As a child, I tried the raw stalks of the tart rhubarb plant on more than one occasion. Tart may be an understatement! It is easy to see why most of my favorite rhubarb recipes involve the addition of sugar. This perennial “pie plant” is actually a vegetable although most often treated as a fruit in desserts, sauces and jams.
We grow our own rhubarb, though it is also readily available in produce sections and farmers markets. You can easily dry, can or freeze the stalks to enjoy in the off-season but each spring I eagerly await the first, fresh picking and always have a stash of recipes waiting. So far, this year, I have baked a batch of rhubarb blueberry muffins (the mix of sweet and tart was very good), combined with strawberries for jam, made into an upside down cake and whipped up one of our favorite, nutty crisps.
The rhubarb season usually runs from May through June depending upon where you live. Grow your own or find some at the market, but give this tart treat a try!
Our favorite rhubarb crisp:
Rhubarb Filling
• 4 cups chopped fresh or frozen (thawed) rhubarb
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 cup water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla.
Place rhubarb in an 8×8 pan or divide between 6 ramekins. Mix together sugar and cornstarch in a small saucepan, stir in water. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Pour over rhubarb.
Crisp topping
• ½ cup flour
• 12 cup rolled oats
• ½ cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• Pinch salt
• ½ cup chopped walnuts
• 5 tablespoons butter, melted
Mix together flour, oats, sugar, cinnamon, salt and walnuts. Stir in melted butter until evenly distributed. Crumble over filling. (I found, for us, that I use a little less than the entire batch of topping). Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes or until rhubarb is cooked through and filling is bubbly. We like to serve cooled, but warm, and top with a scoop of ice cream. The leftovers are easily warmed in the microwave for a fresh from the oven treat.
Recipe from: KitchenSimplicity.com
Post Author: Mindy
That looks so delicious, Mindy! You’ve got to start sharing more of your recipes and all your secrets to your gardening success.
Thank you so much for sharing this yummy recipe, Mindy!!
I hope to one day grow some rhubarb.
xo
Thank you for reading Robyn! I will be sharing a couple times a month.
You should definitely grow some – plant once and you can harvest every spring!
Yum…totally going to make this VERY soon!
I hope you like it – it’s one of our favorites!
A note about the delicious filling: I’ve made this type of tart on several occasions and each time some of the liquid leaks out of the crust. I’ve found this to be normal with free-form fruit-filled tarts. The tart is baked on a piece of parchment paper, so the cleanup is pretty minimal. But I wanted to find a way to reduce the leakage. I ended up macerating the strawberries and rhubarb in a little sugar first. Macerating sweetens up the fruit and draws out some of the moisture. So I ended up draining the syrupy liquid that formed, then added back more sugar plus cornstarch. There was still a little leakage, but not as much this time. I was pleased with the end result!
Thanks for the tips Solomon!