Category: Rhubarb

These custards are rich, lightly sweet and quite easy to make. The custard is delicious on its own, but the tart sauce cuts through the richness of the custard just perfectly. You could really use any berry, fresh or frozen, cooked down with a little sugar in place of the strawberries and rhubarb. You will likely have leftover sauce - feel free to halve the recipe or use leftovers on ice cream, yogurt, oatmeal, etc. Serves 4  ... Read more »

Fresh berries, rhubarb or stone fruit, in most any combination, shine in these simple, not too sweet bars. The above is straight strawberry. My favorite might be apricot and sour cherry but actually every time I make them I say that batch is my favorite. ... Read more »

  A few stalks of rhubarb and a not-very-vibrant-anymore orange inspired this concoction that I’m calling a pudding cake. It’s not quite fruit-heavy enough to be a cobbler and it’s just custardy enough not to be a sliceable cake. It’s a quick affair, doesn’t call for eggs or butter and can be adapted based on your likes. I can’t wait to try it with other fruit, other flours and spices. And if you use a non-dairy milk it will be vegan. Please report back if you make it and vary it! Figuring out what to bake it in might be your biggest challenge. I used an 11-inch round ceramic tart pan of sorts. You need something bigger than a typical pie pan. I thought a 9 x 13″ baking dish might be good but I’ve gotten feedback that it seems a little big. I just love the look of the round cake here. You don’t want it to be too deep as I think you’ll lose some of the appeal. And if you’re using a round pan be sure to bake it on a sheet pan in case it bubbles over like mine did.  ... Read more »

I make this cake every spring when rhubarb starts showing up in the farmers’ markets and now also in my very own garden.  ... Read more »

This preparation was a bit of a fluke. My husband and son don't love rhubarb but I do! I had roasted another pan of rhubarb with rosé, honey and vanilla (water and a squeeze of lemon juice works fine if you don't have wine) and wasn't going to be able to eat it all myself. I thought I'd purée it and freeze it but then drank this smoothie, of sorts, stirred it into yogurt and froze the rest.   I've also puréed some of this roasted rhubarb with some peaches that I had frozen the previous season. The combination is divine if you by chance have both on hand. And this makes a fantastic "bellini" of sorts which is typically peach purée with sparkling wine but the rhubarb adds both color and flavor that are just wonderful.... Read more »

  Simple, elegant and fragrant, it's good on its own, with Greek yogurt, with cookies or pound cake and I'm sure many other ways. If you don't have a bottle of wine open or don't want to open one, you can use a combination of apple juice or cider and water or water mixed with 2 teaspoons of lemon juice. You can also swap out a few strips of lemon or orange zest for the vanilla bean and/or some slices of fresh ginger.... Read more »

Italians make mostardas out of all kinds of fruit. It is a sweet-spicy fruit mustard condiment. They use it as an accompaniment to meats and cheeses and bread. I like to put it on good bread with goat cheese and arugula. It is very easy to make and keeps for quite some time refrigerated, or can be canned using the water bath canning method.  Yields about two cups  ... Read more »

This is delicious served simply with good corn chips or crusty bread or you can serve it with fish tacos or pork dishes of any kind. It’s a nice alternative to the much more ubiquitous dessert recipes for rhubarb. Yields about 4 cups... Read more »

Rhubarb, spiced with a little cardamom makes for a luscious and beautiful cobbler. ... Read more »

  Feel free to experiment with the amount of sugar here based on your taste and how sweet your berries are. I often have frozen strawberries that need using up when rhubarb starts showing up so I make this. Later in the season it's delicious with raspberries as well. Apricots, peaches and plums are great as are apples, pears and quince. My husband and son don't like nuts in desserts so sometimes I grind the almonds I typically use here into almond meal in my cheese grater. It just takes a minute. It adds richness and depth to the crumble but does not reap furrowed brows from my family! You can also just skip the nuts. It's delicious with or without.  ... Read more »

 I grew up in Germany eating rhubarb in this fashion and on special occasion someone would bring by a slab of the classic yeasted rhubarb cake with buttery streusel for "Caffe und Kuchen" on a weekend afternoon. [caption id="attachment_4893" align="alignleft" width="640"] Looks like I didn't choose between zest and vanilla bean here and used both.[/caption] I love this compote even though it can give you a little of that "fuzzy tongue" syndrome that cooked spinach causes sometimes as well. I tend not to add as much sugar as recipes typically call for but start with my suggestions and add as needed.  The compote is wonderful with Greek yogurt or a dollop of whipped cream or just by itself.  Vanilla, lemon or orange juice or zest are all good flavorings for this dish so pick and choose based on your taste. ... Read more »

The rhubarb my mother grows (and even what she grew when I was a child) always seems to turn from a bright red the first season to a dull green in subsequent years. It was just as delicious but there is something about the beautiful rosy color that adds to the appeal. Germans make a wonderful yeasted rhubarb cake, sometimes with streusel on top and sometimes with a custard. And of course rhubarb pie (with or without strawberries) is a treat as is rhubarb crisp or cobbler.   Italians make a wonderful rhubarb mostarda, a chutney like sweet/savory condiment seasoned with mustard and various other spices and ingredients. Rhubarb is delicious roasted and can be used in savory recipes. My friend and chef Ellen Jackson developed a lovely lentil soup recipe with rhubarb.   Rhubarb freezes beautifully for pies and crisps in mid winter. It is not good raw as it is just too astringent (at least for me). Its leaves are also poisonous so be sure to remove any leaf remnants that might still be attached to the stalk.    ... Read more »