Almond Cake with Roasted Strawberries & Rhubarb on Top
This maple-sweetened, gluten-free almond cake topped with roasted strawberries and rhubarb is a simple springtime dessert! It's beautiful, too.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 29, 2024
This cake was originally designed to be an upside-down strawberry-rhubarb cake. I envisioned a gorgeous, glossy pink-and-ruby top, but I turned over the cake to find a shaggy-edged, brown-ish mess. Usually, I don’t discriminate blog recipes based on appearance, but this cake was not cute. Not cute at all.
It was, however, a remarkably tasty cake. I relished a slice, took Cookie on a walk and carried on with my evening. Eventually, the idea to top the cake with roasted strawberries and rhubarb (baked in the oven at the same time as the cake) popped into my head, and here we are! Cake success.
I’m not going to make it home to celebrate Mother’s Day with my mom this year, but if I could, I’d bake her this cake. It’s about as easy as cakes get (no mixer required), it’s gluten free (possibly paleo as well, I’m not sure) and just a beauty overall. Happy Mother’s Day to all the mamas out there! You make the world go around.
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Almond Cake with Roasted Strawberries & Rhubarb on Top
This maple-sweetened, gluten-free almond cake topped with roasted strawberries and rhubarb is a simple springtime dessert! Recipe yields one 9-inch cake, enough for 8 slices.
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 cups (8 ounces) almond flour or almond meal, firmly packed into measuring cups
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
- ÂĽ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 4 eggs, beaten*
- â…” cup maple syrup or honey
- ÂĽ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 orange, zested, preferably organic
Topping
- 1 pint (1 pound) strawberries, hulled and sliced into thin pieces
- ½ pound (about 2 stalks) rhubarb, sliced vertically into ½-inch wide strips, then sliced crosswise into small pieces, about ¼-inch by ½-inch
- ÂĽ cup maple syrup or honey
- Optional, for serving: Whipped cream or plain Greek yogurt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit with a rack in the middle and a rack in the upper third of the oven. Generously grease a 9-inch springform pan* and dust it with almond meal to prevent sticking. Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper for easy clean-up.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the almond meal, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
- In another bowl, combine the beaten eggs, maple syrup or honey, olive oil and the zest of your orange. Use a whisk to mix well. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry. Stir just until there are a few clumps remaining, then pour the mixture into your prepared 9-inch pan.
- Combine the strawberries and rhubarb on your prepared baking sheet. Drizzle with ÂĽ cup maple syrup or honey and mix well. Arrange the mixture in an even layer on the sheet.
- Place the cake on the middle rack and the strawberry-rhubarb mixture on the upper rack. Bake for about 40 to 45 minutes, until the cake is golden brown and the center is firm to the touch (it shouldn’t jiggle when you shimmy the pan). Toss the strawberry-rhubarb mixture every 15 minutes or so, and keep an eye on it in the last 10 minutes of baking—it’s done when the strawberry and rhubarb are cooked through, tender and jammy. (If you used honey, watch the edges especially and pull the pan before they burn.)
- Place the cake on a wire rack to cool. Slice your orange in half and squeeze the juice of half the orange over the strawberry-rhubarb mixture. (You’ll have half an orange left to use as you please!) Stir to combine.
- Once the cake has cooled for ten minutes, you can release it from the springform pan by popping off the side piece. If you used a cake pan, you might want to wait longer before turning the cake onto a large plate just to be safe, or serve it right from the pan.
- Use a large spoon to top the cake with the roasted strawberry-rhubarb mixture and all of its juices. Use a sharp knife to slice into 8 pieces. Serve each slice with a dollop of whipped cream, if desired.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Kimberley’s almond cake and my roasted strawberry rhubarb and yogurt parfaits.
*Springform note: You’ll have a much easier time removing the cake from a springform pan, so I recommend using one. That said, you might be able to make this work in a 9-inch cake pan. Generously grease the pan (bottom and sides), and then cut a round of parchment paper to neatly fit inside the bottom. Place it inside, pour the batter on top, and bake/glaze/cool as directed. Use a knife to loosen the outer edges of the cake before carefully inverting it onto a plate. Remove the paper, add the topping and serve.
Change it up: In place of the strawberries and rhubarb, you could probably use 1 ½ pounds berries, peaches, plums, apples, pears…
*Update January 2018: The recipe originally specified 3 eggs. I’ve learned through trial and error that this cake rises more uniformly across the middle and slices better when made with 4 eggs, so I’ve adjusted the recipe accordingly.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Yummy
That almond cake looks amazing.
However, i’m not a big fan of strawberries. Could raspberries work instead of strawberries?
I think so, Melissa!
I will definitely be trying this recipe – I’ve wanted to try rhubarb for years but never committed to a recipe!
Question – do you think I could bake the cake in a bundt pan? I don’t have a springform pan, but have a beautiful Nordic Ware bundt pan that isn’t used enough. Or maybe in a large cast iron skillet?
Hey Mandy! I think you’d end up with a pretty small bundt cake. A 10-inch cast iron skillet would probably work great!
What a healthy and delicious recipe!
I had the same issue with strawberry and rhubarb the first time! This is a brilliant and beautiful compromise! Kudos to you!
Looks beautiful!! Wondering if you could use coconut oul in place of olive oil?
Yes, I think so! The cake will have a light coconut note, which could be lovely.
Gorgeous! My mom used to make rhubarb compote and cakes, and this reminds me of her just in time for Mother’s Day. She always cooked in in a pan but love the idea of baking to caramelize them. Caramelized fruits are the best.
Strawberries are just coming into season here and this looks like an amazing way to use them. I love that the cake is gluten-free and sweetened with maple syrup!
I’ve been thinking about switching to almond flour for cooking. I’ve always thought that you had to mix it with some other kind of flour for taste and texture purposes. But this recipe shows me that it doesn’t have to mixed with another flour to create a wonderful dessert!
Nope, it doesn’t have to be! I haven’t tried substituting almond flour for regular flour (they don’t behave quite the same).
Can this be made w/vegan eggs?
Hi Fran! I’m really not sure about this one. Since it’s a GF cake, the eggs are pretty important to the structure of the cake. No one has reported if flax eggs work or don’t work in the original recipe… if you want to give it a try, please let me know how it turns out!
this sounds like a perfect brunch cake..i have yet to find rhubarb in Texas. hopefully this year I will get some.
Looks like a lovely recipe. I like how Cookie wants to jump on the bench to get to the strawberries :D
Strawberries on top of an almond cake – sounds like the perfect combination!
On a personal note, I never did understand recipies with strawberries and rhubarb together. Growing up in the Midwest, the rhubarb in our garden was always done weeks before the strawberries were ready to be picked. So we usually had rhubarb recipes and strawberry recipies, but never mixed. Might just have to cheat and use some grocery store strawberries with garden rhubarb. Rhubarb season is far too short.
I agree, rhubarb season is way too short! I guess strawberry and rhubarb grow together somewhere.
I’m in Wisconsin. I pick, wash, and chop my rhubarb,then throw it, premeasured and raw, into zip lock freezer bags until strawberries are ready. Easy-peasy. They don’t freezer burn in that brief time, and I like how it makes my strawberries go further.
Becky, I am in Minnesota and I do the same thing here. Rhubarb season is so short and so the freezer is the only way to go. Cheers!
This cake sounds wonderful! And there is even rhubarb at our local store, which is a super rare occasion in CA. Must cake immediately!
Beautiful cake Kate- thanks for sharing!
For Mother’s Day I made this cake for myself! My husband enjoyed a slice as well! Will definitely make it again because it’s totally, totally yummy! :)
Happy Mother’s Day! So glad you enjoyed the cake!
I can imagine that this version looks more attractive than upside down.. But the flavors sounds really great indeed!
absolutely love this kate!! can’t wait to try it at home :)
I prepared this yesterday, for friends who claim to not really like desserts. It made a believer of them! The almond cake and the strawberry-rhubarb combination was brilliant. For me, the cake required an additional 10 minutes of baking time, but other than that, all worked out perfectly! Thanks.
So glad to hear you all enjoyed it! (And who doesn’t really like desserts?!)
This cake is so pretty Kate! I love the flavour :)
Now this is some delicious dessert with rhubarb on it. It’s healthy and delicious. I’m gonna try to cook your recipe in my kitchen. It’s just perfect for the afternoon paired with tea or coffee.
Glad you figured it out because this cake looks LOVELY! Thanks for sharing!!
I haven’t made the cake yet, and I don’t have any almond flour. Would regular all-purpose flour work? I would love to try out the recipe!
Hi! I’m not sure that substituting almond meal for all-purpose would work, but I do have a maple-sweetened cake recipe that would probably work just as well: https://sooka.info/2012/blueberry-maple-tea-cake/%3C/a%3E. I know that recipe works, so you could try baking that with all-purpose flour and top it with roasted strawberries and rhubarb!
I’ve never had rhubarb before but this recipe is a great motivation to change that. The strawberries- oh my goodness! Thanks for sharing!
This looks and sounds amazing! Can’t wait to try it!
I am all about simple, no-frills cakes like this lately. Who needs layers when you have RHUBARB. My new life motto.
Amen! Thanks, Joanne!
This looks like such an awesome cake! I wish we had celebrated Mothers Day (back in March over here) with this!!!
Very cool cake! I made this for my mum and it was really tasty and had a nice texture. Do think its all going to disappear by tomorrow though . Thank you for sharing the recipe!
Just popping in real quick to say that this recipe is amazing.
I subbed 1/2 cup almond with rye,spelt and potato flour mix, orange with applesauce, and baked it in cupcakes cases. No toppings. They where light, moist and delicious, gone in no time.
I’m sure that by following the recipe correctly they would have been even better.
Thank you! So glad you enjoyed it!
Cookie! What a cutie. This cake sounds delicious, and I fully approve of your decision to put the fruit on top. I would have a hard time posting a not-so-pretty recipe as well. Happy belated Mother’s Day to all of the moms. :-D
This cake came out fantastic! I’ve never baked with almond flour and might use a 1/4 t of almond extract next time to bring out more of the almond flavor. I also opted for the honey, because I was afraid the maple flavor would mask the others. Regardless, this is a recipe that will be on my list to take to parties. Totally yummy! My wife commented that a dollop of real whipped cream on top would also be nice; she’s a whipped cream addict!
Thanks, Jim! So glad to hear it. I’m with your wife; whipped cream would be fantastic!
This cake looks like perfection and the solution of throwing the strawberries and rhubarb on top makes it look so pretty!
Kate,
My husband and I just ate two pieces of this delicious cake… it was still warm. Thank you for sharing this recipe, another “keeper”.
I am wondering if you have ever baked 2 cakes and layered in-between with the strawberry and rhubarb toping? We just want more!!
Jane
Jane, thank you! No, I’ve never tried baking two cakes and layering them, but it might work! Might be really tasty with a creamy icing in between and fruit on top. :)
The topping baked rather than roasted, despite following the recipe instructions to the letter. Is it a temperature issue, ie bake at a higher temperature than 325? The cake itself was a star; my guests raved about the taste and texture. Hope you can help me understand why the fruit didn’t roast.
Hmmm. Can you please describe how your fruit turned out? I’m not sure what your distinction between baking and roasting means in this regard. Was the fruit still firm after the specified baking time? I wonder if yours needed more time in the oven.
Hi Kate,
Love this cake! I don’t eat refined sugar’s and so am always on the lookout for new cake & dessert ideas that use natural sugars. What fruits do you use when strawberries & rhubarb aren’t in season?
Thanks, Matilda! I think peaches, plums and cherries would be awesome. Apples and pears might be, too! You can also mix small berries into the batter like I did with my raspberry cake (it just requires a little more baking time).
I have made this cake 3 times now. Once with apple, raspberry and rhubarb. Twice with strawberrys and rhubarb. It’s so simple. I have all the ingredients in my cupboard and it whips up in minutes so I can throw it together between preparing the main meal and surprise everyone. A great insight Kate to do the fruit separate. It means I can keep it for a few days and just top it as I like. The flavour is delicate and lovely. I have shared with many of my friends. Thanks Cheers Molly
Thank you, Molly! Really glad to hear that you appreciate this cake. It took some trial and error. :)
I love the sound of this cake since almond cake is my favorite desert and I would love to make it. Since I am vegan I would like to know if I could sub for the 3 eggs.. could i just leave them out or would you recommend flax or chia eggs and would i also need to add more oil to make up for the fat in eggs or is that not needed?
Hi Ginger! I’m sorry, I recently tried a variation of this cake with flax eggs and it failed miserably. I don’t think this will work without regular eggs.
Thanks Cookie and Kate for this delicious cake recipe! I had simply searched for almond cake to go with strawberries and yours came out near the top of the list. I have never used almond flour(meal) before and found this fascinating. I baked it with maple syrup which I think gives a quieter sweetness than honey, and the flavor is amazing! I made it for a 2-family dinner party, and the kids and adults all loved it! Our Brazilian friend happily said the cake reminded him of his grandmother’s baking. I will definitely make it again, perhaps even for a Passover dessert in our rabbi’s home.
Hi, I made the Almond Cake with Roasted Strawberries & Rhubarb. It is absolutely delicious! My family loved it. I’m so happy to find a yummy dessert that doesn’t have refined flour and sugar in it! I happened to have 2 stalks of rhubarb left over from another recipe and the cake was a breeze to make.
Thanks!
To make this recipe nut free, could you use white whole wheat flour instead?
I’m sorry, I’m really not sure if that would work. Those two types of flours are very different animals.
Kate! Thanks for this recipe, I am a big fan of your work :) when I am looking for something tasty and healthy your recipes always give me what I expect and more! I did just strawberries and it was lovely. I read one of the girls asked for the coconut oil swap, I did it as well and liked it very much. Very subtle flavor, not overpowering.
very yummy cake. This is now my go-to low carb cake. Previously I have been paying around $12 for a packet mix. Now I can make an even tastier one using this recipe. Wondering if there is anything with less carbs than maple/honey I could use. I tried granulated Xylitol in almond biscs and they turned out very strange and had to throw themay. so am a bit wary of artificials but need something lower carb if possible. ???
thank you
You could try Erythritol with Monks fruit. I use that in my sugar free cooking and it’s a great substitute for sugar.
Hi, Kate! This recipe looks delightful. is there a way I could change it to use regular whole wheat flour instead of almond? Would the ratios be different for baking soda, etc? Thank you!
Hi, Jenny! Substituting nut flours for wheat, and vice versa, can be tricky business. The nut flour requires a lot more moisture, so you’d also have to play with the dry-wet ratio as well. I haven’t tried this one with wheat flour, so I’m not much help here. I’m sorry!
Hi, I was going to make this a day ahead. Do you think I should top it with the strawberry/rhubarb right before serving? Warm? Thanks
I think that would work perfectly, Pat! Let me know how it goes.
I was finally able to make this cake for myself today as my (belated) birthday cake. (Insert week-long saga of attempts to acquire rhubarb.)
My strawberries and rhubarb didn’t roast really, they cooked into mush. This may have been because the strawberries were so juicy – fresh from the farmer’s market this morning? There was a LOT of juice on the cookie sheet. The cake also rose over the edges of the pan and made a mess in the oven. Kate definitely gives good advice about keeping an extra close eye on things if you are using honey because the edges of my cake did burn. Unfortunately, since it already smelled burnt from what dripped on the bottom of the oven, I did not realize the cake itself was burning until too late.
So, no, it did not come out cute. However, it still tastes good!
Oof, sorry this didn’t come out looking so great, Heather. This one can be tricky, for sure.
I made this last night exactly as indicated (used maple syrup, not honey). It was super easy and came out so good! I made whipped cream out of coconut cream to serve on top. Everyone raved about it. Thanks for an easy and delicious gluten free dessert option.
Oh, that coconut cream is calling my name! What a great addition. No wonder it was gobbled up!
Hi Kate!
I’m browsing recipe idea’s for my baby girl’s first birthday in May and love this recipe. I’d like to make it into a layer cake, though. What would you suggest for frosting? I’m assuming I’d need at least enough to hold the strawberry-rhubarb mix together between cake layers, right? Would buttercream or cream cheese work better? Trying to avoid white sugar altogether. Suggestions? Thanks! :)
Hi Mollie! If you do try to make this a layer cake, use 4 eggs instead of 3 (it produces a sturdier cake with better rise through the middle). I think you would need a sturdy frosting in between; I think cream cheese might work best. That said, I don’t know how to make cream cheese frosting without powdered sugar. This cake makes a statement as a single layer cake, too, and I know that works! :)
Would a whipped cream frosting change the flavor of cake? Then I thought of putting the fruit mix on top of the frosting instead of in layer thought? Thanks!
I made this with coconut flour instead of almond flour. But I needed an extra 2 eggs to make it moist enough and added the juice from the orange before baking. Even then the mixture didn’t seem as fluid as in the pictures before baking. Still delicious though, and the maple roasted strawberries are just heaven!
Well-received on Mother’s Day
Coconut flour does soak up moisture. I’m glad this worked for you! I’m pleasantly surprised. Thanks, Katherine!
After our neighbor gave us some rhubarb, I made this cake today for my mom and her neighbor (who is a retired professional baker). Everyone loved it. The cake was moist and the topping delicious. Next time I’ll make a little extra topping because it’s so good. Thank you C&K for another healthy and delicious recipe!
That’s great!
Thank you. This will be my go to cake. Great flavour, texture, light,
moist…….easy……yum.
T.
Thank you, T! I appreciate the comment and review.
Is it OK to keep opening the oven to toss the strawberry rhubarb mixture? Wont this make the cake collapse?
It is just fine! :)