I have two very good recipes that use rhubarb for those of you who like it. People that don’t even like it, like these.
Rhubarb Cake Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.
For the Batter: Stir together 2 cups flour, 1-1/4 cups sugar, 1 teaspoon baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon of salt in a large bowl. Add 2 eggs, beaten and 1 cup of sour cream and stir till smooth, then fold in 5 cups of diced rhubarb.
(This batter is very thick and barely covers the rhubarb. I thought it was ruined but comes out wonderful and light!) Pour into prepared dish and spread evenly.
For the Topping: Stir together 1 cup sugar, 1/4 cup butter, softened, in a small bowl until smooth. Add 1/4 cup flour and stir until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle on top of the batter. You can dust lightly with cinnamon if you’d like. I like it with and without it.
Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45 min. Cool cake in pan on rack for 1 hour. (I usually can’t wait that long, I like to eat it warm, sometimes with a little ice cream 🙂
Recipe #2 Rhubarb Cheesecake Smoothie
In a large saucepan, bring 2 cups of diced fresh or frozen rhubarb, 1/4 cup of water and 2 Tablespoons of sugar (or honey) to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 5 to 10 minutes, or till rhubarb is tender. Cool to room temperature.
In a blender, combine 1-1/2 cups of vanilla ice cream, 1 cup milk, 1 cup strawberries (frozen is good), 6 ounces cream cheese chunked, 1/2 cup plain yogurt, 1 teaspoon of good vanilla extract, 1/4 cup of confectioners’ sugar, 3 Tablespoons of sugar and 6 to 8 ice cubes depending on size of them. Cover and blend till desired consistency. Serve.
You can change out the fruit in this to all blueberries, raspberries, banana, peach, etc. Just don’t cook them and don’t add any water.
*My husband likes both of these recipes and HATES rhubarb. Just saying…
Rhubarb Jelly
If you like and make rhubarb jelly, I have found that if you wash and freeze the rhubarb in 1″ chunks. You can later thaw it and the juice from it is a beautiful pink and that is all you need to use to make your jelly. Just measure out the amount your recipe calls for. You don’t have to go to the trouble of cooking the rhubarb and straining the juice out. I just thaw, squeeze the rhubarb in the plastic bag to get any more out and you are ready to make jelly. Not near the mess and tastes delicious! You could use the rhubarb pieces to make the cake above. Two gifts in one! Oh yes, and when you thaw a plastic bag, whether it be Ziploc or a no name brand, please put it in a large bowl as I have found that sometimes the juice seeps out of the bag while thawing. What a mess that can be!