Monday, June 17, 2019

Rhubarb Butter - An Easy Way to Preserve Your Rhubarb


Not too sweet, not too sour, this rhubarb butter is something that you would love on your toast or pancakes in the morning or on a scone with tea in the afternoon.

The weather has been on everyone's mind lately!  Our spring has been rainy and mostly chilly with an occasional seasonal day thrown in to keep us hoping.  My rhubarb plant, on the other hand, is very happy with the chilly weather and is keeping me supplied with plentiful stalks.  I don't always want to make a cake, pie or other sweet dessert every week to use my rhubarb and was delighted when I found this delicious and easy recipe for Rhubarb Butter in our local newspaper.


The scones above I saw in a Instagram post on my friend's Monique's feed.  She found the recipe here and it originally came from here.  The dough is folded over and over to create those lovely, flaky layers you see.  Sooooo good!  And, ever better with a dollop of rhubarb butter.  I'm sharing the recipe I converted below to make it a little easier for my American followers to make.

Other than growing prolific rhubarb, here are a few snippets of what has been keeping me busy the past few weeks.  The Mid June Garden!


Rhubarb Butter

Printable Recipe

Makes 1 pint

1 pound rhubarb stalks, cut into pieces
1 large apple, chopped and cored
½ cup sugar
pinch salt
½ vanilla bean, seeds scraped (I used 1/2 teaspoon cardamom)

In a food processor, blend rhubarb, apple, sugar and salt until as smooth as possible.

In a heavy, not aluminum, saucepan, heat fruit over medium-low heat until simmering. Add scraped vanilla bean seeds and the pod (or cardamom). Stir frequently and cook until thick and spreadable, about 20 minutes.

Store in a glass jar in the fridge for up to a week or freeze indefinitely.

Adapted from this recipe.


Flaky Scones

Printable Recipe

3-1/3 cup all purpose unbleached white flour
2 scant Tablespoons sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1-1/4 teaspoons salt
11 Tablespoons (1 stick, plus 3 Tablespoons) butter, frozen until firm
1-1/8 cup buttermilk
Finely grated zest of one lemon
1 egg, beaten, for glazing

A very sharp knife is necessary to as not to depress the dough when cutting into triangles for baking.  Otherwise, they will not rise properly.

Preheat oven to 400 ° F.

In a small bowl, mix together buttermilk and lemon zest. Refrigerate until needed.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.

Remove the butter from the freezer and, using a box grater, grate the butter quickly and coarsely onto a piece of parchment or waxed paper. Refreeze briefly, if it has become soft again, then add the butter to the flour mixture and blend the butter into the flour with a fork or pastry cutter. 

Add the buttermilk mixture to the flour/butter mixture and mix together until the ingredients are just barely blended together. Do not over-mix.

Flour a work surface and turn out the dough. Using your hands, gently flatten it to form a rectangle.

With a rolling pin, roll out dough to half an inch thick, keeping the rectangular shape. Fold dough in half and rotate 90 degrees and repeat these last two steps twice again.

Roll the dough one last time to obtain a rectangle of 18 "x 9".

Taking the shorter ends, make an 'envelope fold', folding one short end to the center and then the other short end over that fold (into thirds). You now have a 6 "x 9" rectangle.

Using a VERY sharp knife or dough cutter, cut a thin layer of dough on each side of your rectangle. This step will make those nice layers during cooking.

Cut 6 square 3" x 3" scones...then cut each square in half on the diagonal to form triangles.

Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper spaced three inches apart.  Brush lightly with egg wash.

Bake for 20 to 22 minutes or until light golden brown.

Adapted from this recipe.

29 comments:

  1. I haven't tasted any rhubarb this year...wish I could try some of your homemade rhubarb butter! It looks so good, Susan, and so is your June garden.

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    1. My rhubarb is so happy this year :) This tastes so good on pancakes too! Thank you, Angie!

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  2. Wow,this is a much faster version than the one I use! Sounds great-enjoy:@)

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  3. Never tried anything like it, looks lovely and perfect for summer.
    Amalia
    xo

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    1. I'm sorry, Amalia. You probably can't get rhubarb there. The closets flavor I would likely come from very tart, crisp apples.

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  4. The gardens♥The jm/compote..oh my stalks are so small..I think I need to move my rhubarb..I will..your scones turned out beautifully..laminated beauties...Have a beautiful day.I hope it is sunny there..it is here and I wish it for you.

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    1. Mine grow in half shade but seems to like where it is :) How old is your rhubarb plant? Maybe it's still too young for thick stalks? Lovely day here, thankfully...golfing with John this afternoon ♥

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    2. It was a beautiful day! Today...not so much.

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  5. This looks beautiful and delicious Susan, love yours pictures are beauty! xo

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    1. Thank you, Gloria! I wish my southern hemisphere friends could taste rhubarb butter too :)

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  6. My mouth is watering! I haven't made rhubarb butter in ages, and your scones look magnificent!

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    1. Thank you, Pattie! This was my first time making it and it won't be the last :) The scones are wonderful!

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  7. I wish I could taste your scones and your rhubarb jam, Susan! Your teacup and your tea tray are so inviting.

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    1. I wish you could too, Kitty. I'd love to have a scone and tea party with you :)

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  8. Everytime I see a rhubarb recipe I am tempted to get my hands on it but it is not available here. The color of the butter looks so pretty.

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  9. This looks so delicious! Have a nice day :)

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  10. rhubarb is hard to find here,your scones looks delicious Susan, a warm hug from hot Trieste

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  11. This looks wonderful! The perfect way to enjoy rhubarb!

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  12. Wow what a lovely match, flaky scones topped with rhubarb butter...sounds and looks delicious!
    Thanks for both recipe Susan...have a great rest of the week!

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  13. Susan as you might remember, I do enjoy rhubarb. However I've never made a butter out of it. Jam yes, but not butter. I must try and one I've tagged to make next rhubarb season.

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  14. Scones with rhubarb butter sounds great. Your June garden is beautiful and seems to be thriving.

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  15. This looks so, so good: I’m putting it on my list to try!

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  16. Now that would be my favorite breakfast! I am such a rhubarb girl :-)

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  17. Both recipes are keepers Susan. Just checking in with you. Hope your summer has been warm and sunny.

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  18. Never had a rhubarb butter, but now we are excited to try some! Thanks for a great recipe!

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I appreciate your comment!