Baked Sticky Rhubarb Pudding Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the best way to eat rhubarb? ›

1. Raw: Before you do any cooking with rhubarb, you ought to at least try it raw. (Note: Be sure to remove all the leaves, as they are poisonous.) Many suggest dipping the stalk in sugar or some other sweet, such as honey, maple syrup or agave nectar, to mellow its tartness a touch.

Stew or poach (8-10 mins) or roast (15 mins for forced, 20 for maincrop) rhubarb. Use it to make crumbles, pies or jam. Roast and purée to make rhubarb fool. Rhubarb can also be added to savoury dishes, as its tartness can stand up to fatty meats like pork and duck well.

Use it in a comforting crumble, a classic syllabub, a fruity chutney or a zingy kebab sauce – the possibilities are endless. For more inspiration, see our collection of rhubarb recipes.

Cut away and discard any tough, woody, or bruised parts of the stalks. Wash the stalks thoroughly and scrub with a vegetable brush. You don't need to peel peak-season rhubarb, but by midsummer, the stalks tend to be tough and fibrous. You might need to peel them to make them tastier.

A study by Jiang in 2016 showed that rhubarb might interact with melatonin which is used to regulate the sleep cycle. It might also interact with methotrexate and cyclosporin, which are immunosuppressants and are used for therapeutic purposes.

Rhubarb has been widely used as a traditional Chinese herbal medicine since ancient times. Sennoside A and other dianthrone derivatives are reported to be the active ingredients causing rhubarb's laxative effect (6).

Rhubarb is best stored in the refrigerator. “Ideally, remove and throw away the leaves, then store fresh, unwashed, rhubarb stalks in the refrigerator wrapped in a food-grade plastic bag,” says Margarethe A. Cooper, PhD, assistant professor of practice and Victor P.

Rhubarb is rich in antioxidants, particularly anthocyanins (which give it its red color) and proanthocyanidins. These antioxidants have anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer properties, which help protect you from many health-related issues such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.

Rhubarb leaves are toxic and humans should never ingest them. The stems are safe to eat.

Rhubarb is a vegetable often thought to be a fruit. There's actually a good reason for this confusion: in 1947 the USDA classified it as a fruit because the tariffs on bringing fruits into the country were lower on fruits than vegetables. In actuality though, rhubarb is a vegetable - a member of the buckwheat family.

Should you wash rhubarb once picked? ›

Yes, rinse rhubarb under cold running water and scrub the stalks with your fingers to remove any stuck dirt. Pat the stalks dry before cutting and freezing to remove any excess water.

While cinnamon may be a more common spice to pair with rhubarb, citrusy, herbal cardamon lends a warm, citrusy note to a dish. A big pinch of ground cardamom can be added to any cake, pie, or compote, or you can simply add a little to the whipped cream you'll be topping your rhubarb dessert with.

Improves Liver Health

The compounds in rhubarb stalks improve our gut health and can even protect the liver from harm. A study in Molecular Nutrition and Food Research found that taking rhubarb extract is linked with improved liver health among study participants who reported binge drinking alcohol.

Cut 12 1 ½-inch pieces from 1 stalk, and place in a bowl. Cut the remaining rhubarb into ½-inch pieces (you should have about 1½ cups), and toss with the sugar in the bowl. Macerate overnight at room temperature, stirring once or twice to help the sugar dissolve.

It is not necessary to thaw frozen rhubarb before cooking with it, but if you are baking with rhubarb, it's best to thaw it first as it shrinks a bit after thawing and you want an accurate measurement. Frozen rhubarb will keep for 1 year.