Eat Sweet

Rhubarb!!

Give rhubarb another chance with Erin’s great breakfast treat.

It seems that most people either love rhubarb or hate it. You will begin to see it available at the markets in April. Look for brightly colored red stalks. Rhubarb is mouth-puckering tart in its raw form. It cooks down beautifully with a little added sugar or brown sugar. The sugars, combined with the moisture released from the cooking vegetable, create a sweet-tart flavor explosion that makes a beautiful syrup!

My favorite rhubarb dessert starts with a French tart crust. The bottom of the crust is spread with raspberry or red currant jam, then comes a layer of brown sugar braised rhubarb, and it is topped off with vanilla custard. Caramelized sugar on top gives it a perfect crunch. But the plan for this article is a lightened up dessert, so here’s the next best thing.

Low-fat Rhubarb Muffins
Yield: 12-16 standard sized muffins
Preheat oven to 375° F

• 1 ½ cups brown sugar
• 3 Tbs + 1 ½ tsp vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups finely diced rhubarb
• 1 cup buttermilk
• ½ cup chopped nuts (optional-I like walnuts)
• 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp ground ginger

Topping: 1/3 cup granulated sugar, 1 ½ tsp cinnamon, 1 Tbs melted butter

1. Combine and whisk: brown sugar, oil, egg, and vanilla. Stir in chopped rhubarb and buttermilk.
2. In a separate bowl: whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, ginger, and cinnamon.
3. All at once, add dry to wet and stir with a wooden spoon just to combine (don’t over mix).
4. Scoop batter (with an ice cream scoop to portion batter) into muffin tins that have been lined with muffin papers.
5. Stir topping ingredients together and sprinkle on top of muffins.
6. Bake 15-20 minutes (until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the muffin comes out clean).

Play with some rhubarb this spring! These muffins would be a lovely addition to a breakfast-in-bed tray or a brunch spread. By the way, you can find the rhubarb tart described above at Dolce. Eat Sweet…and Tart!

Erin Reynolds

Erin Reynolds is the pastry chef – owner of Dolce Baking Company in Prairie Village, Kansas. She and her small team produce gourmet, from-scratch pastries daily. The best cinnamon rolls in town, scones, cookies, tarts, cupcakes, special occasion cakes, and wedding cakes are just a few of the treats you will find at Dolce. Contact her at erin@dolcebakingco.com. You can also reach her at 913-236-4411 or stop by 6974 Mission Road in P.V.