This Roasted Rhubarb Recipe is a simple and fuss free way to prepare rhubarb that keeps its shape. Rhubarb can be incredibly difficult to cook without turning all mushy and soft. While the firmness of rhubarb doesn’t affect the flavour at all, rhubarb that keeps its shape look so pretty! You might have seen rhubarb prepared like this in magazines, on food blogs or social media and wondered why does my cooked rhubarb never look like that? In this post I will explain all my tips and tricks for cooking rhubarb without it going mushy.
This recipe is really easy to throw together. It begins by adding some chopped rhubarb, sugar, vanilla (optional) and water into a deep sided baking dish. Try to arrange the rhubarb in one layer, allowing the rhubarb to touch each other. If you have particularly green rhubarb and would still like to get a nice pink colour, you can also add a drop of red food colouring at this stage. Cover the top of the dish with tinfoil and seal tightly. Place into the oven for 20-30 minutes until the rhubarb is just about soft when prodded with a knife but still holds its shape. If the rhubarb is very thin, check it after 10-15 minutes of cooking to avoid over cooking. Do not stir the rhubarb during the cooking process and avoid shaking the dish too much.
Serve immediately with custard, ice cream, cake etc. If you would like to keep the structure of the rhubarb, allow it to cool before very carefully transferring it to a container. Cooled leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the juices for up to 5 days.
Usually, mushy rhubarb results from a few different things. The oven temperature may have been too high, it could have been cooked for too long or it was cooked without the tinfoil. If the temperature is an issue I would advise using an oven thermometer, they are relatively inexpensive and are a lifesaver for any baker. If the rhubarb is cooked for too long or the rhubarb has been stirred during cooking this can result in the fibres breaking down and turning to mush.
I like to seal the dish with tin foil when roasting rhubarb that I want to keep intact. The tin foil helps create a steamy environment and allows the rhubarb to cook evenly and at a slightly slower rate than if it was exposed directly to the heat. This helps to prevent the rhubarb from going mushy.
Surprisingly, rhubarb can be quite a juicy “fruit” as it is mostly water. Because of this and the addition of water, you can end up with a lot of syrupy cooking liquid afterwards. This rhubarb syrup is full of flavour and can be used like any syrup. Add to ice cream, cocktails or mocktails.
Yes, absolutely! To achieve a nice pink colour, you can add a drop of red food colouring to the rhubarb before cooking. For an even colour, you can add it to the water and mix well before pouring on the rhubarb. You can also replace the water with a juice with a dark red colour like cranberry, mixed berry etc.
For more Rhubarb Recipes, you can check out my Rhubarb Recipes, here.
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