Sweet strawberries paired with tart rhubarb are a classic relationship in the culinary world, and make a perfect upside down strawberry rhubarb cake.
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Relationships are a funny thing. There are some people you meet in your life and you instantly click. Sweet strawberries and tart rhubarb are a match made in heaven. Like that BFF that you never run out of things to talk about: a perfect relationship that stands the test of time.
I have used this combination to make strawberry rhubarb jam, strawberry rhubarb crisp and even strawberry rhubarb creamsicle popsicles. So why not an upside down cake?
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Recipe highlights
- Super Simple: Upside-down cakes skip the fuss of layering and frosting—just prep, bake, flip, and impress. A cast iron skillet makes it even easier with beautiful caramelization.
- Perfect Texture: Thanks to the yogurt, this cake turns out plush and moist, offering the perfect contrast to the jammy fruit topping.
- Perfectly Balanced: The sweet strawberries and tart rhubarb meld into a glossy, ruby-red topping that balances beautifully with the tender vanilla cake.
- Charming and Casual: This cake has that rustic-chic vibe—unfussy but stunning. Serve it at brunch, for dessert, or as a cozy afternoon treat.
- Seasonal Favorite: Late spring and early summer are peak season for rhubarb and strawberries, making this cake a delicious way to celebrate the best of both.

Ingredients you need

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- Rhubarb: You can use fresh or frozen rhubarb. Frozen rhubarb should be thawed first and may turn a little mushy while it bakes.
- Strawberries: Although you could use frozen berries, I prefer fresh strawberries because it holds its shape while baking.
- Unsalted butter: The cake is baked with olive oil, but I always bake my fruit in butter in upside down cakes.
- Brown sugar: You can use light or dark brown sugar. This is mixed with the butter and fruit for the fruit topping.
- Lemon juice: A little lemon juice is used to help the fruit retain its color.
- Whole milk: I always have full fat milk in my fridge, so that is what I primarily bake with. Fat adds moisture and flavor to your cake, so don’t be afraid of it. You can use low fat milk or to make it vegan, us almond milk.
- Eggs: When I bake, I primarily use large eggs. You can use flax meal to make this cake vegan. I go into this in more detail below.
- Extra virgin olive oil: If you’ve read my blog before, then you learned your lesson on how to bake with olive oil. Your baked goods are only as good as the ingredients you put into it. Choose a mild tasting olive oil for this cake recipe, not a peppery one.
- Plain yogurt: I like to use Greek or Persian yogurt when I bake. You can also use homemade yogurt. I’ve got a fabulous post and video to teach you how to make yogurt here.
- Pantry staples: All purpose flour, granulated sugar, vanilla extract, baking powder and salt.
Step-by-step directions

- Melt the butter. Melt butter in a cast iron skillet. When bubbling, stir in brown sugar.
- Add the fruit. When sugar is dissolved, spread it evenly across the bottom of the pan. Combine chopped fruit and lemon juice in a bowl then spread it evenly over the bottom of the pan.
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For a deep purple color, cook fruit until soften for about 5 minutes and then remove from heat. For a vibrant red color and firmer fruit topping, remove pan from heat immediately after added to the pan.
- Start the cake batter. Whisk together sugar and olive oil until sugar has dissolved. Mix in yogurt, milk and vanilla into sugar mixture until combined then add eggs.
- Add the flour. In another bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt. Mix flour mixture into yogurt mixture and stir until just combined.
- Bake. Pour cake batter evenly over the fruit in the pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Cool the cake. Allow cake to cool for 10 minutes in the pan. Run a knife blade along the sides of the cake to insure a clean removal.
- Flip it! Place serving plate over the cast iron skillet and carefully invert the cake. Keep the pan in place until the cake falls into the plate. Remove skillet and allow cake to cool to room temperature before serving.

Recipe tips and FAQs
Whey you are caramelizing fruit for an upside down cake, I find that cast iron pans work much better than regular cake pans. They easily go from stove top to oven. If you do not have one, you can cook everything in a regular pan and then transfer to a greased 9-inch cake pan.
A 9-inch pan will result in fruit on the sides and a cake about 1 ½-inches thick. The flower decorated cake you see in the pictures was made with a larger 10-inch pan, so the cake came out a little thinner. Either size pan will work.
Storing/Freezing Instructions
TO STORE: You can store any leftover cake on the counter, covered with foil or plastic wrap, as long as the room is cool and not hot. Because of the wet fruit topping, though, I prefer to cover and refrigerate leftovers. It will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days.
TO FREEZE: You can also freeze leftover cake. Wrap slices in foil and freeze for up to 4 months.

When using a cast iron pan, I usually let the cake sit in the pan for about 10 minutes after I take it out of the oven. Then I run a knife along the edges to make sure that nothing is sticking. Place large platter over the pan and flip it, leaving it sitting on top until the cake cools completely.
Absolutely! You can use strawberries and almost any fruit in an upside down cake. You can use any type and mixture of berries plus oranges, peaches, plums, grapes and even

Upside Down Strawberry Rhubarb Cake
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoon light brown sugar packed
- 5 oz sliced rhubarb
- 1 lb sliced strawberries
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 ½ cup all purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ½ cup plain Greek yogurt
- ¼ cup milk
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF.
- In a medium sized bowl combine lemon juice with chopped fruit.
- Using a 9-inch cast iron skillet, heat over medium-high heat and melt butter. When butter is bubbling and just starts to brown, stir in brown sugar.
- Cook until sugar has dissolved into the butter and starts to melt, then spread sugar mixture evenly across the bottom of the pan.
- Stir rhubarb and strawberries with lemon juice into the brown sugar. For a deep purple color, cook fruit until soften for about 5 minutes and then remove from heat. For a vibrant red color and firmer fruit topping, remove pan from heat immediately after added to the pan.
- In a medium-sized bowl whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
- In a large bowl, whisk together sugar and olive oil until sugar has dissolved.
- Stir in yogurt, milk, vanilla and eggs into sugar mixture until combined.
- In batches, mix flour mixture into yogurt mixture and stir until combined.
- Pour cake batter evenly over the fruit in your cast iron pan.
- Place cake in the oven and cook for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Allow cake to cool for 10 minutes in the pan.
- Run a knife blade along the sides of the cake to insure a clean removal. Place serving plate over the cast iron skillet and carefully invert the cake. Keep the skillet on the plate until the cake falls into the plate.
- Remove skillet and allow cake to cool to room temperature, about 1 hour before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.
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Written by Laura Bashar
Hi, I’m Laura, a certified professional cook and cookbook author living in San Diego. I have been sharing my family’s favorite recipes inspired from all over the world since 2008. Let’s cook up something fun!
























I’ve always wondered who discovered the affinity strawberries and rhubarb have for each other — they’ve always seemed to me a non-intuitive pairing.I guess because they both are at their best at more or less the same time, someone just decided they belong together. Anyway, love this cake. Pretty pictures!
Gorgeous cake, Laura! Kudos to your artistry of teaming up strawberry and rhubarb in a cake….And bravo, bravo to you for being the mom who doesn’t give in to trends…And focuses on the values which will carry her children farther in life than the latest app =)
Ah, thank you, Kim!! xxoxx