Baking with King Arthur Flour

Baked Rhubarb

Raw, with sugar, is probably the best (and earliest) way to enjoy this earliest of "fruits." But next to eating it raw in the sun, Jane also describes the best way to cook it. Bake, rather than stew it. This way rhubarb keeps its color, an intensity of flavor that the stewed version just loses, and its shape (with a hint of crunch and "no strings attached

I tried eating the results of this with the "Baba au Maple" that I'd come up with, noting that the baking time for each was about the same. Rhubarb is usually merged with the season's next offering, strawberries. This time, I yanked it backwards and partnered it with maple. Wow! This particular sweet and tart were really good together.

So here's the outcome. The cake part can be done by itself, with the maple syrup and without the rhubarb and ginger, the "Baba au Maple" of previous mention. It's pretty nice, even cold, without a hint of that glutinous texture I'd finally admitted to. But taken a further step, in combination with the rhubarb and ginger, and a bit of whipped cream for the top (perhaps with some chopped crystallized ginger diced into it), it's the perfect marriage of March and May.

1 pound young rhubarb stalks, cut in 1-inch pieces
1/2 cup (3 ounces) diced crystallized ginger
1 cup (11 ounces) maple syrup
1 cup (4 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (4 ounces) buttermilk
1 egg
1/3 cup (2 3/8 ounces) sugar
1/2 stick (2 ounces) unsalted butter, melted

Preheat your oven to 350°F.

First you need to cut rhubarb into inch-long pieces, just those small early stalks, no more than half an inch thick. There's no need to peel them. Put them in a barely greased baking dish with no extra water, and sprinkle about 1/2 cup of sugar over the top for each pound of fruit. Delia Smith, England's modern Fannie Farmer, suggests adding some ginger, so I threw in about half a cup of diced crystallized ginger. Bake, uncovered, for 25 to 30 minutes at 350°F.

Put the rhubarb in an 8-inch square glass baking dish, or similar size non-reactive dish. Sprinkle the ginger over it, and drizzle on the maple syrup.

Blend together the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium-sized mixing bowl. In another bowl, beat together the buttermilk, egg and sugar. Whisk this gently into the dry ingredients, and stir in the butter. Spoon this batter over the rhubarb, and bake for about 30 minutes, at which point both cake and rhubarb will be done.

This is best served with a spoon, as it's quite soupy. Spoon each serving upside down into an appropriate bowl, so the rhubarb/maple juice flows through the cake. Add a dollop of whipped cream laced with finely diced crystallized ginger. Pretty nice! Try serving it to a child; perhaps we've finally been seduced by our own mothers and grandmothers, and our children will wrinkle their little noses at it. But -- maybe not!

Nutrition information per serving (1/16 of recipe, 77g): 189 cal, 9g fat, 2g protein, 8g complex carbohydrates, 18g sugar, 1g dietary fiber, 42mg cholesterol, 132mg sodium, 171mg potassium, 99RE vitamin A, 3mg vitamin C, 1mg iron, 100mg calcium, 90mg phosphorus.