Recipe Box: Rhubarb, a Fruit, er, Vegetable You Can Count On

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Rhubarb. You can count on it.

The apple tree we planted in my youth never quite “took.”

The raspberries took, then took over and petered out.

The strawberries plants proved to be way too much work on top of our huge garden.

But the green, crinkly leaves of the rhubarb patch make their predictable appearance late each spring, heralding a summer filled with rhubarb cake, rhubarb jam, sour rhubarb sauce and sweet rhubarb pie.

When we were young, my cousins and I dipped raw rhubarb stalks in sugar, then chomped out shockingly sour bites. I pucker just thinking about it.

Let’s face it, in other parts of the country, ripe figs fall from untended trees, sweet peaches hang low for the picking, perfect plums wait to be plucked in the yard. And we’ve got rhubarb.

There is a reason for this; rhubarb is a cool-season, perennial crop thriving best when summer temperatures average less than 75° Fahrenheit (like the people who live here).

Once planted as root stock, rhubarb remains productive for up to 15 years, though I know of one family still eating rhubarb from a patch great-grandma planted, and the publishers here have a 24-year-old plant.

Although legally ruled a fruit for regulation by a New York court in 1947, rhubarb is a vegetable related to buckwheat. The plant is native to cold climates of western China, Tibet and Siberia. Used for medicinal purposes, it became extremely valuable. In 1542, rhubarb sold for 10 times the price of cinnamon in France, and by 1657, it sold for over twice the price of opium in England.

By the way, Mom was right, rhubarb leaves are poisonous thanks to the oxalic acid they contain. So in this rare case, do not eat your greens.

In the 1700s, rhubarb migrated successfully to America where it has become nicknamed the “pie plant.” And indeed, it makes wonderful pie.

But as these recipes show you, it can be so much more. Count on it!

Juli Kellner hosts the “WDSE Cooks” series. Find more rhubarb recipes at www.lakesuperior.com.

Rhubarb Pie

  • 4 c. chopped rhubarb
  • 1-1/3 c. white sugar
  • 6 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
  • 2 Tbsp. butter
  • 1 recipe pastry for a 9-inch double-crust pie

Preheat oven to 450° F.

Combine sugar and flour. Sprinkle 1/4 of it over bottom crust in pie plate. Pour in the chopped rhubarb, then sprinkle with remaining sugar and flour. Dot with small pieces of butter. Cover with top crust, cut slits to vent. Place pie on lowest rack in oven. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350° and continue baking for 40 to 45 minutes. Serve warm or cold.

Juli’s note: OK, here’s the deal. This is your basic no-fail rhubarb pie recipe. Now be as creative as you like. Add berries or chopped apples. Add cinnamon or a package of dry strawberry-flavored gelatin to the sugar/flour mixture. Use more rhubarb for a deep dish pie (just make certain you add more sugar, too.) My daughter calls these creative pies “tutti fruitti” and she will only eat them if she has foreknowledge and approves the ingredients. But my son LOVES them.

Easy Rhubarb Dessert

  • 4 c. sliced fresh or frozen rhubarb
  • 1 pkg. (3 oz.) raspberry or strawberry gelatin
  • 1/2 c. sugar
  • 1 pkg. (18-1/4 oz.) yellow or white cake mix
  • 1 c. water
  • 1/3 c. butter melted
  • Ice cream (optional for serving)

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Place rhubarb in a greased 13x9x2 baking dish. Sprinkle with gelatin, sugar and cake mix. Pour water evenly over the dry ingredients then drizzle with butter. Bake for 1 hour or until the rhubarb is tender. Serve with ice cream if desired.

This comes from Millie Rusch of Superior, sent to the “Fresh from the Garden” show on WDSE-WRPT.

Never Enough Rhubarb Strawberry Jam

  • 3 c. chopped fresh rhubarb
  • 3 c. white sugar
  • 1 pkg. (3 oz.) strawberry gelatin

Combine rhubarb and sugar in a large stockpot then cover and let stand overnight. In the morning, bring the rhubarb and sugar to a boil over medium heat. Boil for 12 minutes on low heat while stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and stir in dry gelatin mix. Transfer to sterile jars, and refrigerate.

Juli’s note: I have seen this or similar recipes all over. If you don’t have it, you should!

Frosted Rhubarb Salad

  • 1/2 c. water
  • 1/2 c. sugar
  • 4 c. rhubarb, diced
  • 2 pkg. strawberry or raspberry gelatin
  • 2 c. rhubarb syrup plus water
  • 1-1/2 c. cold water
  • 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 1/8 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1 pkg. (3 oz.) cream cheese

Bring 1/2 cup water and sugar to a boil. Add diced rhubarb and simmer until tender. Drain the rhubarb, then add enough hot water to the resulting syrup to make two cups. Dissolve gelatin in this hot liquid. Stir in the remaining cold water, lemon juice, salt and cinnamon. Reserve 1 cup of the cooked rhubarb. Combine the remaining rhubarb with the gelatin mixture and chill until firm in a mold or 8x8-inch pan. Soften cream cheese and blend with reserved rhubarb. Frost the molded salad with this mixture and return to the refrigerator. Serve chilled.

Beth Lyden of Esko, Minnesota, submitted this recipe for “S is for Salads” on WDSE-WRPT.

Judy Spooner’s Buttermilk Rhubarb Cake

Heat oven to 350° F. Grease and flour a 9x13-inch cake pan.

  • Mix together:
  • 1 c. sugar
  • 1/2 c. vegetable oil
  • 1 slightly beaten egg
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • pinch of salt

Add to above:

  • 1 c. buttermilk
  • 1 tsp. baking soda - add to buttermilk first

Stir in:

  • 2 c. diced rhubarb (Dice additional 1/2 cup to sprinkle on top)
  • 2 c. flour

Pour into pan. Sprinkle top with 1/2 cup diced rhubarb.

Topping:

  • 1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 c. sugar

Sprinkle cinnamon sugar over top. Bake 35 to 40 minutes. Tastes great warm or cold.

Laura Zahn’s Rhubarb Upside Down Cake

(2 to 8 servings)

  • 9 Tbsp. butter - divided
  • 3/4 c. brown sugar
  • 2 to 3 c. rhubarb (or, 30 ounces pineapple)
  • cinnamon
  • 1 c. sugar
  • 1-1/2 tsp. vanilla
  • 1 c. flour
  • 1/2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/2 c. buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350° F. While heating, melt 3 Tbsp. of butter in the bottom of 8x8-inch (or 9x9-inch) pan (watch carefully!).

Mix together:

  • 3/4 c. lightly packed brown sugar
  • 2 to 3 c. diced rhubarb (or 30 oz. pineapple chunks or crushed, drained and patted dry pineapple).
  • If rhubarb: sprinkles of cinnamon.

Spread fruit in pan and sprinkle evenly with sugar then sprinkle on cinnamon.

Beat together well – until light and fluffy:

  • 6 Tbsp. softened butter
  • 1 c. sugar
  • 1-1/2 tsp. vanilla

Beat in 2 eggs, one at a time.

Mix together:

  • 1 c. flour
  • 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp. baking powder

Mix in half the flour mixture to the wet ingredients then add 1/2 c. buttermilk, then add rest of flour mixture.

Spread batter evenly over rhubarb and bake until a tester/toothpick comes out dry. Bake up to 50 minutes but check at 40-45 minutes. Flip over while still warm. Top with whipped cream dollop.