Baked Sticky Rhubarb Pudding Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Should you soak rhubarb before baking? ›

Wash rhubarb with cool tap water, but do not soak.

Removing the first layer of skin will take away its "rubbery taste" and bring out the stalk's most appealing flavors, and the brown sugar will temper the tartness.

Although it can be eaten raw, rhubarb tends to be too tart this way, and it's usually best when cooked with plenty of sugar. It goes well with both ginger and strawberries.

Lavender. While lavender can make something taste like soap if you're too heavy-handed with it, be gentle and you'll be greatly rewarded. The floral notes of lavender mellow out the tart bite of rhubarb and turn whatever you're making into something quite delicate and lovely.

To prepare: Wash the stems and cut off the leaves and the ends. Cut into 2cm lengths, removing any strings if necessary. Stew or poach in some water and a little sugar. When making a crumble or a pie, the rhubarb does not need to be cooked first.

It's crunchy like celery when raw, but it becomes soft and after it's cooked. The sour flavor does mellow a little when cooked, but rhubarb is almost always mixed with sugar to counteract the lip-puckering taste.

Neutralizing Rhubarb's Acidity

Once the rhubarb has given up its juices, pull it from the oven and stir in a quarter teaspoon of baking soda using a heat-resistant spatula.

It is not necessary to thaw frozen rhubarb before cooking with it, but if you are baking with rhubarb, it's best to thaw it first as it shrinks a bit after thawing and you want an accurate measurement. Frozen rhubarb will keep for 1 year.

In Jenny's mind, rhubarb needs little more than two additional ingredients and 30 minutes in the oven to come to life. It also can rely on some of nature's best sweeteners—honey and orange juice—to bring it to its sweetest, most flavorful heights.

Forced rhubarb is sweeter than the ordinary kind as it has less oxalic acid. The forced stems are also pinker because plants can't make the green pigment chlorophyll in the absence of sunlight, which makes for nicer-looking desserts.

What is the healthiest way to eat rhubarb? ›

To overcome the tartness, poach rhubarb in light sugar syrup or stew it with other fruits. You can cook rhubarb in a small amount of water over moderate heat for about 20 minutes or until soft.

These crystals don't dissolve well in water, and they can cling to your teeth and create that uncomfortable spinach teeth feeling. Spinach isn't the only plant that has oxalic acid in it. You might notice that your teeth feel strange after you eat beets, rhubarb, kale, endive, nuts, and Swiss chard.

Rhubarb is a vegetable often thought to be a fruit. There's actually a good reason for this confusion: in 1947 the USDA classified it as a fruit because the tariffs on bringing fruits into the country were lower on fruits than vegetables. In actuality though, rhubarb is a vegetable - a member of the buckwheat family.

This spiced rhubarb crumble recipe is a tasty twist on the classic pudding. Cardamom, orange and cinnamon all lift the flavour while keeping it a classic.

With it's tart and tangy flavor, rhubarb goes incredibly well with things like strawberries, raspberries, mint, and ginger just to name a few. To preserve rhubarb, you can freeze it, which you'll find details on in the post. This post may contain affiliate links.

Rhubarb is a type of laxative called a stimulant laxative. Stimulant laxatives can cause diarrhea and decrease potassium levels. Taking rhubarb with other stimulant laxatives might cause more diarrhea and very low potassium levels.

Peeling rhubarb is rarely necessary. Most recipes require the rhubarb to be cut into batons. Using a paring knife, top and tail the stem, slice at an angle into the size that the recipe requires – this could vary from 1 inch chunks for quick-stewed rhubarb to longer batons for roasting or poaching.

To pick rhubarb, hold the stalk firmly, pull and twist. Do not use a knife to cut the stalks from the plant. The knife can carry diseases from plant to plant, and the remaining stalk can be a point of entry for other pests.

Rhubarb is also a great source of vitamin K₁, which is important for blood clotting and bone health. A half cup of cooked rhubarb provides more than one-third of the recommended dietary intake of vitamin K₁, along with two grams of fiber (which helps prevent colorectal cancer), some calcium and vitamin C.

How do you make rhubarb sweeter? ›

Orange juice and dried fruits (such as dates, says Mark Bittman in “How to Cook Everything;” currants work well, too) along with cinnamon or perhaps cloves can help cut back on the need for added sugar.

If you have a lot of rhubarb you can blanch the stems in boiling water for about 45 seconds, drain well, cool, cut into pieces and freeze for up to three months. Limp rhubarb can be perked up by standing the stems upright in chilled water for about an hour.

Thankfully the science of baking has an easy trick up its sleeve to deal with this, and all it involves is tossing your rhubarb with some sugar. Mixing your fresh fruit with sugar and letting it sit is called maceration, and it helps draw excess liquid out of your rhubarb before it cooks out and leaves your pie soggy.

For canning: Immediately pour the hot jam into warm sterilized jars, leaving ¼-inch headspace. Wipe the rims of the jars with a clean cloth and add the lids and rings according to the manufacturer's instructions. Boil in a water bath: 10 minutes for 8 oz jam jars and 15 minutes for pint jars.

Because there's a lot of moisture in rhubarb, it's common to get a soggy lower crust. A blast of higher heat when you first start baking helps prevent that.

Some thin slices of beetroot will add a great pink colour to your rhubarb, without bringing any strong flavour to the pan. It makes it look like the early bright pink forced rhubarb. You can add a little spice into the pan too if you fancy.