Whole Wheat Strawberry Rhubarb Upside Down Cake

I bought some rhubarb at our local farmer's market last Saturday as I've seen many bloggers use it lately for some yummy looking treats.  I haven't really had rhubarb all that much in my life, but I had this hankering for that sweet-tart taste that takes me back to somewhere.  ??  I know at one of our houses growing up we had access to it freely (Fry Street?), but I don't think my mom made too many things with it.  Nevertheless, I wanted some, but I wanted to come up with something fairly healthy that would still be considered a treat.

I totally made this whole thing up and although cooked rhubarb doesn't make the prettiest dessert, I think it's pretty darn tasty.  Kevin had a piece, said it was okay, but since it's cake, it wasn't his favorite.    I even let Scott have some for breakfast this morning.  I'm even thinking I'll go have a little soon just to see if it is still just as good the next day!

See--not that pretty.  But it's taste that matters here, people, right! ;)  I was happy that it came right out of the pan and that it worked out since I used agave nectar.  I want to try it again, maybe pineapple this time, just to see how it all works with JUST agave and no other sugars.  I'll let you know!  The cake is nice and moist and I think it was perfectly sweet with the tart rhubarb and the crunchy pecans.

Whole Wheat Strawberry Rhubarb Upside Down Cake, by Me

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

¼ cup brown sugar

¼ cup agave nectar

½ cup pecans, toasted and chopped

1 cup strawberries, cut up into ½ inch size pieces

2 cups rhubarb, cut into ½ inch size pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-inch round baking pan with butter or cooking spray. Melt the butter in a small, microwave-safe dish. Stir in brown sugar and agave. Pour into baking pan. Sprinkle the toasted, chopped pecans over the butter/sugar mixture. Then add the strawberries evenly over the top, then the rhubarb. Set aside.

1 ¼ cup whole wheat pastry flour (or whole wheat—or all purpose, but that defeats the purpose!)

¼ cup turbinado raw cane sugar (or granulated)

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ cup agave nectar

3 tablespoons canola oil

½ cup skim milk

approximately 3 tablespoons lightly beaten egg (or Egg Beaters), 1 egg is probably okay

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

In medium sized bowl, combine flour, cane sugar, salt and baking powder with wire whisk. Set aside. In another bowl, stir together agave nectar, oil, milk, egg and vanilla. Combine the wet ingredients with the dry and whisk together until there are no more lumps and it is well mixed.

Bake for 30 minutes. Remove to cooling rack for 10-15 minutes, then invert the cake on to a serving plate and let cool to room temperature. Serve with whipped topping.

Isn't everything just a little bit better with Cool Whip?!!  I think so.  Try it sometime.  I'm sure you could use regular sugar in place of the agave and as I only used 3 tablespoons of a beaten egg, you could probably just use a whole egg.