Rhubarb Curd

makes 2 cups

3 cups rhubarb, chopped

1 tablespoon water

2 eggs

2 egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

6 tablespoons room temperature butter, cut into tablespoon measurements

STEP 1

Cook the rhubarb and water together over low heat until the rhubarb is soft. The water is just to make sure it doesn’t burn to start off. This step takes about 20 minutes. I often do this with frozen rhubarb, so then it takes a little longer.

STEP 2

Puree the rhubarb until totally smooth - with all of the liquid that has gathered in the pan. The pour the puree back into the pan. Let this cool completely. Like possibly even do it the next day, or slip it into the fridge. If not, the next step will lead to scrambled eggs.

STEP 3

Whisk in eggs. egg yolks, and vanilla while the puree is still cold. Turn on the heat to medium low and cook until the mixture begins to bubble. Once it is hot, whisk in the sugar in a slow stream to ensure it dissolves completely. Whisk over medium heat, keeping everything hot.

STEP 4

One tablespoon at a time, whisk in the butter. Make sure each one melts before you add the next one.

STEP 5

Once all of the butter has been fully incorporated, remove from heat and let cool. The mixture should have thickened up but will still seem saucy. Once it cools completely, the curd will be more like a jelly consistency.

To assemble the meringue, make this meringue recipe into one large flat “cake” shape. Then layer the curd on top and dot the top of the curd with berries and chopped mint or basil. Serve right away!

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Basic Meringue

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The first time I made this cake it was a huge gamble. We were having guests for dinner and this was my only dessert. I had nothing else planned in the event that this was terrible. I had a guess that it would be good because it’s a version of a cake I really do love. But putting rhubarb into a cake is risky. It can be extremely sour when not prepared properly.

After thinking through the process completely I decided to use more sugar than seemed reasonable to counter the sour of the rhubarb and bring out its delicious flavor.

I don’t think I would have even considered rhubarb in this cake until we were in Sweden this past summer. Rhubarb was in full effect in EVERYTHING and I could not get enough. In Seattle, rhubarb is a spring flavor but it turns out in Sweden it’s a summer flavor. For this cake, frozen is mandatory which makes it an any season cake! I usually have frozen rhubarb from our garden or my mother-in-laws garden but you can always but it at the Whole Foods.

Rhubarb Snack Cake

makes one 9” cake

1 cup frozen rhubarb

1 1/2 cup sugar (divided)

1/2 cup butter, at room temperature

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/3 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 tablespoons turbinado sugar

STEP 1

In a small bowl combine the rhubarb and 1/2 cup of the sugar and set aside. Mix to combine and let rest until the rhubarb is defrosted and a syrup has formed around the rhubarb. Smush it a bit with a fork to mash the fruit a little. This can take as little as an hour or as long as a whole day (usually takes me 2 hours). Plan accordingly.

STEP 2

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray the bottom of a 9” pan and line with parchment paper.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine butter and remaining one cup of sugar. Cream together until a paste forms. Add the eggs and vanilla and combine.

STEP 3

Mix flour and baking soda together in a separate bowl.

Drain the liquid off the rhubarb. It should be about 1/2 cup.

STEP 4

Alternate flour, rhubarb syrup, and flour mixing into the stand mixer and combine. Remove the bowl from the mixer and stir in the rhubarb gently. Pour into the prepared 9” pan. Option to sprinkle the top with the turbinado sugar - or see glaze option below.

Bake 35-40 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool before serving.

OPTIONAL

If I don’t add the sugar to the top, I like to add a glaze. I realize there’s already an excessive amount of sugar in this small cake, but I figure what’s a little more? Mix together 1/3 cup powdered sugar and one to two teaspoons cold water. Pour over the cooled cake.

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Rhubarb Soda

Turning things into cocktails is a special skill of mine. Here’s a rhubarb cocktail in case you can’t get enough rhubarb.

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When we were in Copenhagen, Jud tried to order a soda, but we were at a very swanky restaurant - and, as I’m sure you know, swanky restaurants don’t have “soda.” Luckily the waiter recognized that a 12 year old boy was just looking for something more fun than water. So he suggested their “rhubarb soda” that they make sometimes. Jud was in - he loves rhubarb. And I turns out I loved this soda. We all did. As soon as we got home I figured out how to make it ourselves!

It’s fabulous without gin (that’s what inspired it) but even better with a good gin. I’ve had so many people tell me how much they hate gin when I tell them that’s what I drink. I’ve realized it’s because there is SO MUCH gin out there.

Here are my picks and my advice on drinking gin:

• Don’t start with an exotic flavor profile, choose a gin you’ve heard of before.

• Read labels and know what the herbs and flavorings in the gin are. If you don’t like black licorice, don’t get one with anise. If you like things that taste floral, look for gins infused with florals.

• The top three most popular are Tanqueray, Hendricks, and Sapphire. Tanqueray is the most evenly balanced with a little anise; Hendricks leans toward cucumber and floral flavors; while Sapphire is very herbal. Tanqueray is my personal favorite, but Hendricks is a popular starting place.

• The first time you try gin, mix it with tonic water or soda. A martini is not the place to start if you aren’t sure you like gin.

Spiked Rhubarb Soda

1 tablespoon Rhubarb Syrup

2 ounces gin (Hendricks or something floral)

4 ounces soda water

In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, shake together Rhubarb Syrup and gin. Pour all of the ingredients (including the ice) into a highball glass. Top with soda water.

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We just got back from a glorious two weeks in Scandinavia. For both Mr. Hedin and I, Sweden is “the homeland.” It’s where all of our great grandparents originated from - and after being there, we can totally see why they landed in Seattle. It’s identical. Our weather, our greenery, the water - it’s so reminiscent.

It was also cool to see how so many of our “Northwest Flavors” are also reflected in the foods of Scandinavia. Rhubarb was especially prominent. We usually associate rhubarb with spring here in Seattle - like right when strawberries come out in May - but the weather is a little cooler in Sweden, so the rhubarb was EVERYWHERE in mid-June. We happily ate everything we found with rhubarb, and loved a rhubarb soda that we had at Restaurant Barr.

My rhubarb at home is still going strong, so when we got home I tried to recreate something just like it. Mostly because it was delicious but also because when I took a sip of Jud’s rhubarb soda, all I wanted to do was to stir in a little gin.

Rhubarb sauce on ice cream in Copenhagen!

Restaurant Barr in Copenhagen used rhubarb perfectly throughout the whole dinner

Rhubarb Syrup

1/2 cup chopped rhubarb

1/4 cup sugar

1 cup water

In a sauce pan, bring all ingredients to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the water is reduced by half. Let cool. You can keep this in the fridge for up to one week.

If the syrup gets too thick and looks like jam, add a few tablespoons of hot water and stir (or shake it in the jar) really well. If it is still not pourable - add another tablespoon of hot water.

To make a Rhubarb Soda

In a tall glass filled with ice, add two tablespoons rhubarb syrup and top with sparkling water. Stir gently. You can add more or less rhubarb syrup as you’d like.

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Spike it!

Click below and read about how I spiked the Rhubarb Syrup with gin - and what gin to choose.

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