Rhubarb is meant to be used in more than strawberry pie recipes. A balance of tangy and sweet this rhubarb curd recipe will have you skipping the pie. This silky curd recipe is delightful with meringue, scones or straight off the spoon!
Rhubarb Curd Recipe.
Use Rhubarb In More Than A Pie
I grow rhubarb in my garden. When you find rhubarb in the grocery store, chances are it will not have the green leaves attached. This is what it looks like when it is cut fresh from the garden.
Do you want to grow your own rhubarb? Did you know it keeps producing for 20 years!? THIS POST is my instructions to plant and harvest your own rhubarb.
Rhubarb Curd Recipe Ingredients:
- ¾ pound rhubarb (4-6 stalks), cut into 1-inch chunks
- ¼ cup plus ⅓ cup plus ⅛ cup sugar, divided
- 4 egg yolks
- 3 tablespoons butter, cut into chunks
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 vanilla, bean split and scraped (optional but awesome)
Rhubarb
Remove the large leaves, wash the rhubarb and see how much rhubarb it is.
I weigh my rhubarb, just because my pastry training has be weighing everything. But YOU don’t have to weigh your rhubarb.
If you have THICK rhubarb, like pictured here…. use 4 12″ stalks. If it is thinner…. use 6 stalks.
Chop the rhubarb into 1″ pieces.
Place the cut rhubarb in a sauce pot with ¼ cup sugar, and 4 tablespoons water over medium heat. Cook until the rhubarb falls apart, adding water by the tablespoon if the rhubarb sticks to the bottom of the pan.
After a few minutes the rhubarb has broken down and is pretty mushy.
Use an immersion blender to puree the rhubarb.
If you don’t have an immersion blender, a food processor or blender will work.
The rhubarb should be pretty smooth.
Up Next
Crack 4 eggs and place just the egg yolks in a bowl.
Vanilla Bean
Slice a whole vanilla bean in half, lengthwise, and scrape out the tiny vanilla seeds.
If you don’t have a vanilla bean, don’t worry, you can skip this step. The vanilla bean adds one more layer of flavor to the rhubarb curd but the rhubarb curd is just as yummy without it.
Double Boiler
Here is where we get a little fancy.
Over a double boiler, on medium heat, whisk the egg yolks, the remaining ⅓ cup plus ⅛ cup sugar, the butter, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla bean seeds until the sugar is dissolved. Keep in mind that heat plus eggs equals scrambled eggs. That is why we are doing this over a double boiler. It will be a gentle warming of the eggs to dissolve the sugar.
Once the eggs have been warmed and sugars have been dissolved, SLOWLY pour the warm rhubarb puree into the egg mixture WHILE WHISKING VIGOROUSLY.
Continue to whisk for 5 minutes until the curd has thickened slightly.
Does your arm hurt?
Good.
You did it correctly.
Strain
Even though you whisked like a mad person you should strain the curd.
This will remove all particles of eggs that might have cooked and any bits of rhubarb that didn’t puree all the way.
Your rhubarb curd will now be extra silky smooth.
Do you see the little white bits?
Yup. Cooked eggs.
No one wants cooked eggs in rhubarb curd.
My Secret
This is my secret to cooling rhubarb curd. Pour the rhubarb curd into a shallow pan and cover with plastic wrap with the wrap TOUCHING the curd.
This will help the curd cool faster.
Now your rhubarb curd does not have a ‘skin’ on it.
See how I make Lemon Curd HERE
Store in the refrigerator and enjoy within 2 weeks.
rhubarb curd recipe
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Rhubarb Curd Recipe. Use Rhubarb In More Than A Pie
Ingredients
- ¾ pound rhubarb, about 6 stalks, cut into 1-inch chunks
- ¼ cup plus ⅓ cup plus ⅛ cup sugar, divided
- 4 egg yolks
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into chunks
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice