Tis the season for the amazing abundance of rhubarb. I am a big believer in planting at least some perennial crops for the very reason that they provide you with food year round. If you haven’t seen my YouTube video on this subject, it is worth the watch.
Because we have multiple perennial plants, I have six rhubarb plants that are full and plentiful. I was particularly excited about two of the plants that were moved from my parents old home. They were selling and we decided to keep the lineage of these rhubarb plants alive on my property. I can remember my mom making stewed rhubarb for us kids from these very plants and now I use them each spring, thinking of those memories.
Today I will share with you our very favourite rhubarb recipes. Unlike other recipe roundup blog posts, I have actually made and tried all of these. If you just want the shrub recipe, scroll down to the bottom.
Rhubarb Recipe Roundup
The one thing I hate about recipe blogs are the long stories that take up so much time to read or scroll through. I promise you I will not subject you to any. Just a link of tried and true recipes my friend.
Some notes
- I often reduce sugar in these recipes so I encourage you to play.
- I regularly substitute organic coconut milk for butter due to the high cost or organic grass fed butter
- These recipes are not my own but all proper links to the owners are provided
Coconut Rhubarb Cake from The 10th Kitchen
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Rhubarb Muffins from Fine Cooking
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Canned Stewed Rhubarb from Homespun Seasonal Living
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Rhubarb Dream Bars from Noshing with the Nolands
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Victoria Sauce (Rhubarb BBQ/Cooking Sauce) from Healthy Canning
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Rhubarb Mead from Practical Self Reliance
What is a Shrub?
Also known as a drinking vinegar, a shrub is an old time way of preserving fruit that does not involve canning. Essentially a concentrated syrup using fruit, sugar and vinegar, shrubs can be enjoyed in club soda or as apart of mixed cocktails. The shrub recipe I share with you today combines the tart flavours of rhubarb with the lemon zest of lemon balm (Melissa officinalis). As I just mentioned rhubarb is quite tart, so the sugar level of this shrub is a bit higher than some other recipes you may find. But also keep in mind you will be using 2-3 tsp of this to make your favourite drinks.
This recipe is a cold-process shrub which means you need at least 1-2 weeks before you can use this shrub. Also note that this is my method for making shrubs. You will find lots of recipes that add the sugar afterwards, but I personally find in the case of rhubarb it’s really necessary to use the sugar first to help draw out the flavours of the rhubarb.
- 2 cups chopped rhubarb
- 3/4-1 cup organic cane sugar if you want it more tangy, use less sugar
- 1/4 cup chopped lemon balm you can omit this if you do not have lemon balm
- 2-3 cups raw apple cider vinegar
- Harvest your rhubarb (I needed about 5 stalks) and lemon balm. Chop the rhubarb into 1/4 inch pieces. Roughly chop your lemon balm. Place your 2 cups of chopped rhubarb and your chopped lemon balm in a one litre mason jar. Add your sugar.
- Using a muddler, pestle or other similar tool, smash your rhubarb and mixing it with sugar until liquid starts to form. To pull as much of the rhubarb flavours out place your jar in the fridge for 2-3 days.
- After 2-3 days, top off your jar with raw apple cider vinegar. Place a piece of parchment paper as a barrier between the lid and the contents. Once the vinegar is added, the recipe is fine to be at room temperature. Allow it to sit out for at least one week in a cool and dark location (fridge is fine too).
- After 1-2 weeks strain our your rhubarb, mashing it as you go pulling out as much of the rhubarb flavour as you can. Discard the rhubarb pulp.
- Put into a jar of choice, label and enjoy! Try 2 tsp in some club soda and add more if you would like. Consider mixing your favourite cocktails such as vodka.
I hope you enjoy this rhubarb recipe roundup and the delicious shrub recipe! If you have any favourite recipes please leave them in the comments.
Much love to you all,
Regular Readers/Watchers
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