sweet berries that now have a semi-permanent place in a bowl on my counter.

What’s more, I have never put this much thought into baking with strawberries. It was like I was in a 27 year-long groove in which I could only envision strawberries as a garnish or served with cream. My eyes have been opened; I have been enlightened – baking with strawberries is seriously fun and rewarding (read: delicious). Researching and making up some of my own recipes has been fun, too.

The idea for this cake came when I was looking into strawberry upside-down cakes. Inspired, I scattered sliced strawberries and sugar on the bottom of a spring-form cake pan and sprinkled on some lemon juice. Then, I made a simple sponge-type cake batter that I hoped would hold up well but still absorb a lot of the juice from the berries.

In Toronto, if you drive North of the city for about two hours you’ll come across a region called Prince Edward County. The terrain in this county is amazing – ideal for vineyards, cheese-making and growing all kinds of lovely stuff. I used to sell at some farmer’s markets in Toronto and would sometimes have a stand next to this guy, Derek, who owns a lavender farm. I use his Herbes de Provence mix for absolutely everything and love his dried tarragon, but have never gotten around to trying his actual baking lavender. I smuggled some into the country, though, so, thinking of it sitting in my cupboard, I sprinkled some into the cake batter. I mean, strawberries and lavender love each other. It was the right thing to do.

The end result may not have been an exact interpretation of an upside-down cake, but it was absolutely delicious as a cake in itself. The moist, springy base absorbed so much of the berry juice, but the berries themselves didn’t disintegrate – they provide lovely bursts of tart and sweet. The lavender is not overpowering. It works with the strawberries and adds a light layer of flavour.

There is one slice left, which means Patrick and I will have to have a fight to the death after dinner to decide who gets it (or we could just do rock-paper-scissors – I always win).

Strawberry Lavender Cake

Ingredients:

1 pint fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced

1/2 cup sugar

Juice of one lemon

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp baking lavender

2 eggs, separated

1/2 cup buttermilk

Directions:

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees (180 degrees Celsius, no fan). Grease a spring-form pan with butter.
• Arrange strawberry slices on the bottom of the cake pan. Sprinkle the berries with lemon juice and 1/2 cup sugar. Set aside.
• In a bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
• In another bowl, beat the melted butter with the sugar until well combined. Add the vanilla and lavender. Beat in the egg yolks, one at a time.
• Take turns adding the buttermilk and flour mixture, stirring to combine after each addition.
• In another bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form (if you’re having trouble with getting your egg whites to stiffen, add a bit of lemon juice to the mix once they’ve gotten to soft peaks). Stir in 1/3 of the beaten egg whites and then gently fold in the rest. Your batter should be slightly thick, like muffin batter, before adding in the whites. It should be lighter and softer after properly folding the whites in.
• Gently pour the batter over the sliced strawberries in the pan. Bake for 45-60 minutes, depending on your oven. Check after 45 minutes. The cake should rise considerably and a toothpick, when inserted in the center, should come out clean.
• Immediately after baking, slide a knife along the sides of the cake pan and remove the spring. Place a plate over the cake and flip. The strawberries should be on the top of the cake and there should be a nice syrup created from the juices, sugar and lemon.
• Serve with Chantilly cream. Keep the cake covered, at room temperature, for up to 5 days (it tastes nicest on days 2 and 3!).