In Season: How to cook rhubarb and eight of our most popular recipes

The bright pink stalks are in season now, but what to cook with it? 

Sweet, sour and utterly delicious, rhubarb is one of the hero ingredients of the moment.

Cullohill rhubarb pie

recipe by:Darina Allen

With a delicate, buttery pastry and tart rhubarb chunks, this pie is irresistible for an afternoon summertime treat

Servings

8

Preparation Time

 2 hours 20 mins

Cooking Time

 45 mins

Total Time

 3 hours 5 mins

Course

 Baking

Ingredients

• For the pastry:

• 225g butter, softened

• 50g caster sugar

• 2 eggs

• 350g plain flour

• For the filling:

• 900g sliced red rhubarb (about 1cm thick)

• 370g  granulated sugar depending on whether you are using forced or garden rhubarb

• 1 egg, beaten

• dash of milk

• caster sugar, for sprinkling

• To serve:

• softly whipped cream

• Barbados/ soft dark brown sugar

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.

2. First, make the pastry. Cream the butter and sugar together by hand or in a food mixer. Add the eggs one by one and beat for several minutes. Reduce speed and mix in the flour slowly.

3. Turn out onto a piece of floured greaseproof paper, flatten into a round wrap and chill. This pastry needs to be chilled for at least 2 hours otherwise it is difficult to handle.

4. To make the egg wash, combine a dash of milk and beaten egg.

5. To make the tart, roll out the pastry 3mm thick, and use about ⅔ of it to line a suitable tin. Place the sliced rhubarb into the tart, sprinkle with sugar. Cover with a lid of pastry, seal edges, decorate with pastry leaves, egg wash and bake in the preheated oven until the apples are tender, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. When cooked cut into squares, sprinkle lightly with caster sugar and serve with softly whipped cream and Barbados sugar.

Rhubarb and ginger bakewell tart

recipe by:Darina Allen

With a delicate pastry lattice or a sprinkle of flaked almonds, this bakewell classic makes the perfect summertime centrepiece

Servings

6

Preparation Time

 25 mins

Cooking Time

 40 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 5 mins

Course

 Baking

Ingredients

• 50g butter

• 110g flour

• pinch of salt

• 25g caster sugar

• 1 egg, beaten (use about half)

• 50g butter

• 40g caster sugar

• 1 egg

• 25g ground almonds

• 40g flour

• 1/2 tsp baking powder

• 3-4 tbsp rhubarb, ginger and sweet geranium jam

• sweet geranium leaves, to garnish

Method

1. Use a 1 x 18cm (7 inch) tin with a ‘pop-up’ base.

2. To make the shortcrust pastry, sieve the flour and the sugar into a large bowl. Cut the butter into cubes, toss in the flour, rub in with the fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.

3. Whisk the egg with 2 tsp cold water and add enough to bind the mixture. But do not make the pastry too wet — it should come away cleanly from the bowl. Flatten into a round and wrap in parchment paper and rest in the fridge for 15 minutes.

4. Line the flan ring. Spread a thin layer of rhubarb, ginger and sweet geranium jam in the base of the flan. Cream the butter, add the caster sugar and beat until white and creamy, add the beaten egg, and then stir in the flour, ground almonds and baking powder. Spread this mixture carefully over the jam and smooth the top. Cut the remaining pastry into thin strips and arrange in a lattice pattern over the top of the flan. Egg wash carefully.

5. Bake at 180-190°C for 40 minutes. Sprinkle with icing sugar and serve warm or cold with a bowl of softly whipped cream. Garnish with Sweet Geranium leaves.

6. If you would like to decorate the tart with a pastry lattice, use 62g butter and 125g flour.