Baked Sticky Rhubarb Pudding Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Should you soak rhubarb before baking? ›

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

Not only does rhubarb need sweetness to temper its tart flavor, the sugar helps break down the fibrous, stringy stalks. A good starting point is to use a scant 1 cup granulated sugar for 4 cups of chopped rhubarb. Adjust according to your preferences.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

What pairs well with rhubarb? ›

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.

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.

You can use frozen rhubarb the same way as fresh: in sauces, pies, crumbles, and beyond. Although thawing the rhubarb isn't necessary for cooking, you can do so by leaving it out for a few hours if you wish.

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.