These days, I read mostly cookbooks, specifically baking books and baking science books. I definitely should be able to find more time to read, but somehow making time for reading doesn't come as easy as it used to. I still relish lengthy metro commutes because these long rides are an opportunity for me to read, uninterrupted for a "long" period of time, usually 20 minutes tops. It's not much, but I'll take it because what else could I possibly do on a boring metro ride?

Metro rides are also "unplugged" which means I can really focus on my reading without the temptation of checking my Instagram feed or seeing if anybody's sent me an email. Sadly, I'm having trouble getting back into the habit of reading at night. Instead of flipping open a book before bed, I turn on the television so I can watch a little Netflix to unwind. It's so lazy and so easy. I am tempted to write Netflix an angry letter about it...

It's my own fault for thoughtlessly turning on the tv instead of curling up with a good book. Still, I feel the need to blame somebody other than me. I contemplated cancelling my Netflix subscription and throwing out my tv almost monthly. I could be one of those tv-less people. I am in awe of their ability to live without a television. It must be so liberating! Imagine all the books they must read in a year! Who am I kidding? They probably watch Netflix just as much as I do, except on the smaller laptop screen.

So, I dream of leisurely breakfasts of multigrain waffles with tea-roasted rhubarb while comfortably reading the newspaper or a book at the dining room table like a civilized grownup, but I'll have to settle for reality: eating waffles in the morning in front of the computer, while checking my email and mindlessly scrolling through my Facebook feed, or in the evening, while lazily watching Netflix, all the while feeling incredibly guilty because I really should be reading a good book. At least I have waffles.

If you are a fan of rhubarb, check out my best rhubarb recipes to find more ways of cooking and baking with rhubarb! There are loads of recipes to check out, like this rhubarb cake recipe, a rhubarb jam recipe flavoured with juniper berries, mini rhubarb scones, and many more! Don't forget, roasted rhubarb makes a great filling in this rhubarb chocolate tart.

This roasted rhubarb recipe makes a great waffle and also a fruit pancake topping. You can also serve it on ice cream for dessert.

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Multigrain Waffles

Combining lots of different flours into a batch of waffles makes really flavourful multigrain waffles that are treat year round. 

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 12 waffles

Calories 180kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• Waffle maker
• OXO balloon whisk

Ingredients

• 125 grams whole wheat pastry flour
• 31 grams whole wheat bread flour
• 31 grams oat flour
• 31 grams whole grain spelt flour
• 16 grams millet flour
• 16 grams rye flour
• 10 mL baking powder
• 3.75 mL baking soda
• 2.5 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 5 mL ground cardamom
• 250 mL sour cream (14% fat)
• 250 mL whole milk (3.25 % fat)
• 3 large egg(s)
• 50 grams muscovado sugar
• 5 mL pure vanilla extract
• 58 grams unsalted butter melted and cooled slightly
• Cooking spray or melted butter to grease the waffle iron

Metric - US

Instructions

• In a large bowl, whisk together all the flours with the baking powder, baking soda, salt, and ground cardamom. Set aside
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the sour cream, whole milk, eggs, muscavado sugar, and the vanilla.
• Pour the wet ingredients over the dry, then stir to combine.
• Let the batter sit for 30 minutes, then fold in the melted butter.
• Preheat a waffle iron. Grease the waffle iron then cook waffles according to waffle maker instructions. The amount of batter per waffle varies according to the capacity of the waffle iron.
• Keep the cooked waffles on a cookie sheet in a preheated low temperature oven until you are ready to serve.

Notes

• The number of waffles you make is entirely dependent on the type of waffle maker you use and the amount of batter per waffle.
  These multigrain waffles are hearty and best served the day they are made.
• This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
• Calories calculated for 1 waffle

Nutrition

Calories: 180kcal

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Roasted Rhubarb

Did you know that you can roast rhubarb? Roasted rhubarb makes a great spring topping for pancakes and waffles (or ice cream). 

Course Breakfast

Cuisine British

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Calories 120kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Ingredients

• 250 mL boiling water
• 5 mL loose leaf Earl Grey tea
• 454 grams fresh rhubarb trimmed, washed, and cut into 3 inch pieces
• 3 fresh strawberries halved
• 100 grams granulated sugar

Metric - US

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C).
• In a heatproof cup or mug, combine the boiling water with the tea leaves. Let steep for 10 minutes, then strain.
• In an ovenproof dish, combine the rhubarb, strawberries, granulated sugar, and half the steeped tea.
• Bake the fruit for 15 minutes, then stir and bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes. You want the rhubarb to be firm but cooked through, and to keep it's shape.
• When the fruit is cooked, you can transfer it to a serving dish and pour the fruit-infused syrup into a small saucepan with the leftover tea. Bring it to a boil and simmer to thicken it slightly, then pour back over the cooked rhubarb.

Notes

• Tastes great served with waffles or even over vanilla ice cream!
• If serving for a brunch with the waffle recipe below, double this tea-roasted rhubarb recipe so there's plenty of rhubarb to go around.
• For this recipe, I used Kusmi Earl Grey tea leaves, available on Amazon

Nutrition

Calories: 120kcal

The post Roasted rhubarb with multigrain waffles appeared first on The Bake School.

Upside-down cakes are traditionally made with rings of canned pineapple and pink maraschino cherries to add a pop of colour and sweetness to the retro, classic fruit dessert. That makes it particularly easy to bake this type of cake year-round because you can always find canned pineapple at the grocery stores, and maraschino cherries, too, regardless of the season.

The fruit is baked on the bottom of the cake pan, underneath the cake batter. Once baked, the cake is flipped onto a serving plate to reveal the fruit layer that was hidden under the cake. This is how this dessert gets its name.

Upside-down cakes are known for being very decorative because you can take time to arrange the fruit in a pattern which bakes into the cake, anchoring the fruit in place.

The upside-down cake recipe is a perfect example of a classic recipe that you can tweak to suit the seasons with the fresh local fruit at the market. You can imagine using summer berries mid-summer, or sliced peaches or nectarines in the late summer months. And in the spring and early summer, replacing the canned pineapple with flavourful stalks of rhubarb is ideal!

What You Need To Make An Upside-Down Cake With Rhubarb

The vanilla cake batter is a variation on a pound cake recipe, also called a quatre-quarts (which is the French baking term for pound cake). The pound cake is made with roughly equal weights of flour, butter, sugar, and eggs.

The original rhubarb upside-down cake recipe first appeared in the New York Times, and I started baking this rhubarb raspberry version in 2011. I've since converted it to metric weights and done a little tweaking based on my experience. Here's what you need to make my version:

• butter—use unsalted butter or cut back on the salt if you are using salted
• sugar—we are using white sugar in the cake batter so that the vanilla flavour shines and brown sugar in the quick caramel sauce for flavour
• flour—instead of using cake flour, we are using a combination of all-purpose flour plus ground almonds to reduce the gluten and create a moist, tender cake
• leavening—the cake layer is made with baking powder not baking soda. Read about baking soda versus baking powder if you are unsure the difference.
• salt—I always bake with Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using table salt, add half the amount to avoid making the cake too salty
• fruit—I used a combination of rhubarb and raspberries to create a more vibrant pink fruit layer that is bright in colour and flavour and that can stand up against the sweet vanilla sour cream cake layer
• cornstarch—there's a little cornstarch added to the fruit to help the juices gel so that the fruit topping is not so liquid because both rhubarb and raspberries have a lot of water in them
• sour cream—always use full-fat sour cream if you can for the best cake texture
• eggs—I bake with large eggs. Using smaller or larger eggs may affect the texture of the cake

Please see the recipe card for the exact ingredients and quantities.

Substitutions And Variations

How To Make The Best Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake

Step 1—Combine the sugar and cornstarch first (image 1) and mix it really well with a whisk to eliminate any clumps of cornstarch (image 2) before adding in your fruit (image 3). Let the fruit sit to macerate and draw out some of the juices.

Step 2—Combine the butter and brown sugar (image 4) in a small saucepan and heat them until bubbly and boiling (image 5) before transferring to your cake pan (image 6).

Note: you can either use a 9-inch springform pan that is buttered and lined with parchment or you can use a 9-inch round cake pan with 3-inch straight sides

Step 3—Whip the butter and sugar for several minutes until really light and fluffy (image 7) before adding the eggs, one at a time, and the vanilla (image 8). Whip the mixture really well to incorporate air (image 9).

Step 4—In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, ground almonds, leavening, and salt (image 10), then add one third of it to the mixer at a time (image 11), alternating with the sour cream, half at a time (image 12). You will end up with a thick, fluffy cake batter (image 13).

Step 5—Arrange the macerated fruit over the caramel layer in a decorative pattern in your springform (image 14). Dollop the batter over top and spread it from edge to edge with a mini offset spatula (image 15). Bake the cake until the top is an even, deep golden-brown and a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean (image 16).

How To Flip An Upside-Down Cake

You can't cool the cake completely in the springform because we need to be able to unmould it: otherwise, the cake will adhere to the sides of the pan, and the fruit syrup will set and stick to the parchment if the cake gets too cold.

For this reason, you can only cool the cake briefly in the pan, just long enough to be able to handle it. Fifteen to thirty minutes is all you need to wait before flipping it onto a serving plate:

• Run a knife around the edges between the cake and the pan to ensure the cake isn't stuck to the edges
• Place a large plate over the pan
• Place your left palm flat under the cake pan, and place your right palm flat on top of the plate to hold them together (or vice-versa)
• Flip swiftly, maintaining the pressure of your palms on the plate and the pan. Don't hesitate. Just do it!
• Set the plate down on your counter
• Lift the pan upwards slowly with both hands, gently, to release it (or unlock the buckle of the springform to release the sides, then carefully release the springform base and parchment off the fruit layer)
• If any fruit sticks to the parchment, don't panic! Just transfer them back where they belong!

With upside-down cakes, it's important to take the time to melt the sugar for the fruit layer, which helps reduce sugar crystallization when the cake is baked. The thing to note is that your brown sugar quick caramel may crystallize in the pan while you prepare the rest of the cake. If this happens, don't panic. The cake takes so long to bake, and with the fruit juices, the caramel will dissolve because both the rhubarb and the raspberries contain a lot of water.

On the other hand, for a pineapple upside-down cake, you may have to take extra steps to prevent crystallization because the fruit isn't as juicy. A squeeze of lemon juice added to the brown sugar mixture when it's on the stove can help, as can a spoonful of honey, both of which help prevent crystallization of sugar syrups.

Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake Baking FAQs

Other Rhubarb Recipes

Rhubarb is such an interesting ingredient because it is so sour. If you've got some, here are some more great rhubarb recipes to bake this spring:

If you tried this recipe for the best rhubarb upside-down cake with raspberries (or any other recipe on my website), please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!

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Rhubarb Raspberry Upside-down Cake

This moist rhubarb raspberry upside-down cake is made with ground almonds to lighten the cake layer and raspberries to add colour to the fruit layer.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour 45 minutes minutes

Total Time 2 hours hours 10 minutes minutes

Servings 12

Calories 452kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• OXO balloon whisk
• 9-in springform
• Braun mixer
• GIR spatula

Ingredients

For the quick caramel sauce

• 58 grams unsalted butter
• 100 grams light brown sugar

For the fruit layer

• 450 grams fresh rhubarb cut into pieces to help them fit the springform from about ½ to 4 inches
• 170 grams fresh raspberries or frozen
• 100 grams granulated sugar
• 10 mL cornstarch

For the cake layer

• 190 grams bleached all-purpose flour
• 50 grams ground almonds
• 6.25 mL baking powder
• 0.625 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 230 grams unsalted butter room temperature
• 250 grams granulated sugar
• 5 mL pure vanilla extract
• 4 large egg(s) room temperature
• 80 mL sour cream (14% fat) or full-fat Greek yogurt

Metric - US

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 325°F (165 °C).
• Prepare a 9-inch springform pan by lining the bottom with parchment (I basically cut a large square of paper, place it on the base, then clip the sides over so that the paper runs right through the springform). Butter the paper and the sides of the springform pan. Wrap the outside of the pan with 2 large sheets of aluminum foil (in case your springform is as leaky as mine is). Set aside.

Make the quick caramel sauce

• In a small saucepan, melt the butter and brown sugar until it gets bubbly. Let it bubble for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
• Pull the pan off the heat and pour the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Smooth it out so that it forms an even layer. Set aside.

Prepare the fruit

• In a medium bowl, combine the fruit with the granulated sugar and cornstarch. Mix it carefully to not damage the raspberries too much, and let it sit. Stir the fruit every few minutes to evenly distribute the starch and sugar.

Make the cake batter

• Whisk together the flour, ground almonds, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Set them aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and the granulated sugar.
• Add the vanilla, and then the eggs, one at a time, beating well, and scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Don’t worry if the batter looks curdled at this point.
• Alternately, add the dry ingredients (one-third at a time) and the sour cream (half at a time), beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Be sure to scrape down the sides and the bottom of the bowl occasionally.

Assemble the upside-down cake and bake

• Arrange the fruits evenly on top of the sugar layer (either decoratively or just neatly arrange them to fit snuggly). Pour the juices over the fruit.
• Dollop the cake batter carefully over the fruit being sure to smooth the top without disturbing the fruit layer. Bang the pan on the counter so as to remove any air pockets (you could also swirl a knife through carefully to remove any air pockets, just be sure to avoid the fruits at the bottom).
• Bake for 1 hour 40 minutes to 1 hour 50 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Because the cake is tall, it takes a long time to bake the middle so make sure you bake it for long enough!
• Let the cake cool for 15 minutes in the pan, then place your serving plate over top, and flip it very carefully because the fruit juices are boiling hot! Set the plate on a wire rack to cool completely. Do not let the cake cool in the pan because the fruits and juices will stick to the bottom, and you’ll have a hard time getting it out after.

Notes

• You can either use a 9-inch springform pan that is buttered and lined with parchment or you can use a 9-inch round cake pan with 3-inch straight sides
• Substitutions and variations:
  • This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
  • Yogurt—If you don't have sour cream, a baking substitution you can try is to replace it with the same volume of full-fat Greek yogurt (around 10 % fat if possible). Low-fat works too, but reducing the fat may lead to a drier cake or affect the texture.
  • Strawberries—I love to combine raspberries with rhubarb, but if you prefer, strawberries will work too. Try to stick to the total weight of fruit for your rhubarb and strawberries. Otherwise, you may run into trouble getting the cake properly baked.
  • Plain rhubarb—I have baked this recipe without the raspberries with 1 pound (454 grams) of fresh rhubarb, and it worked perfectly. The fruit layer was a bit more beige and lacked the vibrancy of the pink raspberries, but the flavour was still great!
  • Pistachio or hazelnut—you can replace the ground almonds with ground pistachios or hazelnuts. For a nut-free version, try ground pumpkin seeds (like in this moist rhubarb cake made with pumpkin seeds!) or even sunflower seeds.
  • Cake flour—you can replace the weight of nuts plus all-purpose flour with the same weight of cake flour, as in the original recipe. Cake flour is a softer, finer flour that has more starch and less protein than all-purpose. 

Nutrition

Calories: 452kcal | Carbohydrates: 55g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 25g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Cholesterol: 110mg | Sodium: 54mg | Potassium: 244mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 39g | Vitamin A: 763IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 98mg | Iron: 1mg

The post Rhubarb Raspberry Upside-Down Cake appeared first on The Bake School.

Sometimes, the secret to a moist cake can be less flour, or replacing a portion of the flour with a flour alternative, like a starch (cornstarch, for example) or even ground nuts. The ground nuts add texture to the cake crumb and lighten it in a way that flour can't achieve.

A careful swap of a portion of the flour with some ground almonds, ground hazelnuts, or ground pumpkin seeds can lead to cakes with a very tender, moist crumb and a light texture. This works beautifully in these rhubarb sour cream muffins and the gorgeous rhubarb upside-down cake, made with ground almonds, and in the recipe below with pumpkin seeds!

What You Need

• rhubarb—use fresh or frozen rhubarb. I use chopped rhubarb in the cake and sliced rhubarb for the top
• pumpkin seeds—use raw, untoasted pumpkin seeds
• butter—I bake with unsalted butter. If using salted, you may want to add less salt to the cake to compensate
• sugar—I used granulated sugar, but brown sugar will also work great
• eggs—I always bake with large eggs. Using a different size of eggs may affect the texture
• leavening—we are using baking powder in this cake, not baking soda. Please read about the difference between baking powder and baking soda if you are unsure
• sour cream provides a slight acidity to cake batters, which in turn inhibits gluten formation. Reducing gluten results in more tender baked goods that are softer and moister. Please use full-fat sour cream (14 % fat) for the best cake texture
• salt—I bake with Diamond Crystal Fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the cake may be too salty

Please see the recipe card for the exact ingredients and quantities.

Substitutions And Variations

Like with any recipe, baking substitutions can be tricky, but I have a few suggestions:

• Nuts—I realize that the ground pumpkin seeds are a little unusual, so feel free to replace them with your favourite ground nut or even sunflower seeds. Ground almonds or ground hazelnuts would be perfect here. Pistachios would be excellent! Replace the ground pumpkin seeds with the same weight.
• Greek yogurt—for the sour cream, you can replace it with the same volume of full-fat plain Greek yogurt. Low-fat would probably work too, but your recipe will have less fat, and I can't guarantee that it will work out the same.

How To Make A Moist Rhubarb Cake

Step 1—Combine all the dry ingredients, including the pumpkin seeds in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal S-blade (image 1). Process the mixture until the pumpkin seeds are fairly finely ground (image 2).

Step 2—Cream the butter with the sugar until very light (image 3) before adding the eggs (one at a time) and vanilla (image 4). Whip the mixture until it is very light and fluffy (image 5). You want to incorporate a lot of air!

Note: When you are taking away flour from a recipe, even if it's a fraction that is removed, the key to this making the cake light and fluffy is beating the butter and sugar for a very long time (like 4 minutes), and then beating in the eggs, one at a time, and then 4 minutes more after they are all added. The resulting batter at this stage is emulsified nicely and extremely light and fluffy, resembling soft whipped cream. Don't even bother moving forward with the recipe until you achieve that texture.

Step 3—Add half the dry ingredients to the mixer (image 6) and stir them in before adding the sour cream (image 7), then mix in the last of the dry ingredients to create a thick batter (image 8). Stir in the chopped rhubarb (image 9).

Step 4—Transfer the rhubarb sour cream cake batter to a prepared square cake pan (mine is non-stick, so I buttered it then lined it with parchment paper, leaving an overhang). Arrange logs of rhubarb decoratively in a cross-hatch pattern or weave, sprinkle generously with sugar (image 10), and bake until golden brown (image 11). Use a cake tester to make sure it's done.

Tip—make sure the logs of rhubarb on the top aren't too thin because they become thinner and a little tough to bite through when baked.

The resulting rhubarb cake is very moist and full of rhubarb chunks that go so well in this sweet, nutty cake. It's absolutely addictive and the perfect cake to bake with rhubarb this season. This rhubarb cake is quite different than the rhubarb pudding cake (with rhubarb compote baked under a thick layer of cake) and the orange cake made with cornmeal and topped with rhubarb.

Baking With Rhubarb Tip: Metal And Rhubarb Don't Play Well Together

When you're baking with rhubarb, keep in mind that rhubarb is quite acidic. You need to consider the material of your cake pan or bakeware, especially for recipes where the rhubarb may come into direct contact with the pan. I used a square 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom, but I found the rhubarb chunks in the cake discoloured the stainless steel finish in places. So even though I used a stainless steel pan for this recipe, it might be more appropriate to bake it in a coated stainless steel, ceramic, or even glass pan to avoid discolouring your pan. You may have to adjust the baking time accordingly since glass, for example, is insulating and slower to heat up, which means your cake will take a little longer to bake.

Regardless of whether your pan has a special coating on it (ceramic or non-stick) or not, be sure to take the time to prepare the pan before baking: grease the pan, and dust the sides with flour or line with parchment. If the pan doesn't have a coating on it, line the bottom with parchment with an overhang to avoid the rhubarb reacting with the metal as much as possible.

Serving Suggestions

I like to serve this cake plain, but also with lightly-sweetened whipped cream. This maple whipped cream would also be lovely paired with this rhubarb cake. And you can also serve it à la mode with a scoop of cardamom ice cream.

Other Rhubarb Recipes

I love to bake with rhubarb. The tart flavour of rhubarb allows it to pair nicely in sweet baked goods like these rhubarb recipes:

If you tried this recipe for the best moist rhubarb cake (or any other recipe on my website), please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!

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Moist Rhubarb Cake with Pumpkin Seeds

This rhubarb pumpkin seed cake reminds me of a giant financier, it's nutty and moist, and full of rhubarb.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American, French

Prep Time 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour 25 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 50 minutes minutes

Servings 9 pieces

Calories 367kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• 9x9-inch pan
• Mini processor
• 5-quart KitchenAid Artisan mixer
• Mini offset

Ingredients

• 450 grams fresh rhubarb washed and trimmed
• 156 grams bleached all-purpose flour
• 108 grams pumpkin seeds
• 5 mL baking powder
• 3.75 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 153 grams unsalted butter room temperature
• 150 grams granulated sugar
• 2 large egg(s)
• 5 mL pure vanilla extract
• 65 mL sour cream (14% fat)
• 30 mL granulated sugar

Metric - US

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C). Butter a 9x9-inch (23x23-cm) square pan (preferably non-reactive and non-stick). Line with parchment paper leaving an overhang. Set aside.
• Slice rhubarb in half, lengthwise (or even in quarters for thicker stalks of rhubarb) and then into 2 ½" pieces. Select about 27–36 of the prettiest and set them aside for the top of the cake. Chop the rest into ½" pieces. Set aside.
• In a food processor (like this KitchenAid on Amazon), pulse together the flour, pumpkin seeds, baking powder, and salt until the seeds are finely ground and the dry ingredients are evenly mixed.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (like this KitchenAid on Amazon), cream together the butter and sugar, then beat them together on medium-high speed for a full 4 minutes, until light and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl as needed with a spatula. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition. Then add the vanilla, and beat the mixture again for another 4 minutes on medium-high until it's very pale, light (like soft whipped cream).
• With the mixer on low, add half the dry ingredients, mix them in, then add the sour cream. Scrape down the bowl again, then add the rest of the dry ingredients, and stir just to combine. Take the bowl off the stand, then fold in the ½" rhubarb pieces with a spatula. The batter will be very thick.
• Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, smearing and pressing it into the corners and edges of the pan. Then arrange the reserved sticks of rhubarb on the top into a pattern (see picture). Sprinkle with 2 tablespoon granulated sugar. If you are using a pan with a removable bottom, place it on a baking sheet.
• Bake the cake until the edges are nicely browned, and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. This takes about an hour (more or less).
• Let cool before serving. Unmold after about 20 minutes. Cut into squares once cooled.

Notes

• This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
• You can replace the sour cream with full-fat Greek yogurt (around 9 % fat or more).
• Substitute light brown sugar for granulated sugar in the cake batter (same weight).
• Use ground almonds, hazelnuts, or pistachios in place of pumpkin seeds (same weight). Or you can use sunflower seeds if you'd like to keep the cake nut-free.
• Beware of baking in aluminum pans: the rhubarb is acidic and can cause the pan to blacken in places if the aluminum pan is uncoated (or not anodized). 

Nutrition

Calories: 367kcal | Carbohydrates: 37g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 77mg | Sodium: 221mg | Potassium: 343mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 21g | Vitamin A: 574IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 92mg | Iron: 2mg

This rhubarb cake recipe was adapted from the April 2015 issue of Bon Appétit magazine, page 66. You can find a version online here: Bon Appétit recipe,

The post Moist Rhubarb Cake appeared first on The Bake School.

If you ever wished that your strawberry rhubarb muffins had more rhubarb and less strawberry, this rhubarb muffin recipe is for you! I came up with this variation because I was tired of the strawberry-rhubarb pairing. I wanted a muffin where the rhubarb shines!

This recipe for these rhubarb sour cream muffins is almost identical to the honey blueberry muffins I mentioned earlier, but with a few key differences:

1. I reduced the all-purpose flour by 60 grams (½ cup) in the batter and replaced it with the same portion of ground almonds, adding 50 grams (½ cup)
2. I used sour cream instead of buttermilk. Both are acidic ingredients commonly used in baking, but remember that cultured buttermilk has virtually no fat, while sour cream has 14 %, so sour cream leads to a rich, more tender muffin. I added 125 mL (½ cup) of sour cream, but you can use 80 mL (⅓ cup) of buttermilk if you prefer
3. I used slightly more fruit, by weight, to ensure there was enough rhubarb in almost every bite without making the batter too wet. If you want to make strawberry rhubarb muffins, replace half the weight of rhubarb with strawberries, and you can follow this recipe for strawberry rhubarb muffins with streusel topping

What You Need To Make Muffins With Rhubarb

This recipe is based on my formula for the best fruit muffins. Here's what you need to make muffins with rhubarb:

• flour mixed with ground almond to reduce the gluten protein in the recipe making a slightly denser, but also more tender muffin
• large eggs—don't use small eggs as the muffins may end up dry
• sugar—sometimes I use a little less, and other times, I may substitute a portion of sugar for liquid sugar, like honey
• butter—I prefer baking with butter, but if you must make a baking substitution here, use 80 mL (⅓ cup) of canola oil, for example. You could use up to 125 mL (½ cup) oil, but this might lead to a more delicate muffin. It all depends on what you are going for!
• sour cream—you could use buttermilk, but sour cream adds so much flavour and richness to the muffin batter. I'm obsessed!
• leavening—both baking powder and baking soda are the chemical leaveners I add to this muffin recipe. You need the baking soda in this recipe because these muffins have sour cream, an acidic ingredient in the recipe. The baking soda helps neutralize the acid so that the baking powder can do its job
• rhubarb—we are working with chopped rhubarb, fresh or frozen, but you can use a mix of strawberries and rhubarb to make these strawberry rhubarb muffins with streusel topping. Remember, too much fruit can lead to muffins that are wet, hard to eat, that may collapse when they cool, and that lack structure, falling apart easily.
• cinnamon—sometimes I add a little cinnamon to the streusel, sometimes I don't. It's optional and up to you, but I find the cinnamon is a nice touch!

Tip: Read about baking soda versus baking powder if you aren't sure what the difference is between them!

Please see the recipe card for the exact ingredients and quantities.

How To Make Rhubarb Streusel Muffins

For these sour cream muffins, we are using a two-bowl method, but with a twist: working the butter into the dry ingredients before adding the wet ingredients to create a tender muffin and prevent gluten from forming. Here's how you make these rhubarb streusel muffins:

Step 1—Make the streusel topping by first combining the flour, sugar, cinnamon (if using), and salt (image 1) until evenly mixed (image 2) before adding the melted butter (image 3). Stir until the mixture clumps and looks like wet sand (image 4)

Note: You can make the streusel without cinnamon or with a different spice (or blend of spices like pumpkin pie spices or apple pie spice blend). The colour of the streusel will be different depending on whether or not you add the spies to it.

Step 2—Set the streusel aside while you make the muffin batter, starting by whisking together the dry ingredients, including the sugar (image 5), before adding the chopped butter (image 6). Use your hands to work the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles cornmeal (image 7).

Note: Not only have we reduced the all-purpose flour in the dry ingredients, but we also work the butter into the flour to reduce the gluten formation. Both these tricks create a lighter muffin.

Step 3—Whisk the eggs and wet ingredients separately (image 8) and then pour it over the bowl of dry ingredients and butter (image 9), then stir everything together with your whisk to make a thick batter (image 10).

Step 4—Toss the rhubarb pieces in a small amount of flour (less than a tablespoon is enough) to coat them all (image 11). The flour will anchor the pieces in the muffin batter (image 12).

Step 5—I prefer to bake my muffins in either paper or silicone liners in a regular muffin pan. Since this recipe only makes 8, I split the batter between two 6-cup pans using a large muffin scoop, topping each muffin with a generous amount of streusel, pressing it into the top gently to anchor it (image 13). Bake until puffed, golden brown and a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean (image 14).

Making Muffins Less Tough

To bake cakes and muffins that are more tender:

• Use a flour (or blend of flours) with a lower protein content, like cake flour or a combination of all-purpose with cornstarch (a common baking substitution) or ground nuts. In this case, I opted for the latter combination with ground almonds to create a light, tasty muffin.
• Work the fat into the flour before adding the liquids. This way, you reduce the likelihood that gluten will form when the flour is combined with the wet ingredients. Remember, gluten is a network of proteins that assembles into a structure with water that is elastic and strong, and gluten is what makes baked goods tougher.

These two tricks contribute to making these muffins light, moist, and slightly dense (in a good way!).

Muffin Baking Tips For Big Muffins

The secret to bigger muffins is simple: scoop more batter per muffin cup! So while you could easily make 10 or even 12 regular or small-sized muffins with the recipe below, this time, I opted to divide the batter between 8 muffin cups to yield big, bakery-style muffins with impressive muffin tops. 

I tested if the muffins would bake more evenly, leaving a few empty muffin cups in each pan. I baked a batch of 8 big muffins split between two pans. One may assume less muffins per pan would allow for more air circulation and for the pan to heat up more evenly underneath and faster, I noticed no difference whether I filled a 6-cup pan with the batter for six muffins or 4, except that with less muffins in the pan, they were easier to unmould because it was less likely for the tops to bake into each other, fusing the edges of the tops.

Some fill empty muffin cups with water, but I don't think this is necessary either. The water would slow the heating of the muffin cups and perhaps even out the heat, but I haven't noticed any significant difference with water. That being said, if you have a preferred method for evenly baking muffins, I'm all ears! Let me know in the comments!

These big rhubarb muffins with sour cream and streusel are perfect, if you ask me: super moist, super flavourful, with a lovely texture that isn't too heavy, nor too light. This recipe yields hefty bakery-style muffins, but feel free to divide the batter to make more "smaller" muffins and just reduce the baking time accordingly. A smaller rhubarb muffin would take about 20 minutes to bake through at such a high temperature, so you'll need to keep an eye on them.

Remember, regardless of the size of the muffins you are baking, make sure to check that they are done baking before taking the pan out of the oven. Nobody likes a gummy, under-baked muffin.

More Rhubarb Recipes

You have to take advantage of the local rhubarb when it's in season. Here are some of my favourite rhubarb recipes:

If you tried this recipe for the best rhubarb muffins (or any other recipe on my website), please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!

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Rhubarb Muffins with Sour Cream and Streusel Topping

This easy recipe for rhubarb muffins is made with sour cream and has a sweet streusel crumbled on top for the perfect spring-summer muffin. These big rhubarb muffins are tender, moist, and have a cake-like texture that is perfect. 

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Prep Time 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Total Time 43 minutes minutes

Servings 8 big muffins

Calories 431kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• Muffin pan
• OXO balloon whisk
• 3-¼ oz scoop
• Cake tester

Ingredients

For the streusel topping

• 20 grams bleached all-purpose flour
• 20 grams ground almonds
• 20 grams granulated sugar or brown sugar
• 5 mL ground cinnamon optional
• 1 pinch Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 20 grams unsalted butter melted

For the muffin batter

• 200 grams granulated sugar
• 190 grams bleached all-purpose flour
• 50 grams ground almonds
• 2.5 mL baking soda
• 2.5 mL baking powder
• 2.5 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 115 grams unsalted butter room temperature, cut into small pieces
• 125 mL sour cream (14% fat)
• 2 large egg(s)
• 5 mL pure vanilla extract
• 225 grams fresh rhubarb washed and trimmed, and cut into ½-inch pieces, or you can use frozen! OR use half rhubarb, half chopped strawberries
• 8 grams bleached all-purpose flour

Metric - US

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 425 ºF (220 °C). Line two muffin pans with 8 to 10 muffin paper liners being sure to space them out between the two pans to allow better air flow.

Make the streusel topping

• In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, ground almond, sugar, salt, and cinnamon (if using).
• Add the melted butter and stir it in with a fork until the mixture forms a crumble.
• Cover and store in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it.

Make the muffin batter

• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, ground almond, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
• Add the softened butter and work it in with your hands, rubbing it in until the mixture resembles coarse sand.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the sour cream, eggs, and vanilla.
• Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and stir it in (takes about 20 stirs to get the batter mixed).
• When the batter is ready, in a medium bowl, toss the rhubarb with the 8 grams (1 tbsp) of flour. Stir so that the the fruit pieces are evenly coated with flour.
• Fold them into the batter gently with a wooden spoon or spatula to evenly distribute them.
• Divide the batter between 8 to 10 paper-lined wells of two muffin pans. If you want big muffins, you'll need 8, if you want regular-sized muffins, you'll need 10. Sprinkle with streusel.
• Bake at 425°F (220 °C) for 10 minutes, then reduce the oven to 350 °F (175 °C) to continue baking the muffins until the edges are golden brown and the texture is set. Use a cake tester inserted into the middle of a muffin to check if the muffins are baked. If you are baking 8 muffins, it will take an additional 10–15 minutes to bake them completely, if not more.

Notes

• This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
• The cinnamon in the streusel is optional. Sometimes I use it, sometimes I don't. You can also replace it with pumpkin pie spices, apple pie spice blend, or any warm spices. Cardamom could also work really nicely!
• Sour cream can be replaced with Greek yogurt (preferably with 9 or 10 % fat to mimic the fat content of full-fat sour cream).
• Take time to pile on the streusel and press it gently into the batter to cover the surface of the muffin
• Different baking methods yield different muffin tops:
  • For a “regular” muffin top: bake at 350°F for 25 to 30 minutes.
  • For a “domed” muffin top: bake at 425°F for 10 minutes, then drop the temperature setting to 350°F for the last 10 to 15 minutes.
  • For a “puffy” muffin top: refrigerate the batter overnight, then scoop it into 8 to 10 muffin paper-lined wells of a muffin pan, sprinkle with streusel topping, and bake them at 350°F for about 30 minutes.

Nutrition

Calories: 431kcal | Carbohydrates: 52g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 85mg | Sodium: 244mg | Potassium: 175mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 29g | Vitamin A: 607IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 90mg | Iron: 2mg

The post Rhubarb Muffins With Sour Cream And Streusel appeared first on The Bake School.

This tart is sinfully good and a welcome change from the usual rhubarb recipes with its unusual pairing of dark chocolate and rhubarb. Of course, if you don't love rhubarb, make the tart without it, replacing it with another jam or layer some homemade salted caramel on the bottom before topping it with ganache!

If you would prefer milk chocolate, try this raspberry chocolate tart, which is filled with a milk chocolate ganache and topped with fresh raspberries before serving.

What You Need To Make A Dark Chocolate Tart With Rhubarb

There are three major components to this chocolate dessert that you will be making: a sweet chocolate cookie crust (like a sablé dough), a dark chocolate ganache filling, and the roasted rhubarb garnish. For this recipe, you will need the following ingredients:

• butter, preferably unsalted, though salted could work here!
• icing sugar (also called powdered sugar)—icing sugar will yield a more tender crust, though granulated can work in this recipe too and yield a crust with a more sandy texture
• cocoa powder—use Dutch-processed cocoa powder for the best flavour. Natural cocoa will give the crust a more muted appearance and flavour.
• egg yolks—to help bind the dough together and make the crust a little more tender
• flour—bleached all-purpose though unbleached will work as well
• water or whole milk (3.25 % fat)—to bind the crust along with the yolk
• 70 % dark chocolate—I like to use Ocoa dark chocolate from the brand Cacao Barry. It's not as sweet as some other dark chocolate products
• whipping cream (35 % fat)—please use full-fat whipping cream
• fresh rhubarb—trim the leaves and use just the stems
• granulated sugar—to roast the rhubarb. Natural cane sugar can also work for this step
• rose water or vanilla bean paste to flavour the roasted rhubarb, optional but adds a lovely flavour to the fruit layer

Please see the recipe card for the exact ingredients and quantities.

Remember to please use good-quality chocolate for this recipe because ganache is half chocolate. Get the best type of chocolate you can with a relatively high percentage of cacao that isn't overly sweet. That will make the ganache taste so much better. I used 70 % dark chocolate from Cacao Barry. Ocoa chocolate works great in this recipe, for example!

Substitutions And Variations

The chocolate cookie crust for this rhubarb chocolate tart is similar to a pâte sucrée, but where part of the flour is replaced with cocoa powder. It's baked in a tart pan with a removable bottom. If you want an easier crust, consider making a baked graham cracker crust from graham cracker crumbs, as in this Earl Grey chocolate tart. You will have to adjust the recipe to factor the change in tart pan size.

If you prefer milk chocolate instead of dark chocolate, use the ganache from this milk chocolate ganache tart recipe made with a 41 % milk chocolate.

You can replace the rhubarb compote with rhubarb jam, either homemade or store-bought. You can also use raspberry jam if you prefer, or even caramel sauce.

How To Make A Rhubarb Ganache Tart

There are three major components to this recipe with a few steps to each. You will be making:

1. chocolate tart dough that you chill, then roll out to make your tart shell, which you will blind bake
2. homemade rhubarb compote to fill the tart (but you can replace this with jam!)
3. dark chocolate ganache

Here's how to make this tart:

Step 1—Begin by making the chocolate tart dough by first creaming together the butter, icing sugar, and cocoa powder (image 1) before adding the egg yolk (image 2) and then the flour (image 3). Flatten the dough into a disk to chill it because it is too soft to work with at this point (image 4).

Step 2—After chilling the dough, you can roll it out between parchment paper sheets with a rolling pin (image 5). Line your tart pan with the dough and trim it to fit the pan (image 6). Dock the pastry with a fork to create air vents (image 7), then bake it until completely baked through (image 8).

Tip: To unmold the crust, check out my tips for how to remove a tart from a tart pan.

Step 3—While the dough is chilling (or when the tart is baking), make the rhubarb compote by combining the chopped rhubarb with sugar (image 9) and heating it until it boils and forms a thick compote (image 10). Let cool completely before using.

Note: you can also make the compote in the oven by roasting rhubarb with sugar, but make sure to heat it enough until the compote is thick and the water has mostly evaporated, otherwise your tart will be watery.

Step 4—Make the dark chocolate ganache when all the other components have cooled, combining chopped chocolate in a small bowl (image 1) with hot cream and emulsifying with a stick blender (image 12).

Step 5—Assemble the tart by placing the baked chocolate tart shell on your serving plate, then filling it with compote (image 13) and chocolate ganache (image 14), using a mini offset spatula to smooth it out (image 15). It doesn't have to be perfect (image 16). Chill the tart in the fridge until the filling has set.

I like to dust the tart with cocoa powder and dried rose petals to decorate it.

Tips For Perfect Dark Chocolate Ganache

Because of its high cocoa content and low sugar content, dark chocolate can be tricky to transform into ganache and to work with. Here are some tips:

• Use one type of chocolate to make ganache: What I discovered from making this tart is that, though it was very convenient to use a mixture of dark chocolates to use up the odds and ends in your cupboards, the combination of chocolates makes it more difficult to achieve a perfect ganache and the ganache may split or break if you use a mixture of chocolates. 
• A 1:1 ganache is the easiest ganache to make: if this is your first ganache, make it a 50/50 ganache that is half cream, half dark chocolate, by weight. You will have an easier time melting the chocolate and emulsifying the mixture than a ganache with a higher ratio of chocolate.
• Do not overheat the cream and chocolate: if the cream is too hot, the ganache will likely split. Don't heat the cream above 80 °C and make sure it is below 80 °C when you pour it over the chocolate
• Dark chocolate with a high percentage of cacao solids and low in sugar is prone to splitting when you make ganache. This is normal. To avoid the ganache splitting, you can add 15 grams of glucose to the cream. The sugar will stabilize the ganache and help the emulsion form. This is optional but helps a lot!

Tip for what to do if your chocolate ganache breaks or separates: if you make your ganache incorrectly, you will find that as you stir it, the fats begin to separate from the creamy chocolate mixture and it just won't look right. If this happens, the emulsion of the ganache is broken, but you can fix it! Simply add a couple of tablespoons of cold milk (or even water), stir, et voilà: silky smooth chocolate ganache. It works. Trust me. This tart is proof!

Other Rhubarb Recipes

If this rhubarb tart seems like a lot of work, but you still want to bake with rhubarb, you can always make these rhubarb recipes:

• strawberry rhubarb crumble muffins
• rhubarb muffins with streusel
• rhubarb jam without pectin
• mini strawberry rhubarb crumbles 
• blueberry rhubarb crisp
• rhubarb crisp

If you tried this recipe for the best rhubarb chocolate tart (or any other recipe on my website), please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!

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Roasted Rhubarb Chocolate Tart

A decadent rhubarb chocolate tart filled with a layer of roasted rhubarb compote and topped with chocolate ganache 

Course Dessert

Cuisine French

Prep Time 45 minutes minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes

Servings 12

Calories 371kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• Rolling pin
• Tart pan
• GIR spatula
• Hand blender

Ingredients

Chocolate dough

• 84 grams unsalted butter cut into small pieces
• 63 grams icing sugar
• 25 grams Cacao Barry extra brute cocoa powder
• 1 large egg yolk(s)
• 170 grams bleached all-purpose flour
• 1.25 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 15 mL milk

Rhubarb compote

• 225 grams fresh rhubarb washed and trimmed, and cut into 10 cm lengths
• 100 grams granulated sugar
• 15 mL rose water optional
• 5 mL vanilla bean paste

Dark chocolate ganache

• 260 grams dark chocolate (70 % cocoa content) chopped
• 250 mL whipping cream (35 % fat)

Decor

• Cacao Barry extra brute cocoa powder for dusting on the finished tart before serving
• dried rose petals for decorating the tart

Metric - US

Instructions

To make the chocolate dough

• Cream together the butter, icing sugar and cocoa powder until smooth and well mixed.
• Add the egg yolk and mix it in, then add the flour and salt and mix the dough to form a crumble.
• Add the milk and mix it in to bind the dough together.
• Shape the dough into a disk and wrap it in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or until firm.
• Roll out the disk of dough between two pieces of parchment until it is 3 mm thick.
• Line a 9-inch removable bottomed tart pan with the dough and work it into the corners and edges. Trim and neaten it up.
• Chill the unbaked tart for half an hour or until very, very cold.
• Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C) while the tart base chills.
• Dock the pastry with a fork to allow steam to escape (make sure to cut all the way through).
• Place the tart on a baking sheet and blind bake the tart shell for about 20–25 minutes until the pastry is fully cooked and appears dry (not glossy). Watch for air bubbles forming under the pastry. If this happens, take a fork, a thin pairing knife, or even a cake tester to poke through the pastry, gently pressing it back in place. Once the crust has set, air pockets won't form anymore.
• Remove the tart from the oven. Let it cool before unmolding it carefully and placing it on a plate.

To make the rhubarb compote

• Combine the chopped rhubarb and sugar in a small saucepan and heat it over medium–high heat to melt the sugar and soften the rhubarb. When it boils, let the compote boil for several minutes to cook the rhubarb and boil off as much of the water as possible. Set aside to cool.

To make the chocolate ganache

• Heat the cream in a small saucepan until it is steaming hot (just below 80 °C or 175 °F), then pour it over the chopped chocolate.
• Wait two minutes for the heat to disperse, then begin to stir it from the middle, out, until you obtain a smooth, silky ganache. Use an electric stick blender to ensure the chocolate is all melted and the mixture well emulsified. (If all else fails, see above for my ganache saving tip in the notes!).

To assemble the tart

• Line the bottom of the baked tart shell with an even layer of the rhubarb compote.
• Top with ganache, smoothing it out from edge to edge. Let the tart set in the fridge for a couple of hours.
• When you are ready to serve the tart, dust the top with some cocoa powder to make it pretty and decorate with dried rose petals.

Notes

• This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
• For the dark chocolate, I used Cacao Barry Ocoa 70 % dark chocolate.
• When making dark chocolate ganache with a high percentage of cacao and low in sugar, the ganache may separate. This means the fats begin to separate from the creamy chocolate mixture. It just won't look right (might even be lumpy and greasy looking) and when you chill it, you will notice white cocoa butter drops on the surface of the ganache.
  • One way to stabilize dark chocolate ganache and prevent separation is to add a little glucose (corn syrup or even honey) to the cream. Heat the cream in this recipe with 15 grams of glucose (or corn syrup or honey) to melt it in. This should help you achieve a more stable ganache that is less prone to separating. 
  • I like to use a stick blender (hand blender) to combine the cream and chocolate. I find my ganache doesn't break when I use the stick blender.
  • Don't overheat the cream - if it's too hot, your ganache may split! Make sure it is under  80 °C before adding it to the chocolate.
  • If your ganache splits or breaks, the emulsion of the ganache is broken, but you can fix it before pouring the filling in the tart shell! Add a couple of tablespoons of cold milk at a time (or even water), stir a lot and repeat this until it comes together, et voilà: silky smooth chocolate ganache!

Nutrition

Calories: 371kcal | Carbohydrates: 37g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 56mg | Sodium: 63mg | Potassium: 281mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 20g | Vitamin A: 534IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 56mg | Iron: 4mg

The post Rhubarb Chocolate Tart appeared first on The Bake School.

Rhubarb pairs well with sweet ingredients like almonds (ground almonds, amaretto, and almond extract) and corn (such as polenta and cornmeal). The tart flavour of rhubarb also plays nicely with bright orange zest. By combining all these elements, I ultimately adapted a classic orange polenta cake recipe and topped it with rhubarb. If you don't have rhubarb, fresh blueberries or raspberries would make a fantastic replacement for these mini orange polenta cakes.

Unlike this glazed orange cake, which is made with ground almonds and is gluten-free, this orange rhubarb cake has both regular flour and cornmeal.

What You Need To Bake Rhubarb Orange Cakes

• butter—I bake with unsalted butter and add the salt myself. If using salted butter, you may want to reduce the salt in the recipe
• sugar—I like to use a combination of granulated sugar (sweet, but tasteless) and honey (with a robust flavour). Use a strong honey like Greek honey or autumn honey
• eggs—use large eggs for this recipe
• flour—I bake with bleached all-purpose flour but unbleached should work fine
• cornmeal—use a fairly finei cornmeal, otherwise the cake crumb may be too crunchy
• leavening—since the cake batter contains sour cream (an acidic baking ingredient), you will need both baking soda and baking powder for this recipe. Read about baking soda versus baking powder if you are confused about the difference
• salt—I bake with Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount
• sour cream—I prefer to bake with full-fat sour cream, not low-fat or fat-free
• flavouring—both vanilla extract and orange zest are used to flavour this sweet cornmeal cake batter.
• rhubarb—use fresh rhubarb only for this recipe. Trim the stalks and remove the leaves, splitting the stalks into thinner pieces (see photo).

Please see the recipe card for the exact ingredients and quantities.

Substitutions And Variations

How To Make Mini Rhubarb Cakes

I love baking muffins and cakes with cornmeal. These orange cakes with cornmeal and rhubarb are moist and buttery, with a light texture and a pronounced orange flavour. The rhubarb is just right for these cakes. I really hope that you will try this recipe.

Step 1—Whisk the dry ingredients, including the leavening and salt, in a small bowl (image 1) while creaming the butter, sugar, honey, and orange zest in the stand mixer bowl fitted with the paddle attachment (image 2). Then, add the eggs and vanilla (image 3). Ensure that you mix everything thoroughly to incorporate a lot of air and lighten the mixture (image 4).

Step 2—Add a third of the dry ingredients (image 5) alternating with the sour cream (image 6), stirring between each addition. You will end up with a very thick batter (image 7).

Step 3—Portion out the orange batter with a medium scoop (image 8). Divide the batter evenly between the mini loaf pans (image 10) and smooth it out from edge to edge (image 10).

Note: The pan I used to bake this recipe is a Wilton mini loaf cake pan similar to this one on Amazon. If you don't have one, feel free to use muffin pans, but you will have to adapt the size of your rhubarb pieces accordingly, and the baking time will need to be adjusted. The recipe as is would probably make 10 rhubarb muffins.

Step 4—Garnish each cake with 2-3 small pieces of rhubarb (image 11) and bake the cakes until fluffy and golden brown on the edges (image 12).

Let the cakes set before unmoulding them with a mini offset spatula..

Tips For Baking With Cornmeal And Polenta

Cornmeal, also known as polenta, is made from dried corn that is ground. The grind can range from coarse to very fine. It's important to pick the right one when you are baking:

• Coarse cornmeal, also known as coarse polenta is slower to soften when it comes in contact with moisture, which you need to know if you want to bake with it because it will likely stay crunchy and inevitably add a lot of texture to cakes and cookies if you don't give it time to hydrate. Coarse cornmeal is also useful when making homemade bagels or pizza. The cornmeal prevents the dough from sticking to the pan.
• Fine cornmeal or fine polenta will soften faster when incorporated into cake batters and so that is what I used in these orange polenta cakes because I didn't want too much texture, but I still wanted that flavour
• Don't confuse either of these with corn flour, made from dried corn or masa harina, which has been treated with a basic (alkaline) solution in a process known as nixtamalization, which affects the texture and taste. In the UK, cornflour refers to cornstarch, which adds another layer of confusion.

You can add cornmeal to various recipes to enhance both flavour and texture, as seen in the recipe below. Fine cornmeal in these chilli cheese cornbread muffins adds sweetness to balance the spicy chilli peppers and adds texture too. Cornmeal adds crunch to fritters.

Other Rhubarb Baking Recipes

And if you need more things to bake with a bumper crop of rhubarb, check out my best rhubarb recipes, whether you like to bake it on its own in a rhubarb lattice pie or rhubarb crumble or mixed with other berries like raspberry in this raspberry rhubarb upside down cake or strawberries in this strawberry rhubarb muffins. You can even mix it with blueberries like in this blueberry rhubarb crisp with oat crumble topping.

If you tried this recipe for the best orange rhubarb cakes (or any other recipe on my website), please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!

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Orange Rhubarb Cakes

These orange cakes are made with cornmeal and topped with rhubarb. The cake batter includes greek yogurt so they are moist, buttery, fluffy with a light texture and a lovely orange flavour.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 35 minutes minutes

Servings 9

Calories 267kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• Mini loaf pan
• 5-quart KitchenAid Artisan mixer
• Mini offset
• Cake tester

Ingredients

• 94 grams bleached all-purpose flour
• 100 grams fine cornmeal
• 5 mL baking powder
• 1.25 mL baking soda
• 1.25 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 115 grams unsalted butter room temperature
• 100 grams granulated sugar
• 2 large egg(s)
• 85 grams honey
• 5 mL pure vanilla extract
• 15 mL orange zest
• 60 mL sour cream (14% fat) or full-fat Greek yogurt or labneh
• 145 grams fresh rhubarb sliced into 27 thin logs of about 2–3"

Metric - US

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350ºF (175 °C). Grease and flour a 9-cavity mini loaf pan (like this one from Wilton on Amazon).
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and the salt. Set aside
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter with the granulated sugar for 2 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating between each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed.
• Add the honey, the vanilla, and the zest, and beat it all in well.
• Add half the dry mixture to the mixer bowl and stir it in on low. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then add the labneh, mix again, then add the rest of the dry ingredients.
• Divide the mixture between the greased & floured cavities, smoothing each with a mini offset spatula (like my fave Ateco spatula on Amazon) or the back of a spoon. Top each with 3 strips of rhubarb.
• Bake until a skewer inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean and the edges of the cakes are golden. This takes about 20 minutes or so.
• Let the cakes cool at least 10 minutes before unmolding them carefully with the help of an offset spatula.

Notes

• Substitutions (With most substitutions, you will have to retest the recipe to ensure it works. Tread carefully and take notes!)
  • Greek yogurt—replace the sour cream with the same amount of Greek yogurt (preferably with 9–10 % fat content). Don't use low-fat Greek yogurt, though it will work just fine, but could result in a dryer texture.
  • Citrus—replace the orange zest with any citrus zest, like lemon or clementine or mandarine. I don't think grapefruit zest has enough flavour but it's worth a try.
  • Almond—you could replace the cornmeal with ground almonds.
  • Glaze—if you want to glaze these, make the orange glaze from this orange almond cake recipe or this orange poppy seed cake. Brush it on top of the cakes
• Make sure to take the time to prepare the cake pans properly by applying a thin layer of softened butter and dusting with flour
• This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!

Nutrition

Calories: 267kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.4g | Cholesterol: 64mg | Sodium: 105mg | Potassium: 181mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 20g | Vitamin A: 392IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 57mg | Iron: 1mg

The post Orange Rhubarb Cakes appeared first on The Bake School.

I like to dedicate the late spring and summer months to preserving the season, making small batches of jam whenever I have the chance. In the late spring, I usually make honey apricot jam and this rhubarb jam, whereas later in the summer, I focus on blueberry jam, strawberry and red currant jam, plum jam, and even jalapeño jam.

Ingredients To Make Small Batch Rhubarb Jam

The beauty of making jam at home is that all you need are two ingredients: fruit and sugar:

• Fruit: Use either fresh or frozen rhubarb, chopped into 1–2 inch pieces.
• Sugar: Use granulated sugar for the cleanest rhubarb flavour. Brown sugar, honey, or maple syrup would alter the flavour quite a bit and I don't recommend using them.
• Flavour: Add a vanilla bean, sliced open so that the seeds infuse the jam OR add some crushed juniper berries, which is what I did this time

Note: the set of pectin and jam is generally pH dependent, as is the ability to preserve and store jam. Some recipes will call for lemon juice, but I don't think it's necessary given the acidity of rhubarb. Before you dive into making this recipe, please read all about the jam setting point so you know all the tricks to determine if your jam will be set.

Please see the recipe card for the exact ingredients and quantities.

Substitutions And Variations

This recipe is flexible up to a point. You can make the following substitutions or changes:

• Fresh or frozen rhubarb: swap frozen rhubarb for fresh rhubarb, following the same steps and boiling the jam until you reach the setting point
• Flavouring: I added juniper berries because I think it's a perfect pairing with rhubarb, reinforcing the herbal, vegetal notes of rhubarb. By all means, skip it and don't use any flavour elements, or use a vanilla bean, split down the middle and added to the pot with the rhubarb and sugar. The vanilla pods will infuse the jam as it boils.

You can replace half the weight of rhubarb with the same weight of strawberries to make strawberry rhubarb jam. Follow the same directions. If your strawberries are sweet or if you prefer your jams to be less sweet, you may drop the amount of sugar to 500 grams (1 pound), which is half the weight of fruit in this recipe. Do not reduce the sugar more than this. Otherwise, you will reduce the shelf life of the jam and also the set may be looser.

How To Make Small Batch Jam

Step 1: Combine the sugar with the chopped rhubarb and flavour ingredients (vanilla, juniper berries, etc) and let them macerate for at least 30 minutes to an hour to get the rhubarb to release some of its water. The mixture will become very fluid.

Step 2: Once the mixture has macerated, heat the jam on the stove and bring it to a boil. Continue boiling and stirring continuously until you reach the jam setting point or until the jam achieves the desired texture.

Step 3: Transfer the hot jam mixture to clean jars. Fill to ¼-inch (6 mm) headspace. Clean the rim and close the lid, inverting the jars immediately for a couple of minutes before inverting back to upright to form a vacuum. Alternatively, you can boil the jars in a hot water bath for 10 full minutes at a rolling boil and then remove them. The seal should form.

Note: Use a non-reactive funnel and ladle to fill the jars with hot jam. The funnels are included in most canning kits.

Ensuring Jam Set Without Pectin

Rhubarb is low in pectin, and pectin contributes to jam set. This doesn't mean that your rhubarb jam won't set if you make a batch of rhubarb jam without pectin. But the fact that rhubarb is low in pectin does mean that you must make sure to hit the jam setting point, temperature-wise.

Use a fast-reading digital thermometer to check the temperature as the jam cooks and to make sure that every batch of jam sets properly: this way I know I've hit the jam setting point, ensuring that it will set when it cools. I like to use the Thermapen or ChefAlarm.

For jams, I aim to boil the mixture above 215 ºF (102 ºC) and up to 220 °F (104 °C). The wrinkle test or frozen plate test is another method you can use to ensure jam set. You can also check the set by lifting the spatula you are using to stir the jam above the pot to see how it drips off. If the jam drips off in sheets and doesn't look watery, it's likely going to set. After all, nobody wants runny, watery jam! This is one of the best rhubarb recipes on this blog.

To measure the temperature of the jam as it cooks, I use a Thermapen which is very fast at registering temperatures and temperature changes. This is a handheld model, and the ChefAlarm probe thermometer with a cable would be better suited for making jam because you can use it hands-free!

Storage

When it's time to use your jam, always use a clean spoon or knife to take out a serving and don't double dip into the jar of jam because you will contaminate it. Once the jar is open, you must store it in the refrigerator. Otherwise, mold may develop. An open jar of jam will last up to one month if stored in the refrigerator.

Other Rhubarb Recipes

If you love baking with rhubarb as much as I do, here are a few more rhubarb recipes to try:

If you tried this recipe for the best rhubarb jam (or any other recipe on my website), please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!

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Small-Batch Rhubarb Jam (no pectin)

This easy small batch rhubarb jam recipe is flavoured with juniper berries for a beautiful way of preserving rhubarb without pectin (includes canning instructions). This way you can enjoy this rhubarb throughout the year.

Course Breakfast

Cuisine British

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 4 cups

Calories 93kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• Big pot
• ChefAlarm thermometer
• Mason jars
• Canning kit

Ingredients

• 900 grams fresh rhubarb about 8 to 9 stalks, chopped
• 750 grams granulated sugar you can reduce the sugar to 500 grams but not less than that, if desired.
• 7.5 mL dried juniper berries roughly chopped

Metric - US

Instructions

• Wash five 250 mL jars and lids. Place the jars on a sheet pan in the oven and heat them at 250 °F (121 °C) to sterilize them while you make the jam. Keep the jars in the oven until you will use them. Keep the clean lids aside on the counter for later.
• Combine the rhubarb, sugar, and juniper berries (if using) in a large, deep pot.
• Cook the fruit and sugar mixture on medium heat to first dissolve the sugar.
• Increase the heat to medium–high and continue to cook the jam, allowing it to come to a full boil, stirring with a wooden spoon so it doesn't catch on the bottom and burn.
• The jam will bubble up high in the pot initially and then eventually settle again. Continue cooking the jam until it reaches about 217–220 °F or 103–104 °C (the jam setting point).
• Divide the jam among the jars, leaving a ¼ inch headspace. Remove air bubbles, wipe the rims clean, then cover with the lids, fingertight. If any of the jars aren't filled full, don't seal them. Instead you can cover them and enjoy them right away, storing in the fridge. You will likely fill 4 to 4.5 jars.
• Seal the closed jars according to the manufacturers recommendations. I used Bernardin jars and I boiled my jam jars for 10 minutes to seal them. You can also invert the closed jars and keep them upside down for a couple of minutes before flipping them right side up. With either method, a vacuum should form.
• Let sit 24 hours undisturbed before storing them in the pantry.

Notes

I like to check the temperature of the jam as it cooks to ensure that jam reaches the jam setting temperature point so it sets properly in the end. A probe thermometer with a longer cable like the ChefAlarm would be great for this purpose!

If you are looking for an awesome cookbook dedicated to homemade preserves, the Preservation Society book on preserves is my favourite and  it's available on Amazon.

For a less sweet jam, you can reduce the sugar to 500 grams but not less than that, if desired.

Nutrition

Calories: 93kcal

The post Small-Batch Rhubarb Jam Recipe Without Pectin appeared first on The Bake School.

These little rhubarb scones are among the best rhubarb recipes I've baked. Scone dough is so rich and lightly sweetened. It is a lovely complement to tangy pink rhubarb. Once baked, they are tender on the inside with a slightly crunchy exterior.

The baking ratio to make scones

The baking ratio for the basic scone dough is very close to the 1-2-3 biscuit ratio. I wanted something a little daintier that you could serve with lightly-sweetened whipped cream and a cup of tea. 

What you need to make these fruit scones

If you want to make cream scones with rhubarb, you will need the following ingredients:

• flour is needed to bind all the ingredients together and give the scones structure. If you don't use enough flour, your scones may spread too much as they bake. I used a combination of all-purpose and whole wheat, but you can stick to using just all-purpose, if you prefer
• granulated sugar though used sparingly in this recipe is important to help tenderize the scones and preserve them so they don't dry out too fast.
• baking powder is a complete chemical leavening agent that doesn't require any special ingredients to work, as long as you add moisture (in this case from butter and cream) and heat (when you bake the scones in the oven). Baking powder is different than baking soda. Do not use baking soda, which requires adding an acid to help baked goods rise. Read up on baking soda vs baking powder if you are unsure of the difference.
• salt is really important to balance out the sweet flavour. Don't skip it. I like to use Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt, but table salt will work, though the cookies will be saltier and you may want to halve the salt in that case.
• butter, preferably unsalted butter because you will add salt to the dough, but if you have salted, it will work. Just adjust the salt in the recipe accordingly, otherwise your cookies may be too salty
• fresh rhubarb, chopped into small pieces.
• whipping cream (35 % fat) adds moisture and fat to the dough, leading to a more tender and light scones that doesn't go stale too quickly.

Substitutions

Scone recipes are pretty simple at their core, so substitutions are limited. Here are some options to explore:

• cream vs milk: I like using whipping cream instead of whole milk to make scones because I want richer scones. Half-and-half or even whole milk can work here, but I find the extra fat in cream helps prevent these from going stale too quickly. All roads lead to making the best scones! If you want to use buttermilk, you will have to make other adjustments (see below).
• baking powder: because you will use cream as the liquid in this recipe, baking powder is the chemical leavener of choice. If you prefer to use an acidic dairy, like buttermilk, you will likely need to add a small amount of baking soda to balance out that acidity and to ensure the dough has enough leavening once in the oven.
• flour type: this recipe works with all-purpose flour, or half whole wheat, half all purpose.
• sugar: I use granulated sugar in these scones because I don't want to add too much flavour. That being said, maple sugar would be amazing in this recipe and a great compliment to the rhubarb.

Technique

Scones are easy and the list of ingredients is short, that's for sure. Still, it's important to do the steps correctly because the method to mix the ingredients has an impact on the texture of them. Overwork the dough, and they may be tougher than you would like.

Start by mixing the dry ingredients together (flour, leavening agents, and sugar) together so that they are evenly combined. Then you can add in the cubes of cold butter. Work them into the flour with your finger tips. Alternatively, you can use a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the dry mixture. The goal is to work the butter into the flour enough so that you have a crumbly mixture with pieces of butter of different sizes.

I like to add the fruit at this stage because I find it easier to mix it into the dough evenly at the dry stage, before adding the wet ingredients.

Once your fruit is evenly mixed in, you add the wet ingredients, in this case cream, and work it into the mixture to form a shaggy dough. There will be flour at the bottom still that hasn't been hydrated yet.

Dump the dough onto your work surface and use your hands or a bench scraper to help you draw the dry bits into the dough to form an even dough. You can then pat out the dough to the desired thickness. If the dough is sticking to the work surface, flour it very lightly. I usually pat it out to a little under an inch thick, which should give you 12 small scones.

At this point, you can cut out your scones with a cookie cutter or use a knife to divide into 12 equal pieces (they can be square or round scones). Then once you transfer them to your parchment-lined baking sheet, brush the tops of the scones with a little cream or milk, and the sprinkle them with turbinado sugar to add a little crunch and sweetness to the tops.

Adding fruit to scones

To incorporate fresh fruit in a recipe for scones, ideally, you would mix the fruit with the dry ingredients before adding in the liquid. So in this case, once the butter and dry ingredients are incorporated to form a crumbly mixture, then you mix in the chopped rhubarb, and finally the cream (or milk). This is the same technique used for the pear and chocolate scones and for the scones with blueberries.

Another option is to stuff the scone dough with fruit, like in these stuffed apple pie scones. This method creates a distinct fruit layer in the middle of the scone, which is quite interesting. However you choose to incorporate fresh fruit in your scones, the contrast between the rich sweet scone dough and the fresh fruit pieces is really lovely and I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

If you prefer to bake scones with dried fruit to make a more traditional fruit scone, try these date scones, which have the most delicious orange blossom icing drizzled on top.

Special equipment

Scones are easy and you don't need any small appliances to make them. Just a bowl and a whisk, and an oven to bake. It's likely you have everything you need, but here's a rundown of the tools I use to make scones:

• whisk—I like the Danish dough whisk because it's easier to clean than a balloon whisk
• scraper to help incorporate the shaggy bits of dough with the rest without warming it with your hands
• cookie cutters, either round or with a fluted edge
• large sheet pan—a half sheet pan can fit 12 scones if they aren't too big!
• pastry brush—for brushing excess flour off doughs and for brushing on cream or egg wash.

What to serve with scones

Once you've made these rhubarb tea biscuits, you can serve them with:

• whipped cream (lightly sweetened or even unsweetened)
• homemade rhubarb jam
• lime marmalade
• apricot jam
• blueberry jam

Really any homemade jam will work with these, but my preference is rhubarb jam or lime marmalade. Blueberries work surprisingly well with rhubarb, as you can see with this blueberry rhubarb crumble.

Storing scones

Cream scones like this recipe with rhubarb can be stored at room temperature. You can reheat them in the oven or a toaster oven to serve them warm, but I find that scones made with heavy cream, butter, and some sugar, don't go stale too quickly. They will last a couple of days stored in an airtight container in a cool, dry place.

You can also freeze the unbaked scones:

• Freeze the unbaked scones on a parchment-lined sheet pan until frozen solid
• Transfer to a freezer bag to store long term
• Bake from frozen—note that they will take longer to bake from frozen

You can also freeze baked scones in a freezer bag. Defrost them overnight in the refrigerator and warm in a toaster oven to serve or defrost and warm the frozen scones directly in the oven.

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Rhubarb Scones

These mini rhubarb scones are tiny rich buttery scones with fresh pink rhubarb in them!

Course Breakfast

Cuisine British

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 12

Calories 126kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• Sheet pan
• OXO balloon whisk
• Rolling pin
• Pastry brush

Ingredients

• 94 grams whole wheat all-purpose flour
• 94 grams bleached all-purpose flour
• 50 grams granulated sugar
• 7.5 mL baking powder
• 1.25 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 77 grams unsalted butter cold, diced
• 100 grams fresh rhubarb ~1.5 stalks, sliced
• 170 mL whipping cream (35 % fat) plus more for brushing on the tea biscuits before baking
• 2.5 mL pure vanilla extract
• Turbinado sugar for sprinkling on top
• rhubarb jam

Metric - US

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 400 °F (200 °C). Line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl with a whisk.
• Drop in the butter and work it in with your hands until you get a coarse crumb. Stir in the rhubarb.
• Add the cream and vanilla, and mix it in with a fork to form a rough dough. Don't overwork it.
• Drop the dough onto a lightly-floured work surface and work it with your hands just enough to gather in the dry bits and incorporate them. You can pat out the dough and fold it over a couple of times to create a little layering.
• Pat out the dough to about ¾–1 inch (1.9–2.5 cm) thick and cut with a 2-¼ inch (5.7 cm) cookie cutter.
• Transfer the scones to the baking sheets. You can press the scraps together gently to make a few extras and use up all the dough.
• Brush the scones with a little cream and sprinkle with turbinado.
• Bake for about 25 minutes until the bottoms begin to turn nice and golden. Let cool slightlly before serving with a little whipped cream and jam.

Notes

• This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
• You can also use this recipe to make 6 regular-sized scones, by patting the dough into a disk and cutting into wedges. Note that the baking time will be longer, closer to 25 or even 30 minutes.

Nutrition

Calories: 126kcal | Carbohydrates: 17g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 15mg | Sodium: 46mg | Potassium: 96mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 186IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 33mg | Iron: 1mg

Frequently asked questions

Other fruit scones to try

Adding fruit to scones is a great way to jazz them up. Here are some other recipes to try:

• apple pie scones
• blueberry scones
• pear scones with chocolate

The post Rhubarb Scones appeared first on The Bake School.

What is "rhuberry" or "bluebarb"?

Turns out, there's a name for the combination of blueberries and rhubarb, which is referred to as "bluebarb" or "rhuberry". So, if you ever come across a rhuberry pie or a bluebarb crisp, the recipe author is referring to a dessert made with both rhubarb and blueberry.

At first, this seemed like an unusual combination, but then again, blueberries have a mild flavour that really pops in sweet desserts and helps to balance stronger flavours, like astringent, mouth-puckering rhubarb.

I think I might like the combination of blueberry and rhubarb better than strawberry and rhubarb, which I baked together in these strawberry and rhubarb crumbles and these strawberry rhubarb muffins! Don't get me wrong: these are all tasty treats, but there's something more special about baking rhubarb with blueberries.

Thickeners for fruit fillings in crisps and crumbles

Just like with pies, the questions that are always up for debate are: what thickener should you use when making a fruit crisp and how much thickener is needed to thicken the fruit filling?

There are people that use no thickeners for fruit crisps and crumbles, leading to the cleanest fruit filling flavour without any risk of a potential cloudy look or starchy mouthfeel, which are both very possible since crisps are often baked for less time than pies. The filling for this apple crisp is made without a thickener. This also means that you may end up with a "soupier" fruit filling, depending on the fruit, the ripeness, the bake time, and also the volume of berries/rhubarb used.

There are other people that opt to use very small amounts of thickeners, like flour, cornstarch, or even arrowroot or tapioca starch.

Small amounts of thickener are great for setting less juicy pies like this wine-poached pear pie, this whiskey peach pie, or this maple apple pie. And small amounts of thickener work well for adding a little body to a saucy fruit crisp, like the one pictured here.

This rhubarb crumble was thickened with cornstarch and if you let the crumble cool down completely, the juices are quite set and the filling remains clear (not opaque).

Make sure the filling boils and cools down properly to achieve the proper set

In a blueberry rhubarb crisp of this size, with 2 pounds of fruit in the filling, in order for the thickener to do its job, you need to make sure the fruit filling, from edge to centre, bubbles and boils, otherwise there is no point.

It just won't gel without enough heat. Trust me. I tested shorter baking times and the results were mediocre.

The question of whether or not you use a thickener is really personal preference. For a dessert like an apple crisp for one or for these mini strawberry rhubarb crumbles, for example, you don't really need to debate the issue because you can easily get away without a thickener: apples don't contain as much water as blueberries and the smaller baking pans allow the filling to get very hot and thicken enough.

With summer fruit like blueberries and rhubarb, it's a matter of personal taste. By adding just 1 tablespoon of tapioca starch to the filling and properly bringing it up to a boil all the way to the middle, the filling will set, especially given the pectin in the blueberries will contribute to gelling the juices, if you let the dessert cool completely before serving.

If your rhubarb crisp is runny, are you sure it came to a boil in the middle? Perhaps next time you should bake it for longer and also add a little tapioca starch.

If you were to use this blueberry rhubarb filling to make a pie, inevitably, you would have to use a lot more starch, as in this rhubarb lattice pie, which required ½ cup tapioca starch to gel 2 pounds of fresh rhubarb.

Some of my best rhubarb recipes are made with just rhubarb, like this rhubarb jam, rhubarb bostock, rhubarb lattice pie, this rhubarb cake recipe (with double the rhubarb), and these mini orange cakes topped with rhubarb. Still, it's fun to mix it up too, like combining blueberries and rhubarb in this crisp, or strawberries and rhubarb in a crumble.

Things to note about marzipan

Adding marzipan to an oat crumble topping is BRILLIANT, I tell you. Then again, I might not be the most objective critique as I am pretty obsessed with addicted to marzipan. I love the stuff so much! Anyway, you can buy marzipan in bars or blocks, but be sure to buy a top quality marzipan, preferably of German origin because the Germans make great marzipan.

Buying marzipan

You know you are buying a good marzipan if they disclose the almond content on the packaging. The marzipan I buy tends to have around 50% almonds. Usually, I buy either Lübeckeror or Schluckwerder brand marzipan.

The marzipan from Schluckwerder seems to have more almond extract in it and therefore a more pronounced, bitter almond flavour, which I quite like. I used Schluckwerder marzipan for this recipe. In the past, I used Lübeckeror marzipan for the gorgeous Milk Bar style blackberry almond cake. The marzipan from Niederegger brand has 57% almonds or the Odense almond paste with 45% almonds should work too (buy it on Amazon). It's important to read the label of the marzipan because some have as little as 10–20% almonds, the rest being mostly sugar.

Baking with marzipan

The trouble with baking with marzipan is that it burns into something that is rock hard and unpleasant if you aren't careful. When I tested out this recipe the first time, I mixed together the fruit with the sugar, topped it with the marzipan crumble and baked everything together for 50 to 60 minutes. The marzipan burned on the top and the filling didn't gel properly because there wasn't enough time for the filling to boil without burning the crumble.

When I repeated the tests, I opted for a two-stage baking process: to bake the filling first for a good 45 minutes, then top the hot fruit filling with the crumble and bake for 30 more minutes to cook the crumble top. This works infinitely better. The marzipan still browns, but it's a good golden brown, not charcoal black.

Freezing instructions for rhubarb crisp

Please note that if you want to freeze this crisp, you should do so BEFORE baking. Here are the steps for freezing this recipe:

1. make the filling
2. place it in a zip-top freezer bag to seal it. Label the bag.
3. place the bag of filling in the baking dish you would have used to bake the crisp.
4. freeze the filling in the sealed bag in the baking dish so that it freezes in the shape of the dish. Once frozen solid, you can retrieve the baking dish.
5. make the crumble topping separately and place it in a zip-top freezer bag to seal it. Label and store the crumble topping in the freezer with the bag of frozen rhubarb filling.

To bake the frozen crisp

You can bake the crisp from frozen but it will take ages to properly bake and get the fruit filling to heat through and come to a boil in the middle. For this reason, I recommend defrosting the filling and the crumble in the refrigerator overnight before baking. This way you can follow the baking instructions as written.

To store the baked blueberry rhubarb crisp

I prefer to store this crisp at room temperature, wrapped with aluminum foil. I don't think it's necessary to store it in the fridge, but if it's very hot where you live, you might want to consider refrigerating the baked crisp in that case.

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Blueberry Rhubarb Crisp with Marzipan Crumble

Easy blueberry rhubarb crisp with a marzipan oat crumble makes the best summertime dessert to feed a crowd. Make sure to bake the fruit filling first so that it has time to cook and gel properly. The combination of blueberry and rhubarb is also referred to as bluebarb or rhuberry.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Servings 10

Calories 298kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• Ceramic baking dish
• GIR spatula

Ingredients

Blueberry rhubarb filling

• 100 grams light brown sugar
• 16 grams tapioca starch or cornstarch or flour (you can use up to 30 grams or ¼ cup for a thicker fruit layer)
• 50 grams granulated sugar
• 1.25 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 450 grams fresh blueberries
• 450 grams fresh rhubarb fresh, chopped

Marzipan crumble topping

• 150 grams marzipan grated
• 60 grams bleached all-purpose flour
• 50 grams granulated sugar
• 50 grams ground almonds
• 45 grams rolled oats (or large flake oats)
• 1.25 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 80 grams unsalted butter melted

Metric - US

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 375ºF (190 °C). Butter the inside of a large 10 inch baking dish that is at least 3 inches deep. 

Prepare the blueberry rhubarb filling

• In a large bowl, combine the sugars with the fine kosher salt. If you are using a thickener, mix it with the sugars to make sure it is evenly dispersed.
• Add the fruit to the bowl and toss everything together to coat evenly. Transfer to the buttered baking dish, cover with foil, and bake on the middle rack for 45 minutes, stirring after 30 minutes.

Prepare the crumble topping

• In a large bowl, stir together the grated marzipan, flour, sugar, ground almonds, rolled oats and salt. Add the melted butter and mix to form a crumble.
• When the fruit has baked for 45 minutes, take the dish out of the oven, give the fruit a gentle stir, then sprinkle the crumble topping over the fruit.
• Put the baking dish back in the oven and bake the crumble, uncovered, until it is golden brown and the filling is bubbly, about 30 more minutes.
• Let rest before serving.

Notes

• This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
• Set the baking dish on a large cookie sheet or place a cookie sheet on the rack below to catch the bubbling hot fruit juice drips as they may burn on the bottom of your oven. 

Nutrition

Calories: 298kcal

Please note this post contains affiliate links to Amazon. If you buy a product I recommend, I will get a small commission, and the price you have to pay will not change in any way.

The post Blueberry rhubarb crisp with marzipan crumble appeared first on The Bake School.

Rhubarb contains a lot of water

Rhubarb is rather deceptive: if you look at it and you cut into, it doesn't exactly seem like a juicy fruit, especially when compared to something like a plum or a peach.

Rhubarb actually does contain a lot of water. Rhubarb is almost 94% water! This means that as you bake your rhubarb pie, the cells will break down and the water will be forced out into your pie filling. All that extra water will make a very soupy rhubarb pie that is too liquidy and difficult to serve, if you aren't careful. To avoid this, you have to use the right thickener.

Thickener for rhubarb pie: tapioca starch

Like with all pie fillings, you have many options to gel all that liquid and set the filling: flour, cornstarch, quick-cooking tapioca, and tapioca starch, among many others.

For rhubarb pie, I use tapioca starch as the thickener for the filling and I recommend to use a lot of it: 60 grams (½ cup) tapioca starch to gel 2 pounds of rhubarb. And though this seems like too much tapioca starch because it is a lot more thickener than you would use for, say, an apple pie, after letting the baked pie rest/gel overnight, the set of the pie is perfect. Soft, still a touch fluid, but not soupy at all. This is the same ratio I used for to make the best blueberry pie, with a perfect set that slices beautifully.

Rhubarb pie filling ratio: use 30 grams (¼ cup) of tapioca starch to properly set every 450 grams (1 pound) of fresh rhubarb. That's the rhubarb pie filling ratio to keep in mind for future pies. It works!

In general, tapioca starch has a higher thickening power than flour, which means:

• use tapioca starch to thicken pies made with very wet fruit, like rhubarb, raspberries, blueberries, etc. For this kind of fruit, you will need a fair amount of starch (as in the recipe below)
• use tapioca starch if you want to achieve a clear set, but use sparingly for fruit that are less juicy, like in this wine-poached pear pie where I only used 1 tablespoon
• use flour as a thickener for an apple pie, like in this maple apple pie or this whiskey peach pie
• use eggs for a custard filling like in this beautiful, traditional maple syrup pie, apple butter pie, or pumpkin tarts where your filling is made from a liquid like maple syrup

Note that for crisps and crumbles, like this blueberry rhubarb crisp with oat crumble topping, I like to use less thickener because I prefer the fruit layer in these to be more "saucy" and less set.

What you need to make this pie

To make an all-butter pie dough for a double crust

This recipe requires enough pie dough for two crusts (top and bottom). To make enough dough for this double crust pie, you will need:

• all-purpose flour is the base ingredient for the crust to give it structure and to help the crust hold its shape as the pie bakes
• granulated sugar is added to the crust (just a little) to sweeten it slightly but to also help with browning
• salt is really important to balance out the sweet flavour in the filling and also to balance out the sour notes. Don't skip it. I like to use Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt, but table salt will work, though the pie dough will be saltier and you may want to halve the salt.
• butter, preferably unsalted butter because you add salt to the dough, but if you have salted, it will work. Just adjust the salt in the recipe accordingly, otherwise your pie crust may be too salty
• cold water is needed to develop some of the gluten in the flour and also to hydrate the dough.

To make the rhubarb pie filling

Because of the water content of rhubarb, making pie filling can be tricky. Here's are the ingredients you will need to make this recipe:

• fresh rhubarb, washed and trimmed—remove and discard the leaves which have a higher concentration of oxalic acid which is toxic
• sugar to sweeten the rhubarb, which can be very sour—I used a combination of maple sugar and regular granulated sugar but all granulated sugar works too
• a thickener, in this case tapioca flour (also called tapioca starch), but arrowroot flour (also called arrowroot starch) could work too
• vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract to add some depth of flavour to the rhubarb filling
• milk or an egg wash if you prefer to give the top crust more shine
• turbinado sugar, which adds a crunchy texture and sweet flavour to the top crust

Par-bake the rhubarb filling

For this rhubarb pie recipe, I used fresh rhubarb and, just like with many blueberry pie recipes, I cooked half the rhubarb to soften it and allow the juices to run, then mixed that soft rhubarb filling with more fresh rhubarb to make the ultimate rhubarb pie filling. This is a technique I picked up from Stella Parks.

Par-cooking the filling allows you to more evenly mix in the sugar which will dissolve with the sugar of the fruit and the thickener will begin to hydrate so that it gels more evenly. The goal is to avoid having a pie filling with clumps of sugar at the bottom or patches of starch.

I sweetened the filling with a mixture of granulated sugar and maple sugar (for some extra flavour) and I added a lot of vanilla, which really enhanced the filling. I also followed Stella Parks trick to add a little baking soda to the filling to reduce that astringent "spinach teeth" filling that rhubarb can leave behind. It certainly did not eliminate the issue, but I felt it was reduced. Definitely something to experiment with next time you make a rhubarb pie or a rhubarb crumble.

Easy food processor all-butter pie dough

After unsuccessfully trying other people's recipes for pie dough that have more butter to achieve a richer crust, more complicated folding techniques for better layering, and different rolling techniques, I decided to throw all those recipes out the window and to return to the pie dough that works for me. This pie dough might be less rich than some, and it's certainly not as flaky as a rough puff pastry, but you know what? This pie dough works well and is very easy to make and to use.

The dough is made in the food processor. It's extremely easy to roll and to work with, it keeps it's shape in the oven, it doesn't ooze butter as it bakes... Screw all the other recipes. This is still my go-to crust. I like it. It works well. It's forgiving. Most importantly, after hours of pie-making work, this dough doesn't leave me feeling like the worst baker on the planet like some of the others that have complicated my life over the years.

If making pie crust from scratch scares you, be sure to check out my pie crust masterclass, which includes video tutorials for making pie crust in the stand mixer, food processor, and by hand!

Special tools and equipment

Pie doesn't require that many tools if you make the dough by hand. Still, this list of equipment will make baking pies a lot easier for you. Here are some of my favourite pie tools:

• food processor—you can make the dough by hand using a bowl and your fingers, but I like the ease of making pie dough in a food processor
• pie plate—I prefer a metal pie plate because it's a better heat conductor, whereas glass is insulating
• rolling pin—I am most comfortable with a French rolling pin made out of wood. It has tapered ends and I find it easy to handle
• pastry brush—I prefer natural bristle pastry brushes, though silicone works too
• pizza cutter, also called a pizza wheel to cut out strips. You could also invest in an adjustable lattice pastry cutter, which is like five pizza wheels in one so that you can cut more strips at a time, faster and more evenly.
• large rimmed sheet pan, like a half sheet pan lined with parchment to catch the drips as the pie bakes in the oven. Trust me when I say you don't want to skip this, unless you like cleaning the floor and racks of your oven
• glass baking dish, like an 8x8 Pyrex dish to roast the rhubarb. Note that you could also do this in a saucepan on the stove, but I like the ease of just throwing the pan in the oven so that I can make the crust while the fruit is roasting.

Video demo of how to make a lattice crust

I have messed up lattice crusts so many times, I felt like it was time I took matters into my own hands and master the lattice pie crust. If you ever wondered how to make a lattice crust (or struggled like me), I have included a video to show you how to weave the lattice using raw pie dough.

The most important rule for a beautiful pie crust that holds its shape is to start with a dough that has the butter well incorporated into it, in smaller pieces. It will be a little less flaky, but the results are better for holding shapes. The texture is still crisp and light on the edges and it holds a crimp very well! I like this easy all-butter pie dough made in the food processor.

To make a lattice pie, you need enough dough to make a double-crust pie. You can vary the size and number of strips of dough you use to make a really big lattice (with just 2 or 4 strips) or a very fine lattice (with as many as 24 or more strips of dough). All roads lead to pie and hopefully only smiles (and no tears). Read about how to make a lattice pie crust for more information.

Slicing pie

This rhubarb pie filling is perfect, in my opinion. But you can't slice it right away! It's better to let the pie cool down and to give the filling time to gel and set. If you let the pie cool down completely to room temperature for at least 12 hours, the filling will thicken perfectly. You can cut a slice very cleanly from the pie with zero soupiness!

Variations

I love rhubarb pie because it's tart, but if you find rhubarb a little too sour and astringent, feel free to replace half the weight of rhubarb with strawberries.

Substitutions

Pies are tricky and you have to make substitutions carefully. Here are a few options:

• replace the maple sugar with granulated sugar or light brown sugar
• replace the tapioca starch with arrowroot starch preferably, but cornstarch should also work
• replace the homemade pie dough with a store-bought pie dough, defrosted overnight in the fridge. You will need a double crust dough, so about 700–800 grams of pie dough to do the lattice.

What to do with pie dough scraps

Inevitably, when you make a pie, you will be left with a pile of pie dough scraps. Gather them up and press them together to shape them into a disk and use them to make pie crust cookies!

Other rhubarb recipes to bake

This rhubarb pie with a lattice crust is one of the best pies I've made in a long time and one of the best rhubarb recipes on the blog. I'm hoping this double crust rhubarb pie is the first of many great pies to come.

If pie seems like too much effort right now, you have other options of recipes to bake with rhubarb:

• a plain but super comforting rhubarb crumble, this fantastic blueberry rhubarb crisp, or even these honey-sweetened strawberry rhubarb crumbles baked in ramekins
• rhubarb bostock recipe made with slices of brioche, almond cream, rhubarb jam, and fresh rhubarb
• rhubarb scones, like small tea biscuits made with rhubarb
• rhubarb jam without pectin is also a great option, if you don't have time for any of the more elaborate recipes.

Freezing instructions for rhubarb pie

Please note that if you want to freeze this pie, you can freeze it after baking. Then defrost overnight in the fridge, and warm up in the oven before serving.

If you want to freeze this pie baking, here are the steps:

1. make the filling and the dough, assemble the pie as if you were going to bake it today
2. freeze the unbaked assembled pie completely for about 1 hour until it's frozen solid
3. wrap the frozen rhubarb pie in plastic wrap tightly. Use several layers
4. wrap in aluminum foil and label the pie with what it is and today's date
5. store in freezer

Baking a frozen raw pie

You can bake the raw pie from frozen but it will take ages to properly bake the crust and get the filling to heat through and come to a boil in the middle. For this reason, I recommend defrosting the pie in the refrigerator overnight before baking. Place it on a parchment-lined sheet pan to defrost in the fridge overnight, in case some of the juices overflow.

What to serve with pie

Serve this rhubarb pie à la mode with scoops of creamy homemade ice cream! You're going to love it with:

• cardamom ice cream
• popcorn ice cream
• lemon custard ice cream

Storage

I prefer to store this pie at room temperature, wrapped with aluminum foil. I don't think it's necessary to store it in the fridge, but if it's very hot where you live, you might want to consider refrigerating the baked pie in that case.

📖 Recipe

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Best Rhubarb Pie with Lattice Crust

Here's a recipe for the best rhubarb pie with a lattice pie crust. It's perfect! The rhubarb pie filling is thickened with tapioca starch (or tapioca flour), with just the right amount to allow the juices to thicken and set without being gluey. This pie is made with an all-butter pie crust so it is flaky and tender. It rolls out easily and the pie dough is easy because it's made in the food processor. Perfect pie shouldn't be hard with this recipe!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American, British

Prep Time 1 hour hour

Cook Time 2 hours hours 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 3 hours hours 15 minutes minutes

Servings 12

Calories 323kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• 8-inch Pyrex
• Food processor
• Metal pie plate
• Pastry cutter

Ingredients

Rhubarb pie filling thickened with tapioca starch

• 900 grams fresh rhubarb
• 150 grams granulated sugar
• 150 grams maple sugar
• 60 grams tapioca starch
• 1.25 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 0.625 mL baking soda
• 15 mL pure vanilla extract

Easy all-butter pie dough made in food processor

• 312 grams bleached all-purpose flour
• 15 mL granulated sugar
• 5 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 173 grams unsalted butter cut into cubes, very cold
• 100 mL water

Optional

• 1 tablespoon whole milk (3.25 % fat)
• 1 tablespoon Turbinado sugar

Metric - US

Instructions

Start by making the rhubarb pie filling

• Preheat the oven to 400ºF (200 °C).
• Slice the rhubarb into ½-inch to 1-inch chunks. Place half of the chopped rhubarb into a 8x8 non-reactive glass baking (I used a Pyrex baking dish you can find on Amazon). Mix it with the granulated sugar, maple sugar, tapioca flour, and salt. Cover tightly with aluminum foil. 

  Bake for 30 minutes or until the fruit is soft and the juices have run.
• Remove from the oven and add baking soda. Mix well. Add the rest of the rhubarb and the vanilla, stir, and transfer to a bowl then place in freezer to chill.

Meanwhile, make the easy all-butter pie dough in the food processor

• In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade, combine the flour, sugar, and salt. Add the cold butter and pulse to form a coarse crumble.

  Add the water and pulse it in, then let the food processor run just until the dough comes together. I bought my Cuisinart Food Processor on Amazon.
• Divide the dough in two and transfer both pieces to your work surface. Shape one piece into a disk. Shape the other into a rectangle. Wrap both in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.
• After 45 minutes of chilling. Retrieve the rectangle of dough. Roll it to a 10x15 rectangle on a floured surface. Transfer to a big cookie sheet and chill again.
• Roll the disk to a 14" circle. Transfer to metal pie plate and fit it in place. Pour the chilled filling into the pie and smooth it so it's even. Place in the fridge.
  
• Retrieve the big 10x15 rectangle of dough. Cut it into at least 12 one-inch strips. Take the pie out of the fridge and place 6 strips side by side vertically. 
  
• Now weave in the other 6 strips horizontally to form a lattice (check out the video). Trim and crimp the edges.
  
• Chill the pie in the fridge for 45 minutes. Meanwhile place a large cookie sheet on the bottom rack of the oven. You will bake the pie on this sheet so make sure there's enough headspace for a pie!
• When the pie has chilled, brush the surface of the lattice with milk and sprinkle with turbinado. Bake the pie on the bottom rack on the preheated cookie sheet for 30 minutes at 400ºF (200 °C). Lower the oven temperature to 350ºF (175 °C) and continue baking until the edges and top of the pie crust are golden brown. The filling should be bubbling and very hot. This takes at least 50–60 minutes more of baking.
• Let the pie cool to room temperature, preferably overnight (even 24 hours) so that the pie sets properly before serving. 

Video

Notes

• This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!

Nutrition

Calories: 323kcal

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