Rhubarb upside down cake with almond and ginger

Sarah Akhurst in Sainsbury's magazine. Makes one cake. 14 steps

30g butter	melt	line the base of a cake tin, brush with butter, sprinkle with sugar			Pour batter over rhubarb. Bake in moderate oven 50–55 minutes, or to 98°C internal temperature. Cool 5 minutes in the tin, then turn out upside-down.
1 tablespoon sugar
400g rhubarb		trim to fit cake tin, place inside
2 tablespoons sugar		sprinkle over
1 tablespoon ground almonds
batter
150g butter				beat
150g sugar
3 large eggs				beat in one by one
200g flour	sieve			fold in
100g ground almonds
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons ground ginger
150ml buttermilk			mix	stir in
100g stem ginger	dice finely
extra ginger syrup					Brush with extra

The cake looked squidgy and underdone when I turned it out, but after leaving it to rest it was normal.

I think this recipe has too much sugar inside, and not enough sweetness on top. Next time I'll try 100g sugar, and a few tablespoons of demerara sugar on top.

The rhubarb cooks down to just a thin layer, which looks pretty, but doesn't add much moistness. Make sure the cake isn't overdone.

For a pretty top, use the pinkest rhubarb. Cut out a circle of greaseproof paper the same size as your cake tin, put it on a large plate, and lay the rhubarb on it in the pattern you want, then trim. It's much easier to get nicely trimmed pieces in this way, than by trying to create the design in the actual cake tin.