FRUSTRATION CAKE

Lately, I have been running into a lot of frustration in my life.  Things aren’t happening the way I want them to, when I want them to or how I want them to.

Do you ever look up the meaning of words you know the meaning to?  I do.

My definition of frustrating is having no power to change or fix the problem.

The dictionary definition is to “cause (someone) to feel upset or annoyed, typically as a result of being unable to change or achieve something.”

And the list of synonyms includes exasperate, infuriate, annoy, vex, irritate, irk, try one’s patience, disappoint, discontent, dissatisfy, discourage, dishearten and dispirit.

Faced with that the only thing to do was to leave the seemingly solution-less problem behind and bake a cake.

First an ingredient I really like. Something somewhat sour and hard but with the ability to be sweet and soft, like rhubarb.

I  peel the stalks and cut them into pieces and toss them in some sugar.  Then I arrange them in the bottom of my pan and pour the remaining sugar on top.  When I finished with my cake I will invert it on a plate and all that altered bitterness will rise to the top!

Next I take softened butter and beat it and beat it and beat it together with some more sugar and some orange zest until it is light in color and fluffy.

I add eggs, one at a time, with more beating in between each addition. And I add flavoring, ginger and vanilla. Some yogurt goes in (for more tang).

Stir in flour and some more rhubarb.

And spread it on top of the rhubarb stalks.

And into the oven it goes.

Once it is done I cool it for a bit and then flip it out onto a plate.

And there it is,  my Frustration Cake!

Unlike revenge, this cake is best eaten warm. Maybe with ice cream?

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GINGER RHUBARB UPSIDE DOWN CAKE

Ingredients

• 1 ¼ cup unsalted butter
• 4-6 stalks of rhubarb
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• ½ cup light brown sugar
• 2 cups flour
• 1 ¼ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp grated orange peel
• 2 tsp fresh grated ginger
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 4 eggs
• 1/3 cup plain yogurt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees
2. Spray (or oil) an 8” square pan with cooking oil, line bottom with parchment paper and spray the paper.
3. Peel the rhubarb, slice any thick stalks in half so that they are all pretty much the same thickness. Cut the stalks into four inch pieces. Save any small bits or trimmings. Toss the four inch pieces in a bowl with ½ cup of white sugar and ¼ cup brown sugar. Layer the stalks in the bottom of the pan in a decorative pattern. Top with any remaining sugar.
4. Dice the rhubarb trimmings and reserve.
5. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt.
6. In another beat the butter with remaining sugar and orange zest until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla and yogurt. Gradually add the flour and mix well. Stir in the diced rhubarb.
7. Spread the cake batter evenly over the rhubarb in the pan.
8. Bake until cake springs back from the pan and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
9. Cool in the pan for about 15 minutes then carefully invert the cake onto platter and peel away the parchment paper.

Recipe Notes

This recipe can be used for many other fruits.  Try it with fresh Summer peaches or the apples of Autumn.  For very sweet fruits cut the sugar in the base down by 1/4 cup