If You Like Pound Cake, You’ll Love This Strawberry Rhubarb Skillet Cake

A strawberry rhubarb skillet cake will send your taste buds straight into spring.

Nothing screams spring like a strawberry rhubarb combo. This cake is the perfect way to do it! Call on your best skillet to bake it up.

Tami Steggell shared her recipe for a strawberry rhubarb skillet cake. It’s a gorgeous way to showcase this seasonal produce. Loaded with rich and creamy goat cheese and buttermilk, this recipe is a standout. These unique ingredients bake up a soft and flavorful cake. Don’t skip the rosemary and vanilla bean infused whipped cream. We promise, it’s worth the extra effort!

Strawberry-Rhubarb Cornmeal Skillet Cake

Reminiscent of pound cake, this juicy strawberry rhubarb cornmeal skillet cake is designed with a moist and tender crumb, utilizing goat cheese and buttermilk to create a simple, yet sophisticated cake-like density. The beautifully golden cake is topped with a rosemary and vanilla bean infused whipped cream, composing a perfectly sweet and savory dessert.

Prep Time: 25 mins
Bake Time: 60 minutes
Cool Time: 20 minutes
Refrigerate Cream: 2 hrs.
Total Time: 2 hrs.
Servings: 8

INGREDIENTS

Rosemary Whipped Cream

Note: Prepare ahead to sufficiently infuse the cream

• 1 cup heavy cream (237ml)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
• 1-2 (5-inch) fresh rosemary sprigs
• 2 tablespoon powdered sugar (15g)

Strawberry-Rhubarb Cake

• 1 cup AP unbleached flour (125g), sifted
• ½ cup fine yellow cornmeal (80g)
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ¾ cup butter, room temperature (170g)
• +1 tablespoon butter for the hot skillet
• 1 ½ cups granulated sugar (300g)
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 ½ ounce goat cheese, at room temperature (42g)
• ⅓ cup buttermilk, at room temperature (75ml)
• 1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• ½ scraped caviar seed from a vanilla bean pod
• 1 cup halved fresh strawberries
• ¾ cup fresh rhubarb, sliced 1/2-inch pieces, approx. 2 small stalks
• 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar (30g)

METHOD

The Rosemary Whipped Cream: Infuse ahead of time

1. Combine heavy cream and vanilla bean paste in a small bowl. Rub rosemary sprigs between hands to release their oils, and add to bowl; stir mixture until combined. Cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate at least 2 hours or up to 4 hours.

Note: while your cake is cooling, proceed to step 2 and whip up your chilled, infused cream for a fresh presentation

2. Pour mixture through a fine wire-mesh strainer into a large bowl; discard solids.
3. Beat cream mixture and powdered sugar with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until soft peaks form, about 2-3 minutes.

Note: If making ahead, cover the rosemary whipped cream with plastic wrap; refrigerate until ready to use, up to 12 hours ahead of time.

Substitutions: if you have reservations about the rosemary whipped cream, simply add half a teaspoon of cinnamon to your cream and powdered sugar for a delightful alternative.

The Strawberry-Rhubarb Cake

1. Preheat oven to 350°F/180C, place a 10-inch cast-iron skillet in the oven, and let skillet preheat in the oven about 10 minutes.
2. Whisk together flour, cornmeal, and salt in a small bowl until combined; set aside.
3. Add the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment; beat on high speed, stopping occasionally to scrape down sides of bowl, until the butter and sugar are pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes total.
4. With the mixer on medium-low speed, add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
5. Next, crumble in goat cheese; beat until just combined, about 30 seconds.
6. Add buttermilk and vanilla bean paste, beating until just combined, about 1 minute.
7. Gradually add flour mixture, beating until just combined, about 1 minute.
8. Carefully remove hot skillet from oven, and add 1 tablespoon butter. Swirl skillet until butter is melted. Carefully pour in cake batter, smoothing the top if needed. Arrange strawberries and rhubarb in an even layer on batter; sprinkle with turbinado sugar.
9. Bake in preheated oven until a wooden pick inserted into center of cake comes out clean, 55-60 minutes. Let cool slightly on a wire rack for 20 minutes.
10. While the cake is cooling it is time to whip up the chilled rosemary infused cream.
11. Serve cake warm with a dollop of rosemary whipped cream.

Why you will love this Skillet Cake

The flavor combination of this Strawberry-Rhubarb Cornmeal Skillet Cake is traditional and innovative, making an distinguished statement at your dessert table. If you are a fan of both rhubarb and strawberry season, here’s your baking answer.

Rhubarb Season: Rhubarb is generally accessible from early spring (March/April), through late spring or early summer, typically around May or June, depending on where you are. Given its consistent availability in April, fresh rhubarb often becomes a popular option for desserts during Passover, Easter, and various other spring festivities.

Strawberry Season: California produces the earliest strawberries, with harvest extending from January to May and peaking in April. Traditionally seen as a spring crop, advancements in cultivation techniques now enable strawberry production to continue into summer and fall, even in northern regions. In the eastern and midwestern northern states, strawberries are typically in season from mid-May to early July.

History of Skillet Cakes

The original definitions of skillet cake is when the batter is baked atop a layer of sweetened fruit then turned upside down so the fruit is on top, a.k.a. the upside-down cake.

Historians widely agree that the late 1800s marked the emergence of the term “upside-down cake.”. Prior to this period, cakes of this style were commonly known as skillet cakes. A method necessitated by the limited availability and reliability of ovens at the time, thus skillet cakes were born of practicality. Imagine baking your cake in a skillet over and open fire. Which you can! Try skillet cake at your next campout.

Find more recipes from Tami on Instagram, @bitemeindustries, or at bitemeindustries.com.