More Rhubarb Love

Doesn't this pie look goooood? 

Our love of all things rhubarb continues.  This is a rhubarb pie I made that spontaneously became a hybrid of pie and rhubarb crisp, simply because I didn't have enough rhubarb to mound it all up as I usually do.  Hubby wanted pie, so this is what happened. It was.... AH-MAZING!!!!!!

This was my sad attempt at making a lattice pie with a frozen "cheater crust" from the grocery store, lol.  Above it (on the right) was the gluten free version I made at the same time with our niece, Rachel.  Her crust was a simple gluten free shortbread cookie crust pressed together with butter, the filling was just the fruit with some sugar / cinnamon / cornstarch, and the topped was more cookie crumbles.  Obviously, my focus was on getting hers right.  Both tasted delicious!!

Speaking of "cheater crusts" ... I bake a mean butter tart using a similar type of (grocery story frozen) shells above, as I simply don't have the patience most days to make mini pastry shells from scratch.  This time, I baked some tarts filled with rhubarb (from our own garden!) and strawberries / blueberries... boy, they were yummy!

Finally, this is the strawberry rhubarb pie I made with our nephew Matthew last night.  Ummmm, oh man, strawberries and rhubarb are a match made in heaven.  Have I mentioned how happy we are that the rhubarb season has lasted so long this year?  

I'm going to have to freeze some, for when we need a lift from the wintertime blahs.

Aha.  You are seeing this picture correctly.  These two adorable kitties are ours.  We got them on June 4th and they have totally taken over our lives... in the very bestest and cuddliest and craziest of ways.  They deserve a post of their very own... it will be coming soon... they are very funny and photogenic at the same time.  Yup.  They bring such joy.

In the meantime, I will leave you with one more picture of our last rhubarb dessert.  Doesn't it look great on top of my Oma's crocheted table runner?  Love.  Love.  Love.

As always, I am happy to share recipes, just ask how I make 'em.

Rhubarb Love

This blogpost was originally published in 2016...

I tweaked and updated it with more recent pictures (June 23, 2020)

It's rhubarb season again.  Rhubarb is my husband's favourite fruit.  He likes it stewed, in cakes, in pies, in squares... you name it, he likes it.

Fortunately, my mom has a really terrific recipe for the simplest, stir it into one bowl recipe.  It's called "Rhubarb Stir Cake" ... I think we originally got it from my sister's MIL Judy, but I have been making it for G for YEARS.  Suffice it to say, this is the most easy, delicious recipe... below is how I have tweaked it to my taste over the years.  

It is THAT GOOD, let me tell you.

In a bowl, cream (that means just stir) 1/4 cup very soft butter and 1 1/2 cups of brown sugar until combined.  I add 1/4 cup of water to this mixture, because I usually find the dough a bit dry, and it's easier to incorporate into the batter at this point.  Add in a single egg, a teaspoon or so of cinnamon, and a generous Tbsp of vanilla and glotsch it around.

On top of the wet ingredients, measure and roughly mix in 2 1/3 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon salt. It will be very dry at this point.

Add 1 cup of sour cream and 4 generous cups of chopped fresh (or even frozen) rhubarb.  Again, stir it up with a spatula to combine it.

See how the dough comes together after awhile?

Press it into a 9x13" pan.  No grease necessary.

Now comes the topping... I usually add more rhubarb and another kind of fruit, like strawberries or raspberries to the top of the cake, whatever is seasonal or in the freezer.  

Today, I loaded it up with a generous number of frozen blueberries, because I forgot to reserve some of the rhubarb for it.  Presto change-o... that’s the beauty of this recipe.  

In fact, after having made this over and over again, I have found I can get REALLY lazy, not mix the rhubarb in, and press the thick batter into the pan and THEN top it with the rhubarb (or any mixture of fresh or frozen fruit) and then finish it with the simple topping, like this:

 

The original recipe also calls for a certain (1/3 cup?!) amount of white sugar and (measly teaspoon) cinnamon to be sprinkled on top of the cake, but I never measure it.  I just sprinkle away generously until it looks good.  I told you this is an easy peasy recipe... almost anything goes!  Ain't it purdy?

 

Or this:

The takeaway message:  this recipe is very forgiving and you can definitely play around with it.  Once I didn't have any sour cream AT ALL... so I used a combination of vanilla yogurt and (I'm not kidding!) some mayonaise and a little water to get the "one cup of sour cream" and, aha... I really did.  

And it turned out perfectly.

There's no picture of this cake fresh from the oven, no... the hubs got into it before I was able to snap a proper photo of it... ha!

This perfect little slice goes so well with a cup of coffee or tea... for breakfast, for a snack, for a church potluck, or for a surprise little treat for my dad and mom.  

Yes, this rhubarb cake is quintessentially perfect.

I suspect I'll be making more rhubarb recipes in the next few weeks, before the season is over for another year.  How do you like your rhubarb?  

Let me know!