It's a rhubarb party and everybody's invited! We got our first fruit share from Grant Farms CSA this season and it's, you guessed it, a whole buncha rhubarb (not fruit, I know, but the closest thing we can get this time of year!). As soon as I brought my armful of pink and green stalks home, I started perusing the interwebs for recipes. Not rhubarb and strawberry recipes, but rhubarb recipes. Now, I'm definitely not hating on the combo, but I just really wanted to find something that allowed the flavor of rhubarb to shine, not just to be a tangy counterpart to a sweet strawberry.
Enter, rhubarb curd. The recipe is from Food52 and after making it once I'm already in love with it! This sweet and sour concoction is both delicious and beautiful with it's pale pink hue and silky, spreadable texture. I paired mine with this Plum & Strawberry Sour Cream Cake for a supremely summery dessert. The next morning I spread some of the curd on a toasted baguette for breakfast. I'm pretty sure it would be ridiculous on a good buttermilk scone. The possibilities are many!
In order to get the pudding-like texture of curd, the recipe calls for pushing your cooked mixture through a fine mesh sieve. This process admittedly takes a lot of work. Like, a lot. But will yield a more elegant final result with a smooth consistency. Give it a try!
Rhubarb Curd
fills a 16 oz jar to the brim
3/4 pounds rhubarb (6-8 stalks)
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup plus a scant 1/2 cup sugar
4 egg yolks
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 T lemon juice
6 T butter, diced
Wash rhubarb well and trim the ends. Cut into 1-inch chunks. In a small saucepan, heat rhubarb, 1/4 cup sugar and water on medium. Cook, stirring often, until rhubarb falls apart and all the pieces have dissolved, lowering heat to low when the mixture becomes thicker. Use an immersion blender to puree the mixture well until it's pulpy but smooth. Remove from heat and set aside.
Add a couple inches of water to the pot of a double boiler and set over medium heat. Add the egg yolks, butter, remaining sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice and cook over the double boiler, whisking constantly until butter is melted and sugar has dissolved, about 3 minutes. Add the rhubarb puree by the spoonful, whisking constantly, and cook mixture until it thickens and is warm to the touch, about 5 minutes more. Remove from heat. Using a flat-ended wooden spoon, push the curd through a fine-mesh strainer to refine the texture. Pour curd into a 16 oz jar and refrigerate until ready to use.