It’s rhubarb season! A couple of friends suggested I should explore rhubarb in this column. They each enjoy stewed rhubarb but discovered that one added white sugar and likes to eat it cold while the other used brown sugar and preferred it warm.
“How do you like/make your stewed rhubarb?” That was the question posted to Facebook and asked at our annual family Victoria Day gathering for my unscientific survey. This prompted lots of discussion! I laughed at the first Facebook reply, “No! It’s a weed!” According to Statistics Canada, rhubarb is a traditional medicinal vegetable, but most people treat it as a fruit. It grows in all the provinces of Canada.
With over 30 responses, most people preferred using white sugar and were split almost half and half on eating it warm or cold. Some mentioned additions of strawberries, bananas, honey, or orange juice and eating it on toast. Rhubarb pie was by far the favourite dessert. On Sunday, I was offered two pieces of rhubarb pie, tasted the rhubarb lemon loaf and a muffin, sipped on some rhubarb gin, and came home with a jar of stewed rhubarb. Also, I have been promised a rhubarb martini at a future breakfast get together!
Tracey MacDonald Weston of Caledonia shared her recipe for rhubarb squares. This recipe was her Grandma MacDonald’s. Tracey has some wonderful childhood memories of spending lots of time in the kitchen with her grandma. She told me her grandmother “didn’t care if you made a mess or wrecked things and she never said no!” Tracey hopes she can be “that grandma” herself one day. Her family loves these squares and they don’t last long at her house!
It was Bridget Bowen Sposato, of Hagersville, who gave me a slice of her lemon rhubarb loaf and that sip of gin. The loaf has an intense lemon flavour I loved. Enjoy!
Rhubarb Squares
Crust
- 2 cups flour
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup of butter
Filling
- 4 cups fresh cubed rhubarb
- ½ cup flour
- 4 eggs
- 2 cups white sugar
Mix flour, brown sugar, and butter until crumbled. Press into a 9×13 pan. Bake for 15 minutes at 350°F. Remove from oven.
Cut rhubarb and mix with the flour to coat. Stir together the eggs and sugar. Mix in the rhubarb just before you pour this mixture on to the hot crust.
Return to the oven. Bake a further 35-45 minutes until toasty brown and solid.
Cut into squares. It is sometimes a little messy but delicious.
Lemon Rhubarb Loaf
- 190 g (1½ cups) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 115 g (½ cup) unsalted butter, softened
- 200 g (1 cup) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 60 ml (¼ cup) fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 120 g (½ cup) sour cream or Greek yogurt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup (130 g) chopped fresh rhubarb (toss lightly in flour to prevent sinking)
Glaze
- 90 g (¾ cup) powdered sugar
- 1–2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F). Grease or line a 9×5 inch (23×13 cm) loaf pan.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. Stir in lemon juice, zest, vanilla, and sour cream or yogurt until smooth.
Gradually add dry ingredients to the wet, mixing just until combined. Gently fold in chopped rhubarb and pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake for 50–60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let the loaf cool in pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Glaze: Mix powdered sugar with lemon juice until smooth and pourable. Drizzle over the cooled loaf and let set before slicing.
