NuttyTart

Mageirocophilia

Rhubarb Curd

Rhubarb CurdRhubarb curd is divine. There, I’ve started with the main point of the whole post. It’s really, really good, and I’m mortified that I have no gorgeous photos to show you just how beautiful it was in these dainty little individual tartlets I made – buttery crust, rhubarb curd filling, meringue top. Can you imagine them? I hope so, because as luck would have it, I have no pictures. *sigh* Anyway, you do need rhubarb curd in your fridge, on your toast, in your cookies, and on your pies, so make some!

 

The pale pink colour comes courtesy of food colouring. The organic egg yolks I used were a particularly vibrant orange, and combining them with the pale red rhubarb juice resulted in an orangey yellow curd and not a pink one at all, so I turned to artificial means to get a curd that looks rhubarby. Feel free to skip the colouring – it is the taste that counts, of course! I also used some sugar with pectin to make extra sure the curd would thicken, but plain old granulated white sugar should work just fine: it’s the yolks that do the thickening.

 

Rhubarb Curd (makes about 300 ml)

 

250-300 ml unsweetened rhubarb juice

3 egg yolks

75 ml sugar with pectin + 75 ml granulated sugar OR 150 ml granulated sugar

50 g butter, cubed, at room temperature

red food colouring, optional

 

First, reduce the rhubarb juice to make a more concentrated base. Place rhubarb juice in a saucepan and bring gently to boil. Simmer until the juice has reduced to about 100 ml. Allow to cool.

In a saucepan, whisk together reduced rhubarb juice, egg yolks and sugar(s). Heat the mixture gently over medium heat, whisking, until it comes to boil. Turn the heat down a little, and continue to simmer until the mixture begins to thicken (5-7 minutes).

Pour the mixture into a bowl and place the bowl in a cold water bath. Whisk mixture at low speed until it lightens and becomes a little foam-like. Add butter cubes and whisk until smooth. (Add food colouring if you prefer – I used about ½ teaspoon)

Transfer the cooled curd into a glass jar and refrigerate. Keeps for about two weeks.

 

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Rhubarb Juice

rhubarb juiceIn light of the fact that I have a few recipes to post that call for unsweetened rhubarb juice, I figured I’d better post a recipe for rhubarb juice first! Very simple indeedy: you need rhubarb and water. And sugar, should you wish to make juice for drinking rather than to use in one of my recipes. (You can surely drink the unsweetened juice too! I just personally wouldn’t. ;-) )

 

Rhubarb Juice (makes about 1 litre)

 

1 kg rhubarb

750 ml water

200 ml sugar (or to taste)

(2 tablespoons lemon juice – optional)

 

Rinse and chop rhubarb stalks.

Place rhubarb and water in a saucepan and bring gently to boil. Simmer, partly covered, for 20-30 minutes, or until rhubarb has lost its colour and is beginning to break apart.

Set a colander over a bowl and line it with a cheesecloth (coffee filters work too). Pour the mixture into the colander and allow to drain for about half an hour. (You can use the drained rhubarb mush to make a pie, if you wish!)

You now have unsweetend rhubarb juice to use to make rhubarb curd or jelly sweets, for example. Or, continue to make sweetened rhubarb juice:

Pour the juice into a saucepan and add sugar (and lemon juice, if using). Bring gently to boil. Simmer, skimming off foam, until the juice is clear. Pour into clean, hot bottles and seal.

Store rhubarb juice in a cool place. Dilute or mix the juice to your liking.

 

 

 

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Milk Chocolate Cake

Milk chocolate cakeThe theme of Choclette‘s this month’s We Should Cocoa challenge is… chocolate! :-) Perfect!


I decided to test an idea I’ve been entertaining: boozing up a milk chocolate cake. I love milk chocolate, but because of its mild and sweet taste, milk chocolate cakes can sometimes be a little… lame, to me. So: add milk chocolate liqueur. And a touch of cocoa powder. Voilà. A soft, rich milk chocolate cake. More chocolatey, but still milk chocolatey!


Now, if you quite like milder milk chocolate cakes, feel free to leave out the cocoa powder (and use 300 ml of all-purpose flour). If you’d rather not add alcohol, leave out the liqueur and the yogurt, and add 100 ml of buttermilk instead. It will still be delicious!

 

Milk Chocolate Cake


175 g quality milk chocolate

90 g butter, at room temperature

200 ml sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

275 ml all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

pinch salt

75 ml chocolate liqueur (I used Mozart Chocolate Cream)

2 tablespoons plain yogurt


Preheat oven to 160 C. Grease a 23 cm x 13 cm (9″ x 5″) loaf pan and dust with cocoa powder.

Melt milk chocolate on top of a double boiler. Allow to cool.

In a bowl, sift together all-purpose flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add vanilla and the melted chocolate, mix.

Alternately add the flour mixture, chocolate liqueur, and plain yogurt, beginning and ending with the flour. Avoid overmixing.

Pour batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until the cake tests just done.


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