Wednesday 17 February 2010

Rhubarb ribbons

It's hard to believe that rhubarb could be so pretty. In fact, it's hard to believe that I agreed to make a rhubarb pudding in the first place considering my lifelong dislike of its sourness.

We had friends over for a leisurely lunch on Saturday and with Mr M's lamb shanks on the menu, we needed something equally as delicious for dessert. Being prepared as always, we decided on the pud late Friday night which meant an early start the next day to buy all the bits. The first supermarket had obviously made the decision not to stock seasonal food (naughty, naughty Mr Sainsburys) so I carried on up to Mr Waitrose - where they had piles of British rhubarb. Marvellous.

There was a bit of a rush on to get the pud ready. You see, there was a deadline. We would be eating pud at about 3:30, and it needed a minimum of 4 hours, but ideally 5, in the freezer, and softening fruit can't be rushed, and it was already 10:30. Gah. Anyhoo, the rhubarb (400g) and sugar (50g) behaved perfectly. The crumble was a little more time-consuming but that was soon sorted.

Mix one pot of mascarpone (250g) with one of Greek yoghurt (400g), stir through the cooled rhubarb, a splash of vanilla extract (and vanilla seeds if you're posh) and some of the crunchy crumble so that it swirls like raspberry ripple. Spoon into a loaf tin lined with cling film and pop in the freezer. Take the chilly bundle out of the freezer 20 minutes before serving. Turn out onto a beautiful serving plate, pile the remaining crumble on top and serve large slices with a big spoonful of rhubarb coulis.

Eat as quickly as you can so that you can get a second helping in before anyone else has finished their first.

I will most definitely be making this again - blackcurrant would be amazing, as would raspberry and perhaps gooseberry...

So, thank you Mr Waitrose for your British rhubarb and tasty recipe.

12 comments:

  1. Wow that looks and sounds pretty amazing - what exactly did you use for the topping? Actually, exact measurements for everything would be good (or have you given everything already?), think this could be a nice thing to make for the in-laws this weekend! x

    ReplyDelete
  2. actually have just found the recipe on the waitrose website!

    ReplyDelete
  3. You just made me insanely hungry! In the summer my grandma makes a strawberry rhubarb pie that's absolutely amazing... but I think I might just be trying this recipe soon. Can't wait!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I adore rhubarb, especially when it's bright pink. Hard to believe I'd never tasted it until a few years ago. And what a fabulous pudding!

    K x

    ReplyDelete
  5. That looks really good. I'm going to print the website out from the good old Waitrose website! It's reminded me to check on my parents rhubarb. Something to really look forward to at this time of year! x

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh wow, that looks amazing. I love rhubarb too, I can't wait until ours is ready. This is definitely going on my "to make" list, probably for this weekend. Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love rhubarb...this sounds wonderful - very inventive!xxx

    ReplyDelete
  8. always wanted to try some rhubarb. I saw it at our supermarket the other week and lovely recipes from jamie oliver's cookbook Jamie at Home floated in my mind but my practical pocket waved me a caution flag. The sea of unfamiliar things lost a swim with me that day. but visiting your blog today fills me with desire and encouragement, yet again...

    ReplyDelete
  9. I know I'm late with the comment but it was really very yummy! Two helpings? Pah! Three more like!

    ReplyDelete
  10. ooh looks yummy - im always trying to find new recipes for rhubarb (get sick of the normal crumble after the 100th one lol) and this is definitely something ive not seen before. thanks :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Wow, what an amazing dessert! Good old British rhubarb, now I just need to find some in Michigan!

    Brenda

    ReplyDelete