Shortcake with Rhubarb Conserve

So, I had this rhubarb leftover from my cousin’s yard. I had made all the recipes calling for rhubarb from Simply in Season . What to do? While flipping through said cookbook, I came across the recipe for Shortcake or Scones. Hmmm. I had heard of strawberry shortcake. Why not rhubarb shortcake?

So I looked through my stack of cookbooks that I need to review (sorry, publishers, but I’m waiting until I get a few more vegetables from my CSA so I can try some recipes before doing my review. So you and the readers will have to make do with some cooking-related book reviews for awhile) and found a recipe for Rhubarb Conserve in Cooking from the Garden: Best Recipes from Kitchen Gardener.

Shortcake

FOR PRINTABLE VERSION CLICK HERE: Shortcake or Scones

Source: Simply in Season

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (could also use regular flour here)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 Tbs butter (chilled)
1 cup plain yogurt
1 egg

1. In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.

2. Cut in butter with pastry blender until crumbly.

3. Combine yogurt and egg, then add to dry ingredients. Mix briefly. Pour into a greased 8×8 baking pan  and bake in preheated oven at 350F for 30 minutes; or drop by spoonfuls onto greased baking sheets and bake in preheated oven at 400F for 12-15 minutes. Serve warm with sliced fresh fruit and milk. I opted for the baking pan.

4. Variation: Stir in 1 C dried fruit such as apricots, peaches, or cherries. I didn’t do this since I knew I’d be topping with rhubarb.

Servings: 8

Nutrition Facts
Serving size: 1/8 of a recipe (3 ounces).
Percent daily values based on the Reference Daily Intake (RDI) for a 2000 calorie diet.
Nutrition information calculated from recipe ingredients.

Amount Per Serving
Calories 204.06
Calories From Fat (19%) 39.76
% Daily Value
Total Fat 4.54g 7%
Saturated Fat 2.42g 12%
Cholesterol 35.91mg 12%
Sodium 317.03mg 13%
Potassium 202.78mg 6%
Total Carbohydrates 36.63g 12%
Fiber 3.66g 15%
Sugar 14.82g
Protein 6.53g 13%

Rhubarb Conserve

FOR PRINTABLE VERSION CLICK HERE: Rhubarb Conserve

Source: Cooking from the Garden

4 cups rhubarb, diced
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 Tbs orange juice (I used lemon juice since that’s what I had on hand)
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Bring the rhubarb, sugar, and orange juice to a simmer in a medium, nonalminum saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook until it thickens considerably and coats the back of a spoon, about 20 minutes. Stir occasionally. (It took way longer than 20 minutes. I kind of lost track of time, I’d guess about 40 minutes. I didn’t see if the spoon thing worked since I knew I’d be pouring it on shortcake anyway. I just let it simmer until it started to break down).

2. Add the vanilla at the end of the cooking time. Cool. The conserve can be refrigerated for up to two weeks.

3. Possible uses: spread on croissants, toast, fold into whipped cream, fill tart shells, put between layers of cake, top ice cream.

Nutrition Facts (IF YOU ATE THE WHOLE THING AT ONCE. I WASN’T SURE HOW MANY SERVINGS TO CHOOSE SINCE IT WILL VARY WHETHER YOU PUT IT ON TOAST OR EAT A HUGE SCOOP OF IT).
Serving size: 1 serving (26.7 ounces).
Percent daily values based on the Reference Daily Intake (RDI) for a 2000 calorie diet.
Nutrition information calculated from recipe ingredients.

Amount Per Serving
Calories 1089.05
Calories From Fat (1%) 8.43
% Daily Value
Total Fat 1.01g 2%
Saturated Fat 0.26g 1%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 20.05mg <1%
Potassium 1447.66mg 41%
Total Carbohydrates 274.25g 91%
Fiber 8.82g 35%
Sugar 256.98g
Protein 4.5g 9%

The Verdict

Fresh out of the oven, the shortcake was definitely more like shortcake and not so much like a scone. Not sure if smaller globs and cooking at a higher temperature would change the texture enough to make it more scone-like, but as a shortcake it was excellent. As for the rhubarb conserve . . . THIS is what I was looking for! Very similar to Grandma’s. I could have done with less vanilla but it complemented the shortcake very well. Add some whipped cream, and it made the perfect lunch for a vacation day. That’s right, I said lunch. Hee hee.

This post linked to Frugal Friday and Grocery Cart Challenge