Maybe it’s the recent sun, maybe it’s my earlier attempts to force it, but the rhubarb at the bottom of the garden has gone into overdrive in recent weeks.
This causes slight problems, as I’m the only member of the family who has an unambiguous liking for the pink and green stuff. Most other members of the Drooling clan turn up their noses and jam their fingers down their throat at the mere mention of the glorious vegetable (yup, it’s veg, not fruit, gardening nerds).
One child did somewhat undermine his vehement opposition by inhaling a large bowl of rhubarb crumble the other day, but by and large I face an uphill struggle trying to get the tribe to eat the stuff.
This calls for imagination, hence my visit to this site, possibly the best rhubarb-recipe-related site on the net. Thinking I’d go for some sort of cookie-related recipe, I baked a tray-load of Rhubard Custard Bars.
Unfortunately this revealed the only problem with the encyclopaedic website: no photos. Had I seen a pic of the finished product I’d have known that – as you can see from the above – it doesn’t look fantastically appetising, and more importantly it looks very much like it contains rhubarb. This is a problem when seeking to outwit small children with a hatred of the stuff.
It should therefore come as no surprise that the bars were unanimously rejected. Even my youngest, who was screaming “Cake! Cake! Cake!” when I opened the oven, threw his slice on the floor when he saw what it looked like.
For the record, it tastes delicious. More specifically, it tastes just like rhubarb that has been baked in a sweet custard and popped on top of a base that is somewhere between cake and crumble. If that gets you interested then read on for the recipe below.
Rhubard custard bars
Crust
150g self-raising flour
120g sugar
60g soft butter
Filling
225g sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tbsp flour
4 eggs beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
500g rhubarb
Heat the oven to 180 degrees. Blend the flour, butter and sugar together. Press into a 9×13 inch baking pan that has been lined with baking parchment. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned.
Prepare the filling while the crust is baking: blend the sugar and flour, then add eggs, vanilla and diced rhubarb and blend well. Pour the mixture over the partially baked crust and continue baking for 30-35 minutes. Serve warm or cooled.
Meanwhile the search goes on for a way to make rhubarb palatable for the rest of the family…
On the ipod while cooking: Scouting for Gilrs / I wish I was James Bond. It’s probably never going to happen for me and the Strachan either.
The drooling vegetable 
May 1, 2009 at 10:35 pm
That looks delicious. Will have to try it sometime. I’ve made a cobbler with rhubarb and strawberries, which also works pretty well too. Thanks for sharing…
May 4, 2009 at 7:59 pm
Now the boys LOVE strawberries. Perhaps if I throw some in with the rhubard they’ll act as a decoy and the glorious pink-and-green will be eaten after all…!
Thanks for the tip SW!
May 2, 2009 at 12:37 pm
Don’t take this the wrong way, but this looks like a shot from my gran’s ‘Cookery in Colour’ book from 1950-something (ie gross), in which there is a recipe for Chicken and Mushroom soup. Here’s the recipe (feel free to take notes).
Ingredients:
1 can mushroom soup
1 can chicken soup
Open. Mix. Enjoy.
May 4, 2009 at 7:56 pm
You’re going to have to give me some photography tips, mate. Seriously.
May 2, 2009 at 5:28 pm
I think your being hard on yourself. Your not standing at an easy place, you have some drooling vegetable children to convince, and we are know children are not the easiest to persuade at the best of times, and secondly, despite ones age, rhubarb is not a veg. that many people like because of its tang and sharpness. It is an acquired taste. So not an easy task.
I personally don’t think they bars look too bad. I’d be happy to take some of your hands this evening. So please do transport me a plateful via the star trek portal, so that I can enjoy them with custard.
May 4, 2009 at 7:56 pm
Thank you mangocheeks, you give me the strength to carry on force-feeding the bars to my demon offspring.
I shall beam the left overs up North of the border. Brace yourself…
May 19, 2009 at 9:10 pm
Mate, the rhubarb custard cake looks good to me, particularly if washed down with a glass or two of red wine. If you want to test it out feel free to pop over and I’m sure I can rustle up a bottle of the red stuff.
I’ve got a small crop of rhubarb in our back garden. Found a recipe for rhubarb and strawberry crumble and so plan to try it out on Mrs Bonkers in the next day or so. Will let you know how it goes. Could be exactly what you need to convince the drooling boys of the joys of rhubarb.