Rhubarb Purée

Once again it is rhubarb season and the ones in the garden have gone mad with growth. This year one of the plants is producing no less than 3 flower spikes, in addition to a good number of thick-stemmed leaves. In my first harvest, I had over 2 kg of lovely smelling stems.

I also discovered that I have no pectin and the packet of jam sugar that was lurking at the back of the larder had gone rock solid and was 2 years out of date, so I decided not to risk it and searched for alternative recipes using agar-agar, which I seem to have in large quantities at the moment. As I was searching, I also speculated whether it is possible to make purée, similar to the one I've made with apples many years ago. As it turns out, other people have had the same idea and very kindly posted their recipes. I opted for this one (in Swedish).

Ingredients

500 g rhubarb stalks
2 apples
½ dl water
2 dl golden syrup
1 tsp vanilla essence

Method

1. Wash and slice the rhubarb into 2 cm pieces.
2. Peel and core the apples, then dice.
3. Place the rhubarb, apples and water in a saucepan and bring to the boil.
4. Let simmer until the rhubarb goes soft and mushy, about 10 - 12 minutes.
5. Add the syrup and stir through. Let simmer for a further 5 - 6 minutes.
6. Remove from the heat, stir in the vanilla and transfer to clean jars or serve warm with ice cream.

This purée will not last as long as a jam, as the amouht of sugar is quite low and there is no added pectin, but it can be frozen, in which case it'll last longer. If freezing, I recommend saving a juice/milk carton and washing it well, then pouring the purée into it and sealing at the top before freezing. This way, you can push some out from the carton and cut slices with a knife. The frozen slices can go directly onto a freshly made pancake or hot porridge. Chilled purée works nicely with yoghurt and 2 dl of it can go into the no-churn ice cream as flavouring.

I don't seem to have made any photos this time, but it looks very much like the jam I've made previously.