Well, we are gardening for food here on Tuesdays, so it makes sense to have recipes that use that food, right? Right. And the very first is for one of the very first things to come out of the garden in the spring: rhubarb.
Rhubarb seems to be a polarizing food. People who like it, really like it. And people who don't, really don't.
If you're in the second camp, I am sorry. Come back later. But if you're one of those who really likes rhubarb, this one's for you.
Some back story on this recipe first. It is one that the MiL used to make from an old set of cookbooks she has*. The recipes noted the place of origin, and this recipe was supposedly Pennsylvania Dutch.
It is not a pudding in the American sense. It's kind of like a crisp, except the topping doesn't have oats or nuts in it. I could not find anything similar to it online, and actually called the MiL to get the recipe. The recipe as written is extremely sweet. The MiL makes it with more rhubarb and less sugar, and so do I.
Rhubarb Pudding
Ingredients for fruit base
4 cups rhubarb, cut in about inch-long chunks
1 egg
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
Ingredients for topping
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup loose brown sugar (NOT tightly packed)
pinch of salt
1/4 cup cold butter, cut into cubes
Method
1) Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees and butter a 2-quart casserole dish.
2) Beat the egg with the sugar and salt in a medium bowl until thoroughly combined, then stir the rhubarb into it until it's all mixed together. Put in the buttered dish. (I actually use my 4-cup Pyrex measuring cup to measure the rhubarb, then dump that into the casserole, use the Pyrex to mix the sugar, egg, and salt, and then pour it over the rhubarb so I can mix it together right in the casserole.)
3) In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, brown sugar, and salt, and then cut in the butter with a pastry cutter. Spread this to cover the top of the rhubarb in the casserole.
4) Bake 35-40 minutes. Let cool and serve with cream.
What this makes is an extremely simple but incredibly tasty dessert. The topping reminds me of shortbread, which makes sense, given the ingredients.
Notes
1) If you're new to cooking with rhubarb, remember the leaves are toxic and can't be used. Only the stalks are edible.
2) If you want it sweeter, you can up the sugar in both the rhubarb base and topping. The original measurements were for a full cup of sugar for only three cups of rhubarb, and a packed half cup of brown sugar in the topping, so my version about halves the total sugar.
3) You can make whipped cream to top it, but we just pour straight heavy cream right on top. It doesn't need the extra sugar that is typically in whipped cream, and anyway, who wants an extra step before you can start eating?
* I think it was the Woman's Day Encyclopedia of Cookery, although the MiL will have to tell us for sure.
7 comments:
This pudding reminds me of our family's recipe for rhubarb crumble. I never tried putting an egg in the fruit base though. Maybe the original recipe with lots of sugar needed it to thicken all that rhubarb juice.
THANK YOU!!! We have a ton of rhubarb and I run out of ways to use it, so shall try this as soon as the snow melts and the shoots start showing themselves.
Yes, the recipe is from the old Women's Day Encyclopedia. I got it when I was still in high school, so it's from the 60s.
That sounds like rhubarb crumble, you can make a crumble with all kinds of fruit but apple crumble is the most popular.
We would call this a rhubarb crumble in the UK as Joan from Dublin has said. You can cut the sugar in the both the topping and stewed fruit part if it's too sweet. Happy crumbling!
The UK rhubarb crumbles are the best. When on a UK tour in 1980, I was delighted at the frequency with which they emerged as our dessert, served with mountains of whipped cream. British cream is superb. Mil
I made a rhubarb pineapple crumble today! I used up almost all the rhubarb in the freezer because the rhubarb plants are starting to come up. I know, Wisconsin logic. If the fresh version will be available soon, finish off the frozen.
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