Baked Sticky Rhubarb Pudding Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Should you soak rhubarb before baking? ›

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

Roasting even the saddest of fruit is a brilliant trick. Because the roasting draws out and evaporates the water, you are left with a much more concentrated flavour. Roasting rhubarb not only gives great flavour, it also leaches out the most fabulous princess-pink juice.

While cinnamon may be a more common spice to pair with rhubarb, citrusy, herbal cardamon lends a warm, citrusy note to a dish. A big pinch of ground cardamom can be added to any cake, pie, or compote, or you can simply add a little to the whipped cream you'll be topping your rhubarb dessert with.

This is not the time to go sugar-free. 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.

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.

By shutting out light, and enclosing to increase the ambient temperature, the stems grow tall in search of light. The lack of light also reduces the oxalic acid in the stems. Oxalic acid gives rhubarb it's sour taste so forced rhubarb is sweeter than when left to it's own devices.

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.

Is stewed rhubarb a laxative? ›

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.

Rhubarb is a good source of antioxidants, vitamin K, and fiber. It's also rich in calcium oxalate, so if you're prone to kidney stones, it might be best to avoid. Rhubarb is a vegetable known for its reddish stalks and sour taste.

However, you don't necessarily have to cook with rhubarb with a heap of sugar in order for it to taste good. Because rhubarb is mainly used for desserts it's often mistaken to be a fruit. However, it is in fact a perennial vegetable which is quite easy to grow.

Sweetness: From sugar, honey, fruits or otherwise, sweetness will counteract bitter and sour flavours. It can also be used to cut down the heat of a particularly spicy meal. Saltiness: Salt plays two very important roles in flavouring a dish. Firstly, it balances against bitterness.

Spices mask bitter flavors, so don't be shy. Add some spicy peppers or powders to your cooking, or sprinkle some onto your dishes for a little bit of extra heat. Black pepper in particular has compounds that counteract bitterness. Some other great spices include cayenne, red pepper, paprika, and chili powder.

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.

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.

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.