Rhubarb Muffins
OK, so I posted earlier about extra rhubarb. Don't have any extra sadly (though that rhubarb chutney is now at the top of my "to make" list). I did make my muffins though. It was quite an experiment.
So I started by cutting up the rhubarb into tiny pieces, 2 cups worth. I dumped them in a pot on the stove, and added about 1C water, 1/2C sugar, and half a vanilla bean. Brought it to a high simmer, and kept it there for about ten minutes. Strained the rhubarb (which had turned to mush, oops...I was going for soft chunks), over a bowl to catch the yummy rhubarb flavored water.
I followed this recipe for blueberry cake from Rochester, NY Hadassah cookbook. (Side note: My grandmother gave this cookbook to my mom when she and my dad got married. They got divorced, she kept the cookbook. She has cooked many a delicious thing from this cookbook. I forced her to give it to me when I moved out, but she only consented after I found her another copy on ebay. Next to this recipe is written "Great" in my mom's handwriting, in a black sharpie.)
Blueberry Cake
2c flour, sifted
2t baking powder
1/2t salt
1/4c butter
3/4c sugar
1 egg, unbeaten
1/2c milk
2c fresh blueberries
Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Cream butter and gradually beat in sugar. Add egg and milk and beat until smooth. Add dry ingredients and fold in berries. Spread batter in greased and floured 8 or 9 inch square pan.
So, I did everything as instructed, except beat in my rhubarb mush instead of the blueberries, and I put the batter in a muffin tray instead of a cake pan. They baked for about 25 minutes instead of 45.
So the good news is, it worked. The muffins came out ok, and they taste good. The bad news is, they don't really taste like rhubarb at all. I think I would need about twice as much rhubarb to get a real rhubarb flavor. They mostly just taste like cake with a little tiny bit of rhubarb.
So, the juice from the rhubarb boiling? I took out about 1/2 cup. The rest I boiled up to hard ball stage, threw on my silpat, and it's in the freezer now. Hopefully it'll be nice rhubarb hard candy.
The saved portion I used to make frosting. I used the frosting recipe found here. I halved the recipe (and I still have too much). I didn't have any cream of tartar, so that got left out. Instead of water I added the rhubarb not-quite-syrup, and same with the vanilla. The frosting, I'm happy to say, turned out great. It's a pretty pink color, and it actually tastes like rhubarb! So, I have great muffins that taste a bit like rhubarb, but it was not a failed experiment.
Sorry I don't have any pictures. The battery on my camera is dead at the moment. Trust me when I say that they look just like muffins with pink frosting.
So I started by cutting up the rhubarb into tiny pieces, 2 cups worth. I dumped them in a pot on the stove, and added about 1C water, 1/2C sugar, and half a vanilla bean. Brought it to a high simmer, and kept it there for about ten minutes. Strained the rhubarb (which had turned to mush, oops...I was going for soft chunks), over a bowl to catch the yummy rhubarb flavored water.
I followed this recipe for blueberry cake from Rochester, NY Hadassah cookbook. (Side note: My grandmother gave this cookbook to my mom when she and my dad got married. They got divorced, she kept the cookbook. She has cooked many a delicious thing from this cookbook. I forced her to give it to me when I moved out, but she only consented after I found her another copy on ebay. Next to this recipe is written "Great" in my mom's handwriting, in a black sharpie.)
Blueberry Cake
2c flour, sifted
2t baking powder
1/2t salt
1/4c butter
3/4c sugar
1 egg, unbeaten
1/2c milk
2c fresh blueberries
Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Cream butter and gradually beat in sugar. Add egg and milk and beat until smooth. Add dry ingredients and fold in berries. Spread batter in greased and floured 8 or 9 inch square pan.
So, I did everything as instructed, except beat in my rhubarb mush instead of the blueberries, and I put the batter in a muffin tray instead of a cake pan. They baked for about 25 minutes instead of 45.
So the good news is, it worked. The muffins came out ok, and they taste good. The bad news is, they don't really taste like rhubarb at all. I think I would need about twice as much rhubarb to get a real rhubarb flavor. They mostly just taste like cake with a little tiny bit of rhubarb.
So, the juice from the rhubarb boiling? I took out about 1/2 cup. The rest I boiled up to hard ball stage, threw on my silpat, and it's in the freezer now. Hopefully it'll be nice rhubarb hard candy.
The saved portion I used to make frosting. I used the frosting recipe found here. I halved the recipe (and I still have too much). I didn't have any cream of tartar, so that got left out. Instead of water I added the rhubarb not-quite-syrup, and same with the vanilla. The frosting, I'm happy to say, turned out great. It's a pretty pink color, and it actually tastes like rhubarb! So, I have great muffins that taste a bit like rhubarb, but it was not a failed experiment.
Sorry I don't have any pictures. The battery on my camera is dead at the moment. Trust me when I say that they look just like muffins with pink frosting.